- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
'Unbearable': Vietnam airport construction dust blankets homes, school
A thick layer of dust from the construction of a huge airport in Vietnam has been blanketing nearby neighbourhoods for months, staining everything from trees to homes to schoolchildren's uniforms a sickly shade of red.
Located 40 kilometres from southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City, the four-runway Long Thanh airport -- which will be the country's largest -- is forecast to transport 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of cargo annually once finished.
But after heavy construction work began earlier this year, residents as far as 10 kilometres from the site have been living under billowing clouds of dust, prompting fears for their health and anger over the disruption caused to their lives.
"It has been unbearable. The red dust is just everywhere in our community," said Tran Minh Hoang, who lives in Dong Nai province's Binh Son district.
Hoang, 59, begins each day hosing down his front yard to get rid of the muck, but the dust was so severe that he resorted to wrapping a fine nylon net around the entire front section of the house.
"It has helped a little," he told AFP.
His wife, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Hanh, said they had kept their one-year-old grandson almost entirely indoors for months.
"We cannot force him to wear a face mask. So it's better to limit his time outdoors," Hanh said.
A thick coating of dust could be seen in the yard of local schools, while pictures on state media showed textbooks, classrooms and children's uniforms had turned red after a school day.
Nguyen Van Chanh, 70, said the chairs, bowls and dishes in his kitchen were covered, as was his laundry.
- Project delays -
Inside the enormous construction site, scores of trucks could be seen motoring to and fro, stirring up the red earth.
Inspections by the local environment department showed dust pollution at the site reached highs of up to 18 times the permitted levels, state media reported.
Local authorities have "reported the issue and demanded the environment ministry conduct an inspection over the compliance of environmental regulations at the site", state media said.
According to the initial plan, the first phase of the project -- aiming to serve 25 million passengers a year -- was due to be finished by around 2025.
But Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) recently told the government the deadline would be pushed to 2026.
The completion of the airport, which will span 5,000 hectares and cost an estimated $16 billion, will likely be many years after that.
After complaints from residents and local authorities, investors and contractors deployed several trucks to dampen the ground in a bid to reduce the amount of dust in the air.
"The measure has not been effective as the site area is too big," project head Do Tat Binh admitted to state media.
For Hanh, the building of the airport had been something she'd looked forward to, hoping it would make the neighbourhood better connected.
"We were so happy at first when we knew there would be a huge airport in this area. But now we have become sick of it."
A.Leibowitz--CPN