Latest news with #VietnamesePolice
Free Malaysia Today
25-05-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Vietnam detains man over damage to ancient throne
The central city of Hue was established as the capital of unified Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty. (AFP pic) HANOI : Vietnamese police have detained a man who broke into a history exhibit and damaged an antique throne considered to be one of the nation's most precious artefacts, conservation officials said today. The ornate red-and-gold Nguyen dynasty throne was the royal seat of the last feudal family to rule Vietnam between 1802 and 1945 and has been preserved for posterity in Hue city's Thai Hoa Palace. A 42-year-old man 'snuck into the Nguyen dynasty display area, screamed and then broke the front left armrest' around midday yesterday, a statement from the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre (HMCC) said. In footage circulating on social media and Vietnam news sites purporting to show the incident, the man can be seen sitting cross-legged on the two-century-old throne that is adorned with dragon motifs. He was quickly arrested but showed 'signs of psychosis, screaming, talking nonsense and could not answer the investigator's questions', the HMCC said. Police detained him to conduct a psychiatric assessment, it said, while the throne will be removed for repair and preservation efforts. 'This is an extremely rare incident,' the HMCC statement said. Vietnam's ministry of culture, sports and tourism has asked for an urgent report on the incident. The central city of Hue was established as the capital of unified Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty. It was recognised as a world heritage site by Unesco in 1993 and hosts several ancient palaces, tombs and artefacts.
CNA
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Vietnam orders messaging app Telegram to be blocked, government document shows
HANOI: Vietnam's technology ministry has instructed telecommunication service providers to block the messaging app Telegram for not cooperating in combating alleged crimes committed by its users, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters. The document, dated May 21 and signed by the deputy head of the telecom department at the technology ministry, ordered telecommunication companies to take measures to block Telegram and report on them to the ministry by Jun 2. The ministry asked telecommunication service providers "to deploy solutions and measures to prevent Telegram's activities in Vietnam". The document said the ministry was acting on behalf of the country's cyber-security department after police reported that 68 per cent of the 9,600 Telegram channels and groups in the country violated the law, citing fraud, drug trafficking and " cases suspected of being related to terrorism" among the illegal activities carried out through the app. A technology ministry official confirmed to Reuters the authenticity of the document, noting the move follows Telegram's failure to share user data with the government when asked as part of criminal investigations. The Vietnamese police and state news outlets have repeatedly warned people of possible crime, frauds and data breaches on Telegram channels and groups. Telegram, which competes globally with other social media apps such as Facebook's WhatsApp and WeChat, was still available in Vietnam on Friday (May 23). Vietnam's ruling Communist Party maintains tight media censorship and tolerates little dissent. The country has repeatedly asked companies like Facebook, Google's YouTube and TikTok to coordinate with authorities to stamp out content deemed "toxic", including offensive, false and anti-state content. Telegram is accused of not applying laws that require social media to monitor, remove and block information that violate the law, according to the document. Also, the document said that according to information from the police, "many groups with tens of thousands of participants were created by opposition and reactionary subjects spreading anti-government documents". The free-to-use platform with close to one billion users worldwide has been involved in controversies across the world on security and data breach concerns, including in France where its founder Pavel Durov was briefly detained last year.
