Vietnam's To Lam stresses reform 50 years after end of war
HO CHI MINH CITY -- Vietnam's top leader, To Lam, highlighted the importance of reforming the country as it celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
On April 30th, 1975, communist forces took over Saigon, as Ho Chi Minh City was then known, effectively ending the two-decade-long war between Hanoi and the Washington-backed southern government. Vietnam calls the day the "Liberation of the South or Reunification day"; in the West, it is widely known as the "fall of Saigon."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
9 hours ago
- Japan Times
The MAGA odd couple turns combustible
Relationship status: It's complicated. The simmering feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and tech titan Elon Musk has gone public, sending Tesla's stock tumbling then rebounding, calling his government contracts into question and leaving Trump possibly in a more commanding position over the world's richest man. But really, who knows what to make of this always-odd pairing between two erratic men? Late Thursday, Musk signaled he was open to a detente. Reports of a Friday phone call surfaced and were then dismissed by Trump, and all against the backdrop of pleadings from a MAGA world riven by the prospect of their leaders turning on each other. Yet little is permanent in Trump world, except for chaos and disruption. Where this goes from here and how it ends is anyone's guess, but what's clear is that the political friendship that saw two of the world's most powerful men attached at the hip at the beginning of Trump's presidency has now become an unstable mess. This, of course, is no way to run a country. The daylong brawl starkly revealed what had always been plainly obvious: This relationship is transactional and has always smelled of corruption, with Musk's $270 million campaign contribution buying him a powerful foothold in the government, including billions in contracts and access to data and the inner workings of federal agencies. It was only last week that Trump gifted Musk with a golden key to the White House, saying his "service to America has been without comparison in modern history' and commemorating his final day as a special government employee. But that send-off couldn't paper over the increasing cracks in the friendship. Musk had become a political liability to Trump, even as the president became a business liability to the world's richest man. The union has cost Musk billions, damaging his brand and leading him to suggest he was done with politics. "I think I've done enough,' Musk said in a Bloomberg interview last month when asked about his political spending on Trump and the Republican cause. The billionaire, who operates the Building America's Future PAC, had vowed to spend $100 million on the midterms, though that's now in doubt. And in ceding such power to Musk, Trump marred the first 100 days of his presidency with erratic cuts, mistakes and walk-backs that led to infighting among staff and cabinet members who couldn't control Musk. His Department of Government Efficiency was largely a failure, with costs likely outweighing savings, federal spending continuing to rise and the Trump administration now undoing some of DOGE's firings. In the days after his official tenure wrapped up, Musk then proved just how uncontrollable he was, training his fire on Trump's massive reconciliation bill, calling it an "abomination.' "In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,' Musk, the wannabe kingmaker, threatened on X on Tuesday. But the feud has the potential to be as damaging to both men as their unlikely friendship proved to be. At stake for Trump is the kind of muscle, megaphone and money that only Musk can bring, given his status among the powerful techno right bros who fueled Trump's campaign and the GOP more broadly. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,' Musk wrote on X. "Such ingratitude.' Most of Trump's political alliances have had a sell-by date, but his relationship with Musk has been like no other. For Trump, Musk was a force multiplier, magnifying his stature and bringing other billionaires, tech bros and regular bros along with him. But in challenging Trump, and particularly by bringing up his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Musk tests his power over MAGA and puts himself — and his companies — at risk of canceled contracts and potentially even federal government investigations. Trump holds tremendous power over Musk's vast wealth. "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' This was scorched earth, revealing Trump's strong hand and Musk's big weakness. Ultimately, MAGA belongs to Trump. As for the massive bill, it will still likely pass in some form, though Musk has now put a spotlight on the worst parts of it — it adds $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade and is hardly MAGA. Meanwhile, some Democrats have suggested that Musk is a potential free agent and should be courted and brought into the fold. But that would be a mistake. An alliance with Musk is akin to having a tiger by its tail in a very small and crowded tent. There are no good choices and the only certainty is chaos. Nia-Malika Henderson is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion.
Yomiuri Shimbun
13 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
ABC News Suspends Journalist Terry Moran after Post Criticizing Stephen Miller
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on May 1. ABC News on Sunday suspended senior national correspondent Terry Moran after he sharply criticized White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on the social media platform X, the latest flash point in the long-running clash between the Trump administration and the network. 'Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He's a world-class hater,' Moran wrote in the post, which was published early Sunday and later deleted. 'You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.' Moran's post was shared widely on X by conservatives, including press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who wrote that it was 'unhinged and unacceptable.' The White House had contacted the network about the post, she said. Vice President JD Vance also criticized Moran for what he described as an 'absolutely vile smear' and said he should apologize to Miller. By late Sunday morning, the network took action, suspending Moran for violating rules about neutrality in news reporting. 'ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others,' a spokesperson said in a statement. 'The post does not reflect the views of others at ABC News and violated our standards – as a result, Terry Moran has been suspended pending further evaluation.' Moran's suspension is the latest chapter in the conflict between ABC and the Trump administration. In December, the network agreed to pay Donald Trump $15 million to settle a lawsuit he had filed over comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, a decision that drew pushback from journalists and press advocacy organizations. Despite the settlement, Trump has continued to criticize ABC on his Truth Social platform and last month threatened to sue the network once again over its coverage of a luxury Boeing 747-8 jetliner that Qatar is providing for the president to use as Air Force One. The Federal Communications Commission, which is run by Trump-backed chairman Brendan Carr, has also launched an investigation into ABC's parent company, Disney. Moran last interviewed the president in late April to talk about his first 100 days in office. During a tense moment in the interview, Trump claimed that he had never heard of Moran. 'I picked you, Terry, but you're not being very nice,' he said. Trump also said that ABC was 'one of the worst' television networks. 'Trump is a world-class hater,' Moran wrote in his now-deleted post. But he said Trump's 'hatred' is 'only a means to an end.' Moran joined ABC News in 1997. During his lengthy career at the network, he has served as chief White House correspondent (during George W. Bush's administration), Supreme Court correspondent, law and justice correspondent, and chief foreign correspondent, before his current role. The Washington Post has contacted the White House for comment on Moran's suspension. Although it is unusual for television networks to suspend correspondents, Moran's post came at a particularly tense moment in the relationship between the White House and the press. In 2017, ABC News suspended investigative correspondent Brian Ross over what it said was a 'serious error' in his coverage of Michael Flynn, who had been picked as Trump's first national security adviser. Ross left ABC the following year. Trump is still locked in a legal battle with one of ABC's primary competitors, CBS, over an editing decision about a '60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris.
NHK
a day ago
- NHK
Trump: Musk will face serious consequences if he supports Democrats
US President Donald Trump says billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk will have to face "very serious consequences" if he funds opposition Democratic Party candidates in the midterm elections next year. The relationship between Trump and Musk has been deteriorating over a Republican-led bill including tax cuts. Musk served in a key post in the Trump administration before quitting it late last month. In a telephone interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump was asked if he thought his relationship with Musk is over. Trump said, "I would assume so." He criticized Musk for being "very disrespectful" of the office of the president. Citing a senior White House official, Bloomberg reported on Friday that Trump is considering getting rid of the Tesla car he bought to show his solidarity with Musk's electric vehicle firm.
