But business is down this year as Vietnam keeps its borders shut.”Because of the pandemic, we aren’t seeing Chinese traders and we mostly sell to domestic traders so the price is very low,” Nguyen Van Thanh, 35, told AFP, adding that half his haul ends up overseas in a normal year.Foreign buyers tend to come directly to the market — just a few hours drive from the Chinese border — during the fruit’s short six-week season.But state media reported last week several hundred from China and Japan had been quarantined for 14 days. Hundreds of lychee farmers sorted and graded huge piles of the tropical fruit at a busy wholesale market in northern Vietnam on Tuesday, but many bemoaned slumping prices as foreign traders were held up in quarantine.After mounting an aggressive response to the coronavirus pandemic, life in the country is back to relative normality and workers clustered together mask-free at dawn in Bac Giang province, their motorbikes fitted with baskets overflowing with the sweet fruit.The communist nation usually exports around 100,000 tons of fresh lychees worth more than $30 million — mostly to China but to Japan, Australia and the US too — each season. Despite authorities saying they would promote domestic consumption, prices have dropped to half of what they were last year.”We have worked hard the whole year… but this is not enough to live on,” said farmer Do Van Toan, 47, who estimated he would earn not more than $4000 this season.Already a major coffee, rice and catfish exporter, Vietnam has in recent years turned its attention to fruit.Last year it exported $3.76 billion worth of fruit and vegetables.So far, Vietnam has officially recorded only 332 cases of the coronavirus, and no deaths.Although some of its borders are open for goods, foreigners — save some specialists and highly-skilled workers — are not permitted to enter.On Tuesday Hanoi said it would look to resume flights with “safe zones” — places that had no new cases for 30 days.
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Trump praises US police, rejecting protesters’ cries of racism
He did explore some of the deeper causes of racial disparities in the world’s richest country, saying that more would be put into healthcare and the ability to raise business capital in minority communities.Later, in an interview with the generally friendly Fox News network, he described the “horror” of watching Floyd’s death on cellphone footage shot by a witness.But critics say he is incapable of embracing broader public fears, pointing to the contrast between shows of empathy from previous presidents during crises and Trump’s instinct for fighting and insulting foes, even in the midst of calamity.”For weeks we’ve seen President Trump run away from a meaningful conversation on systemic racism and police brutality. Instead, he’s further divided our country,” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday.”Today’s trip to Texas won’t change any of that. President Trump is more interested in photo ops than offering a healing voice as our nation mourns.”Despite his poll numbers being underwater five months ahead of election day, Trump is betting that he needn’t change tack.His base has remained loyal throughout the extraordinary turmoil, and he has made clear his priority is getting back on the campaign trail.Immediately after his remarks in Dallas, the president heads to his first campaign fundraiser since the COVID-19 lockdown began — a $580,600 per couple event. Then he flies to his golf course resort in New Jersey for the weekend, another post-COVID first.On June 19 he will restart his mothballed series of rallies — raucous, often two-hour love fests between Trump the entertainer-in-chief and thousands of his most loyal supporters — with an event in Oklahoma. “We have to work together to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear, but we will make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely labeling tens of millions of decent Americans as racist or bigots,” Trump said.The Republican has struggled to find the right tone to address the explosion of protests over the last two weeks in the wake of the death of an unarmed African-American man, George Floyd, as he was arrested in Minneapolis.That crisis, coupled with the economic devastation of the COVID-19 shutdown — and the fact that the pandemic continues to kill up to 1,000 people a day — has left the country crying out for healing.Trump, whose political style is built largely on fierce division and exciting his right-wing base, faced pressure to encourage unity in Dallas. Magnet for controversy Some Americans may want calm after months of rancor, but that’s one thing the former reality TV star is not giving.Even the choice of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for his resumption of rallies generated controversy.June 19 is known as “Juneteenth,” the day marking the end of slavery in the United States. Tulsa, however, is notorious as the site of a 1921 massacre of African-Americans.As he left for Dallas, Trump lambasted Democratic leaders of Washington state, where he said “domestic terrorists” had taken over Seattle, referring to protesters.He also doubled down on his latest culture wars battle, insisting again he will refuse demands to change the names of US military bases honoring leaders of the slave-owning, rebel South during the Civil War.Back in Washington, there were new tensions between the White House and the military when the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley, apologized for appearing alongside Trump during a controversial walk to a church on June 1, minutes after police violently dispersed protesters.”I should not have been there,” Milley said in his unexpected comments. Hitting the trail The choice of Texas for Thursday’s trip was notable because the state — Republican for decades — is turning in to a battleground. Trump won narrowly in 2016 and a Quinnipiac poll last week put him only one percentage point ahead of Biden.In 2016, polls and politics watchers in general got it wrong about Trump, who ran a chaotic campaign against the ultra-professional Hillary Clinton yet still scored a famous electoral college win.This has left many election watchers gun-shy. Even so, current polls make grim reading for the Republican.The FiveThirtyEight average shows Trump’s approval rating at just 41 percent, having taken a big hit from his handling of the COVID-19 and racism crises.The RealClearPolitics average for a presidential election match-up puts Biden at 49.8 to Trump’s 41.7.Worse for Trump — given his hope of repeating his electoral college win, even if losing the overall popular vote — Biden leads in almost every swing state.
Topics : US President Donald Trump on Thursday rebooted his flagging reelection campaign with a speech starkly rejecting nationwide protesters’ claims of police racism, saying only a “few bad apples” are to blame.Far from reaching out to demonstrators’ searing anger, he offered only a vague proposal to “encourage” officers to meet “the most current professional standards for the use of force.””You always have a bad apple, no matter where you go,” said Trump, who is making law and order a new keystone of his bid to win a second term on November 3. “There aren’t too many of them in the police department.”
PostNL builds tailor-made sustainable equity index
He said other investors can also use the index, which comes in addition to the existing MSCI Europe SRI and the MSCI Europe ESG Leaders.PostNL said its index is applicable to all its European equity holdings, which make up approximately a quarter of the scheme’s entire €2.3bn equity portfolio.The tailor-made index consists of about 200 companies, which is sufficient for a diversified portfolio, said Van de Kieft.The concentration risk in the Europe SRI index is too high as approximately 40% of investments had been made in the top 10 firms, it added.“The addition of the climate goal greatly improves diversification as well as reduces carbon emissions,” the chair said, adding that carbon emissions had been important in the selection process of companies as well as their role in health care and affordable and sustainable energy.“The addition of the climate goal greatly improves diversification as well as reduces carbon emissions”René van de Kieft, chair of PostNLHe said the sector allocation of PostNL’s index matches the MSCI Europe, but the scheme’s approach had led to an underweighting of the energy sector, focusing on firms with concrete carbon reduction targets.“As we have excluded some ‘carbon criminals’, CO2 emissions in our index are no more than 20% of the MSCI Europe’s”.Van de Kieft said that, within the sustainable development goal of health and wellbeing, the treatment of important illnesses, the prevention of pollution as well as food are key subjects.Based on treaties and undesired sectors, including tobacco, the new sustainable index has excluded an additional 18% of the broad index, according to the chair, who noted that the index is overweight healthcare (5%) and the industrial sector (3%).He added that the assessment of pharmaceutical companies took, for example, their pricing policy into account.With the introduction of its tailor-made index, PostNL has replaced TKP Investments as its asset manager for its European equity with Northern Trust, as part of Kempen’s fiduciary mandate.PostNL indicated that it also wanted to increase sustainability of other asset classes, including real estate and direct lending.Van de Kieft said: “Because of the COVID-19 crisis, investors can add conditions to direct lending. This enables us to emphasise the importance of sustainability in covenants, and also set additional credit conditions”.To read the digital edition of IPE’s latest magazine click here. The €8.7bn Dutch pension fund PostNL said it had developed its own sustainable index for European equity in collaboration with MSCI.It said the index covered companies with a high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating and had an increased focus on low-carbon firms.“After assessing existing ESG indices, we have opted for a tailor-made one, which offers more leeway to achieving our sustainable development goals and impact investment,” said René van de Kieft, the pension fund’s chair.According to Van de Kieft, the index has been developed in collaboration with MSCI as well as fiduciary manager Kempen Capital Management.
Kiwi health organisations calling for mandatory pregnancy warning labels on alcohol
Stuff co.nz 10 October 2018Family First Comment: Shouldn’t these warnings be for ALL people – and show ALL potential health harms? That’s what we asked the National government to do when they ‘tinkered’ with the laws recently – to no avail.New Zealand women’s apathy towards to the dangers of drinking during pregnancy is strengthening calls from health professionals for mandatory labelling on alcoholic drinks.Research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal earlier this year found almost a quarter of women involved in a cohort study continued to drink in their first trimester despite knowing they were pregnant.The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation, made up of health and primary industry ministers representing the Commonwealth, Australia, and New Zealand, will meet on Thursday to vote on a proposal to make danger stickers mandatory on booze.More than a dozen women’s health stakeholders, including the New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation (NZNO) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, have penned an open letter to forum members urging them to support the proposal.But Brewers Association of New Zealand executive director Dylan Firth said the proposal seemed odd, given most alcohol companies already displayed warning labels on their products.READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/107739538/kiwi-health-organisations-calling-for-mandatory-pregnancy-warning-labels-on-alcohol
SWEET MICKY: Popular musician wins Haiti’s presidential elections
Share Share Share NewsRegional SWEET MICKY: Popular musician wins Haiti’s presidential elections by: – April 5, 2011 PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – Musician Michael “Sweet Micky” Martelly won the presidential election in Haiti according to the preliminary results released late on Monday night.Spokesman for the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), Pierre Thibault said Martelly had received nearly 68 per cent of the votes cast in the March 20 second round runoff and easily defeating former first lady and law professor Mirlande Manigat.The announcement of his victory was greeted by loud noisy celebrations and Martelly, who was nearly not involved in the second round after having first been declared a third place winner in the November 28 first round of balloting, is promising profound change for Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere.He is vowing to provide free education in a country where more than half the children can’t afford school and to create economic opportunity amid almost universal unemployment.Martelly thanked voters in a brief statement on his Twitter account: “We’ll work for all Haitians. Together we can do it.” He has promised to hold a news conference on Tuesday, while Manigat has not commented on the polls.The president elect is the son of an oil company executive, who grew up in Carrefour, part of the dense urban mass that makes up the capital.He attended a prestigious Roman Catholic school in Port-au-Prince and junior colleges in the United States, though he never graduated. But he found his calling and became a household name in the country through his music, Kompas, the country’s high-energy music.Martelly, who has never held political office, had trailed Manigat in the first-round election in November that was marred by voter irregularities, fraud and street demonstrations.He was put into the second round after the candidate of the party headed by outgoing President Rene Preval was dropped by the CEP following a fresh recount of the ballots. Martelly’s campaign gained momentum in the second round and many voters seemed enchanted with his lack of political experience in a country where the government has failed to provide many basic services.Martelly will face a number of challenges in Haiti still recovering from the powerful earthquake in January last year that killed an estimated 300,000 people and left more than one million others homeless.In addition, a cholera outbreak last October has killed more than 4,000 people. The CEP has said that the final results are due to be released April 16.Source: Cana News
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DSWD, DOLE urged to intensify anti-illegal recruitment campaign
Penalty of life imprisonment shall beimposed if illegal recruitment constitutes economic sabotage, wherein asyndicate or a group of three persons or more conspired to commit the activity,as stated in Rule IV, Section 5 of Republic Act 10022./PN “I used the word ‘general’ because Iam sending (Social Welfare secretary Rolando Bautista) a message now that youhave to do more. Since you are a military man, then I hope you can come up witha structure, a bigger one to go after itongrecruitment, and so goes for the (DOLE) and everybody,” Duterte said. President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursdayordered the two agencies to intensify the government’s anti-illegal recruitmentcampaign to ensure the welfare of the overseas Filipino workers. “Kayongmga recruiter, I am putting you on thelevel na parang shabu rin,” he said. “Galit ako talaga sa mga recruiter na ginawang g*** ang Pinoy.Diyan ako galit, at puwede talaga kitang patayin sa nangyayari saPilipino.” Earlier this year, Duterte vowed toestablish an executive department that would handle matters concerning Filipinomigrant workers by December and to put the recruitment of Filipinos undergovernment supervision, arguing that the practice has been “abused” by privatefirms. Overseas Filipino workers from Kuwait arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. Recently, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Labor and Employment were tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to have a crackdown on illegal recruiters, arguing that the practice has been “abused” by private firms. JONATHAN CELLONA/ABS-CBN NEWS “My orders are really to get them. Youshould know where to fish for them… You know illegal recruitment isnon-bailable. Well, sometimes it’s a very sad thing to be here knowing thatthere are still plenty of Filipinos going abroad,” he added. Illegal recruitment is any act ofcanvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring, orprocuring workers for employment abroad when undertaken by non-licensee ornon-holder of authority. Manila – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and theDepartment of Labor and Employment (DOLE) were recently tasked to have acrackdown on illegal recruiters.
EPL: Saints, Villa battle to escape relegation
RelatedPosts Runarsson joins Arsenal on four-year deal EPL: Saints tackle Mourinho’s Spurs Martinez completes £20m Aston Villa move Southampton vs. Aston Villa Venue: St. Mary’s Stadium Kick off: 4PMSouthampton welcome Aston Villa to St Mary’s this afternoon in the Premier League, with both sides looking to steer themselves away from the relegation zone. The Saints lost their last game to Burnley in bizarre circumstances, while Villa suffered a last-minute defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Southampton have enjoyed an impressive revival in recent weeks under Ralph Hassenhuttl, but are still not totally guaranteed of safety at this stage. Consecutive losses mean they are just seven points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United, while they have won just once in their last four league fixtures. They have also picked up just 11 points at St Mary’s all season, winning three times – a statistic they will be hoping to improve on this Saturday. Southampton have also conceded more goals at home than any other side in the division, with 30 goals scored against them at St Mary’s in 13 matches. However, their away form has been outstanding, with one of their six wins on the road coming against Aston Villa just before Christmas. Dean Smith will have been livid after watching his side concede three sloppy goals in their loss to Spurs at Villa Park on Sunday. A Bjorn Engels error allowed Heung-Min Son to seal the win, but Villa also showed some good attacking play and still scored twice against one of the league’s best sides. Tyrone Mings will return to the starting lineup ahead of Saturday’s meeting which should help bring more security at the back, but the absence of Wesley and John McGinn has been hurting their attacking play. Villa have picked up just eight points on the road all season, managing two wins and conceding 26 goals. Southampton possible XI: McCarthy, Valery, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand, Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Djenepo, Ings, Long. Aston Villa possible XI: Reina, Konsa, Mings, Hause, Guilbert, Nakamba, Luiz, Targett, El Ghazi, Samatta, Grealish.Tags: Aston VillaRalph HaaaenhuttlSouthampton
Rooney no longer Ferguson’s problem
United look set, however, to confirm the future of defender Rio Ferdinand early next week. Press Association Sport understands negotiations over a new deal are at an advanced stage and provided there are no unforeseen hitches, an official announcement will be made. Before then United travel to West Brom for Ferguson’s 1500th and final game in charge of United, bringing an end to a quite amazing career in which he has won a staggering 13 Premier League titles. Now it falls to Moyes to carry on that winning tradition, with Ferguson certain the club’s expanding commercial operation will not get in the way. “The priority is the football team,” he said. “Without the football team they wouldn’t have all the sponsorships. “Everyone knows that here.” Rooney has asked to leave Manchester United this summer even though he still has two years on his contract remaining. Ferguson revealed last week the request had been turned down, and, along with Gary Neville, advised the England forward to get away during the summer, get his head sorted out and return refreshed. The matter is not quite so simple, as United will not want to allow the 27-year-old to drift beyond the summer without some kind of clear vision of his future. However, as Ferguson acknowledged, it is not his problem any more, saying: “I’m no longer interested in that. Quite rightly, David is going to deal with it. I am happy with that.” Sir Alex Ferguson is content to leave the problem of what to do about Wayne Rooney to new manager David Moyes.
Press Association
Schmidt undergoes surgery after win
Press Association Joe Schmidt was rushed to hospital and had his appendix removed straight after Ireland’s 26-23 victory over Australia in Dublin on Saturday. Ireland’s head coach delayed medical attention to guide his side to their first autumn Test series clean sweep in eight years, before being rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital. The former schoolteacher was admitted and underwent surgery on Saturday night and is now recuperating, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has confirmed. 
“Following yesterday’s game against Australia, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt was assessed by the match-day doctors and was sent to St Vincent’s Hospital for further assessment,” read an IRFU statement. “On Saturday night Joe had his appendix removed and is recovering well this morning. “Joe would like to thank the doctors and nurses of St Vincent’s Hospital and everyone for their well wishes and kind messages of support.” Former Leinster boss Schmidt kept his counsel over his illness on Saturday despite his condition apparently worsening throughout the day. Simon Zebo and Tommy Bowe claimed tries while Johnny Sexton booted 16 points to secure Ireland’s seventh consecutive victory, Nick Phipps’ brace and a further score for Bernard Foley not enough for the Wallabies. Ireland assistant coach Les Kiss said boss Schmidt had “toughed out the day” in typically understated fashion. “He had some pretty bad stomach pains through the day,” said Kiss. “He toughed out the day in true Joe style.” Ireland captain Paul O’Connell said without prior knowledge no one would have realised Schmidt was battling a nasty illness. “Guys were aware he was sick, he was kind of stand-off-ish, he was worried about passing on anything he had,” said O’Connell. “If you hadn’t have been told, I don’t think anyone would have known.” 
Outgoing interim Alan Curtis gives Francesco Guidolin Swansea backing
“You can’t have a joint managership – it’s got to be one or other and I’m quite happy for Francesco to have that,” Curtis said. “I will have far better knowledge of these players than Francesco and I’m readily available to pass on that information. “But my concentration was on the game tonight and the win was massive. “We talked about the need to pick up three points. “I thought in the first half we were excellent and over the course of the 90 minutes we deserved it. “We got a bit edgy in the second half but that’s more because of the situation we find ourselves in.” Watford have now suffered four straight league defeats and failed to win in five games. The Hornets only came to life in the second half but were unable to cancel out Ashley Williams’ 27th-minute header. “I think we are not happy with the first half,” said manager Quique Sanchez Flores. “In the second half, we were good. We played football, but we need to accept the result. “This is football. You never know when you will win lose or draw. “This is the Premier League. We have just come up. We have lots reasons to be happy. “When we had four wins in a row we were humble. “I don’t like to lose but we need to accept the results – and we have enough points to be positive.” Alan Curtis passed over the Swansea baton to Francesco Guidolin saying the Italian has the experience to turn performances into points. Interim manager Curtis closed his reign in charge of team affairs with a 1-0 victory over Watford, which takes Swansea above Newcastle and out of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone. Curtis will remain part of the Swansea set-up but Guidolin’s appointment as head coach was confirmed before kick-off and the former Udinese boss had a watching brief from the stand as the Welsh club recorded only their third win in 18 league games. “I’ve always said I was quite happy (to step aside) if the club thought it was necessary to bring someone in,” Curtis said after securing a second victory in seven league attempts after succeeding Garry Monk in December. “If we had won more games, then possibly, that might not have been needed. “I think the performances have been excellent but we haven’t had the results those performances warranted. “We could have been four, five, six, or even seven points, further on. “But by bringing in an experienced coach we can turn those performances into points. “Sometimes you maybe need that managerial experience at the top level to get the points that go with the performances.” Curtis said club chairman Huw Jenkins had told him about Guidolin’s arrival after the players had trained on Sunday, and that he has yet to meet the Italian in person. Guidolin, 60, has brought in former Chelsea midfielder Gabriele Ambrosetti to assist him and Curtis said it was a set-up capable of saving Swansea from the drop. Press Association