New Zealand will contribute $150,000 to Red Cross flood relief work in central Vietnam, Acting Foreign Minister, Hon Simon Upton, announced today.

"New Zealand has long-standing linkages with the provinces of central Vietnam which are among Vietnam's poorest and which have suffered the worst flooding in 100 years," Mr Upton said. "Several hundred people have died, and hundreds of thousands have lost their homes and crops, leaving 85 percent of the population without any form of livelihood."

"The New Zealand contribution will be channelled through the International Federation of the Red Cross which has played a major role in the relief effort since disaster struck. The IFRC will also assist with the reconstruction process of the affected area over the next few months," Mr Upton concluded.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>