Latest news with #NinhBinh
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
I'm terrified of rabies, my Gen Z daughter fears climate change. Why anxiety is generational
Last month, I was convinced I had rabies. I didn't have any symptoms, or I'd hardly be sitting here writing this, but I was getting occasional intrusive flashes of panic that I was incubating the dread, 100-per cent-fatal virus that can first show symptoms months after exposure. My partner and I had been on holiday in Vietnam a few weeks before. As we were leaving a guesthouse in Ninh Binh, a friendly pet puppy skittered up behind me and lightly nipped my leg through my trousers. Now, there is rabies in Vietnam – 82 people died of it in 2023 – and you don't only get it from street dogs; it lurks even in puppies who seem playful. I weighed the evidence. I hadn't been vaccinated against rabies; most tourists don't bother because the jabs are expensive, and there is a 'post exposure' option if you do interact with a rabid animal. But because the skin on my leg hadn't been broken, I decided I was almost certainly going to be okay, carried on with my holiday, and basically forgot about it. Then, a few weeks after our return, the news was full of the terrible story of Yvonne Ford, a 59-year-old woman from Barnsley, who had died from rabies after being scratched by a puppy while on holiday in Morocco in February. Only scratched! Ford had started experiencing symptoms just two weeks prior to her death on June 11. Upon reading this, I started to worry – albeit in a controlled way. Should I get the 'post infection' set of jabs which would save me from certain death if I had been exposed? Was it worth the not insignificant £500 this would cost? Or should I just live with the very tiny risk? To add to my squirming brain, around this time there was a hostile incident between India and Pakistan, which the media always helpfully refer to as 'nuclear powers.' This brought back my teenage fear of nuclear war, of dying slowly of radiation sickness, as fed by such terrifying 1980s fare as the films Threads and The Day After. It really was Apocalypse Bingo for a while there, earlier this summer. I talked to my daughter, Annabel, 22, about what she made of my paranoias, and we started to explore the subject more deeply. I shared my Generation X fears: nuclear war, Aids – back in the day, at least – and rabies. (Who could forget those scary public information campaigns and screaming, red La Rage posters on cross-channel ferries?) Annabel, who is firmly Generation Z, told me she was worried about her economic future, 'brain aneurysms and freak deaths – I think this definitely comes from reading too much health journalism,' but most of all, climate change. 'Fears about climate change do occasionally keep me up at night,' she said. 'The heatwaves have been making me worried about the coming decades. It is clearly already happening. I think due to modern life we all forget how reliant we are upon the environment. Although the anxiety maybe isn't productive, I do think we should all be more concerned about climate change.' Why anxiety sticks with us I asked Owen O'Kane, a psychotherapist and the author of the bestselling book Addicted to Anxiety, what he made of all this. To a certain extent, the 'flavour' of our fears is due to what was making headlines at a formative period in our lives, he believes. 'Fashions change and we go through phases, your experience as an early adult stays with you,' he says. 'News headlines certainly don't help. The people who write them go for the worst-case scenario, the most catastrophic outcome. If you are anxious by nature, your 'anxious self' will gravitate towards these headlines.' If you tend towards anxiety, these more dramatic incidents are likely to affect you compared with an individual who is more sanguine. 'Anxious people are responsible people and they care deeply about things,' says O'Kane. 'They have a healthy altruistic core.' The problem, however, is that there's a risk anxiety can affect your life in a negative way. 'Your anxiety is like a watch guard, looking for a potential threat, and you might suddenly fixate on this threat,' says O'Kane. 'For example, a teenager might see a photo of a field of fire, and start worrying about climate change after a period of not thinking about it.' At heart, says O'Kane, anxiety is all about how much a person can tolerate the uncertainty of everyday life. 'To be worried is useful and has a function, to some degree,' he says. 'But it becomes a problem if we become obsessive, or avoid going out, for example. Every person has to do a cost-benefit analysis – where the price is not leading your life, and you become 'addicted' to your anxiety.' These days, says O'Kane, many people are 'frightened of our own shadow. 'The presentation and triggers are different, but these existential fears are actually our psyche asking fundamental questions: 'Will I get ill?', 'Will I die?', 'Will anyone help me?' 'Will I cope?'' And for our children's generation, the triggers are everywhere. 'People who are now in midlife didn't have social media,' says O'Kane. 'There was less exposure to world events. Yes, we knew there were wars and starvation and plane crashes; we were not unaware of these. But young people have a more elevated awareness of what's going on globally. It's not surprising that there are heightened levels of anxiety in Generation Z.' How social media fuels modern fears Annabel agrees with this analysis. 'Most of my fears are because of the news and social media, which allow little nuggets of anxiety to interrupt your day,' she says. 'Your phone pops up and it's another thing to be worried about, because that's what we engage with.' O'Kane suggests that anxieties can fluctuate, both in a negative way – in that they become harmful phobias – but also in a positive way, in that you can learn to manage and overcome them. I certainly concur with this: my teens and 20s were a mass of health anxieties, usually involving dread neurological diseases, all without a logical explanation. As I grew up, I learnt to keep a lid on these worries and defuse them. So, how did I resolve my rabies scare? First of all, I looked up the statistics of how many people had died of rabies in the UK after a foreign trip: six people between 2000 and 2024. I spoke to my sister-in-law, a GP, who reiterated my chance of contracting the virus was infinitesimal. I then texted the guesthouse in Vietnam, who told me the puppy had been vaccinated against rabies and was healthy. (I have to assume they were telling the truth.) As I received this reply, I was looking at my phone while crossing a road and almost got hit by a car. When I related the above to O'Kane, I was thrilled to have passed his 'healthy response' test. 'The situation was that you were bitten by a dog and there was rabies in the area,' he says. 'It's not dissimilar to how people felt during Covid. I wouldn't describe this as an irrational fear, but a 'situational one'. 'The context of your worry was normal and your parameters went up, you identified the trigger,' he says. 'Someone less prone to worry than you would have made the decision this was low risk and not worried at all afterwards. But you did the healthy thing for you – looked at the broader evidence, weighed it up, and let it go. You were able to acknowledge you could tolerate the worry. Someone more prone to worry would have been googling furiously, or have gone for the vaccinations.' O'Kane is at pains to point out that not all anxieties should be dismissed. 'I'm not saying you should tolerate all uncertainty, and there are useful, functional worries,' he says. 'For example, if you've had unsafe sex with someone you know is HIV positive, you should take the sensible medical approach and seek treatment.' And in less critical situations, we can lower our exposure to worrying material. 'I've gone off social media, and I'm feeling a bit better about everything,' says Annabel. 'It was overwhelming though, because there's so much online encouragement to optimise and do better – very Gen Z.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
Free Malaysia Today
23-07-2025
- Climate
- Free Malaysia Today
Tropical Storm Wipha makes landfall in Vietnam amid heavy rains in Philippines
Wipha hit the northern Vietnamese provinces of Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa today with wind speeds of up to 74kph. (AP pic) HANOI : Tropical Storm Wipha weakened after making landfall in northern Vietnam today, with authorities on alert due to heavy rains that could cause flooding and mudslides, as the Philippines struggled with monsoon downpours that began last week. Wipha hit the northern provinces of Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa early this afternoon with wind speeds of up to 74kph, slowing from around 100kph on its approach, the national weather forecasting agency said. With a long coastline facing the South China Sea, Vietnam is prone to typhoons that are often deadly and Wipha is the first major storm to hit this year. Heavy rains of up to 50cm were forecast to continue until tomorrow morning, and authorities warned people to watch out for landslides in mountainous areas and flooding in urban areas. Around 350,000 soldiers were put on standby. Prime minister Pham Minh Chinh had put coastal provinces on emergency footing as Wipha neared, with residents nervous after the devastation of Typhoon Yagi, which last year killed around 300 people and caused US$3.3 billion of damage. 'I have learnt from last year's mistakes, when we underestimated Yagi,' Ngo Van Thuong, a 40-year-old warehouse manager in Ha Long City, told Reuters as the storm neared. 'Doorways and roofs are places that need more attention, and, since yesterday, I have also put sandbags on top of the roof,' Thuong said. A fishing boat in Quang Ninh province capsized early today, but all nine of the fishermen on board were saved, the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported. Airlines cancelled and rescheduled dozens of flights, and some airport, port and train services were suspended, though state media reported that airports in Quang Ninh and Haiphong had resumed operations this afternoon. Photos on state media showed empty streets in the capital Hanoi, where many workplaces were closed today, including the US embassy. 'We haven't forgotten about Yagi, and have taken extra measures to cope with Wipha,' said a resident of Cat Ba Island in Haiphong. Flooding, closures in Philippines In the Philippines, Wipha has intensified already torrential monsoon rains, triggering knee to waist-deep flooding across parts of the country and forcing a second day of school closures, flight cancellations and the suspension of government work. Thousands of families remain in evacuation centres as relentless rains, which swept through the country's north last week, continue to batter the country. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, currently on an official visit to the US, said government agencies had been mobilised to provide assistance. 'Relief goods are ready and are being delivered to affected areas, along with medical teams,' Marcos said in a recorded message. 'We're ensuring transport, electricity, and water supplies are stable for those affected.' On Sunday, Wipha, then at full typhoon strength, barrelled across Hong Kong and southern China. As the storm passed Hong Kong, more than 110mm of rain fell within three hours and maximum wind gusts exceeded 167kph at some points, prompting authorities to issue their highest storm warning.
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Tropical Storm Wipha makes landfall in Vietnam; heavy rains persist in Philippines
HANOI/MANILA, July 22 (Reuters) - Tropical storm Wipha weakened after making landfall in northern Vietnam on Tuesday, with authorities on alert due to heavy rains that could cause flooding and mudslides, as the Philippines struggled with monsoon downpours that began last week. Wipha hit the northern provinces of Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa early on Tuesday afternoon with wind speeds of up to 74 kph (46 mph), slowing from around 100 kph on its approach, the national weather forecasting agency said. With a long coastline facing the South China Sea, Vietnam is prone to typhoons that are often deadly and Wipha is the first major storm to hit this year. Heavy rains of up to 50 cm (20 inches) were forecast to continue until Wednesday morning, and authorities warned people to watch out for landslides in mountainous areas and flooding in urban areas. Around 350,000 soldiers were put on standby. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had put coastal provinces on emergency footing as Wipha neared, with residents nervous after the devastation of Typhoon Yagi, which last year killed around 300 people and caused $3.3 billion of damage. "I have learnt from last year's mistakes, when we underestimated Yagi," Ngo Van Thuong, a 40-year-old warehouse manager in Ha Long City, told Reuters as the storm neared. "Doorways and roofs are places that need more attention, and, since yesterday, I have also put sandbags on top of the roof," Thuong said. A fishing boat in Quang Ninh province capsized early on Tuesday, but all nine of the fishermen on board were saved, the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported. Airlines cancelled and rescheduled dozens of flights, and some airport, port and train services were suspended, though state media reported that airports in Quang Ninh and Haiphong had resumed operations on Tuesday afternoon. Photos on state media showed empty streets in the capital in Hanoi, where many workplaces were closed on Tuesday, including the U.S. embassy. "We haven't forgotten about Yagi, and have taken extra measures to cope with Wipha," said a resident of Cat Ba Island in Haiphong. In the Philippines, Wipha has intensified already torrential monsoon rains, triggering knee- to waist-deep flooding across parts of the country and forcing a second day of school closures, flight cancellations and the suspension of government work. Thousands of families remain in evacuation centres as relentless rains, which swept through the country's north last week, continue to batter the country. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., currently on an official visit to the United States, said government agencies had been mobilised to provide assistance. "Relief goods are ready and are being delivered to affected areas, along with medical teams," Marcos said in a recorded message. "We're ensuring transport, electricity, and water supplies are stable for those affected." On Sunday, Wipha, then at full typhoon strength, barrelled across Hong Kong and southern China. As the storm passed Hong Kong, more than 110 mm of rain fell within three hours and maximum wind gusts exceeded 167 kph at some points, prompting authorities to issue their highest storm warning.
The Independent
21-07-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Updated travel advice for anyone visiting Vietnam
Storm Wipha is forecast to make landfall in northern Vietnam on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and potential flooding. The UK Foreign Office has warned travellers to expect significant disruption, advising adherence to local authority guidance. Key tourist areas such as Ha Long Bay, Ha Noi, and Ninh Binh are expected to be affected as Wipha brings gusts up to 73mph. Airlines, including Vietnam Airlines, have cancelled flights on Monday and Tuesday in anticipation of the storm. Vietnam's Prime Minister has issued an emergency directive, setting the national disaster risk level at Level 3, following a recent boat capsizing incident that killed 35 people.
Reuters
21-07-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Vietnamese coastal provinces on emergency footing as Typhoon Wipha nears
HANOI, July 21 (Reuters) - Vietnam's Prime Minister put coastal provinces on emergency footing for Typhoon Wipha, saying it could cause flooding and landslides, as airlines cancelled flights ahead of the storm's expected landfall early on Tuesday. Wipha is expected to complicate the search for people still missing after a tourist boat capsized during a thunderstorm in Halong Bay in northern Vietnam on Saturday, killing more than 30 people. The storm is forecast to cross Vietnam's northern coast between Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh provinces and the national weather agency has said it is carrying heavy rains that could cause dangerous floods and mudslides. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent an urgent message to coastal provinces on Sunday night to call boats ashore, evacuate people from flood-prone areas, prepare food supplies and rescue equipment and secure communication infrastructure. "This is a strong and fast-moving typhoon," Chinh's message said, adding that Wipha might cause flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas and floods in urban areas. Vietnam Airlines ( opens new tab and its affiliate, Pacific Airlines, have cancelled at least 9 domestic flights on Monday, the country's flag carrier said late on Sunday, adding that more delays and reschedules are expected. Budget airline Vietjet ( opens new tab on Monday cancelled 12 flights, including some to South Korea, due to the typhoon. With a long coastline facing the South China Sea, Vietnam is prone to typhoons that are often deadly. Last year, Typhoon Yagi killed around 300 people and caused $3.3 billion of damage. Over the weekend, Wipha hit Hong Kong, felling trees and scaffolding and forcing over 200 people to seek refuge at temporary shelters.
