MANILA, Philippines — The second typhoon in a week battered the rain-soaked northern Philippines on Saturday, adding misery to thousands of people, some of whom still perched on rooftops while several other Asian nations also reeled from flooding. Typhoon Nalgae slammed ashore midmorning Saturday south of northeastern Palanan Bay in Isabela province with winds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour and dangerous gusts of 121 mph (195 kph). Read full article > >

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Asia reels under floods as 2nd typhoon this week hits rain-soaked Philippines

Many in Northern Virginia’s sizable Vietnamese community were shocked last month when the popular Eden Center shopping mall in Falls Church was swarmed by the regional gang task force and 19 people were arrested on misdemeanor charges, mostly illegal gambling. But it got more tense the next day, when the task force held a news conference to declare that Eden Center was paralyzed by gang activity, particularly by the “Dragon Family,” and that shootings, stabbings and extortion were prevalent. At least one television report led with an image of the South Vietnamese flag above the headline “Criminal Gang Activity,” which outraged those who see the flag as a sacred symbol of their lost homeland. Read full article > >

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Tensions rise in Falls Church after gang task force raids Eden Center

Many in Northern Virginia’s sizable Vietnamese community were shocked last month when the popular Eden Center shopping mall in Falls Church was swarmed by the regional gang task force and 19 people were arrested on misdemeanor charges, mostly illegal gambling. But it got more tense the next day, when the task force held a news conference to declare that Eden Center was paralyzed by gang activity, particularly by the “Dragon Family,” and that shootings, stabbings and extortion were prevalent. At least one television report led with an image of the South Vietnamese flag above the headline “Criminal Gang Activity,” which outraged those who see the flag as a sacred symbol of their lost homeland. Read full article > >

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Tensions rise in Falls Church after gang task force raids Eden Center

The disclosure of the Pentagon Papers four decades ago stands as one of the most significant leaks of classified material in American history. Ever since, in the eyes of the government, the voluminous record of U.S. involvement in Vietnam has remained something else: classified. In the Byzantine realm of government record-keeping, publication of a document in the country’s biggest newspapers, including this one, does not mean declassification. Despite the release of multiple versions of the Pentagon Papers, no complete, fully unredacted text has ever been publicly disclosed. Read full article > >

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Pentagon Papers to be declassified at last

Hundreds of Vietnamese turn out in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to protest against Chinese naval operations in the disputed South China Sea.

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Vietnam protests over S China Sea

Members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club are among scores of volunteers who spend time making sure the Vietnam Veterans Memorial looks its best. Read full article > >

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Washing the Wall

Members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club are among scores of volunteers who spend time making sure the Vietnam Veterans Memorial looks its best. Read full article > >

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Washing the Wall

The local chapter of the Boozefighters Motorcycle club, which counts many veterans among its members, cleans the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials twice a year as part of a tribute to their fallen brethren. They are among many veterans groups that volunteer their time to clean the memorials. Read full article > >

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Respecting the fallen by cleaning the Vietnam War Memorial

The local chapter of the Boozefighters Motorcycle club, which counts many veterans among its members, cleans the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials twice a year as part of a tribute to their fallen brethren. They are among many veterans groups that volunteer their time to clean the memorials. Read full article > >

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Respecting the fallen by cleaning the Vietnam War Memorial

The US and South Korea will investigate claims by Vietnam veterans that dozens of barrels of Agent Orange were dumped in Korea in 1978.

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US to help Agent Orange inquiry

HANOI, Vietnam — Fifteen people, including five children, were reported missing and feared dead in southern Vietnam after a double-decker tour boat capsized amid strong winds during a child’s birthday party, an official said Saturday. Several people, including two Chinese passengers, managed to swim to safety following Friday evening’s incident, said Le Van Hieu, chief of Binh Nham village in Binh Duong province, some 19 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. He said a family was having the party while cruising the Saigon River. The boat was only about 100 yards (meters) away from the terminal when it went down at around 7 p.m. Read full article > >

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15 people missing, feared dead after double-decker boat sinks in Vietnam during birthday party

Virginia Beach — In 1982, the third time Tuyen Vu and her husband tried to escape from communist Vietnam, they squeezed into the bottom of a crowded fishing boat, feeding their small son and daughter sleeping pills to keep them quiet. But the engine died 150 miles off the coast. As a storm brewed and other refugees frantically bailed water, Vu curled up with her infant son, sure they would die. Then Corwin “Al” Bell, captain of the USS Morton, spotted their boat and, defying orders, took 52 exhausted men, women and children on board. Read full article > >

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For Vietnamese family, an emotional rescue and reunion

Vietnam is setting up a nature reserve to protect one of the world’s rarest animals – an antelope-like creature called the saola.

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New reserve for ‘Asian unicorn’

In the Coen brothers’ movie thriller “No Country for Old Men,” a grisly scene plays out in El Paso, Texas. Having discovered a bag of cash from a drug deal gone bad, a veteran recently returned from Vietnam ends up crossing the border into Mexico and fleeing a psychotic hit man before ultimately getting shot-up in a motel room.

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Opinion: Mexico violence is U.S. problem

1) ” Anatomy of an Afghan War Tragedy ,” by David Cloud, in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times.  This is the most vivid recent rendering of a truth that in our bones we all understand: that the most technologically advanced, complex, and “sophisticated” new U.S. combat tools are ill-matched to the realities of a mountainous, pre-modern society with no obvious battle lines or clear distinctions between friend and foe. Read this story before your next discussion on whether American strategy can “succeed” in Afghanistan. Read and weep. Illustration from the LAT site: 2) ” M ,” by John Sack, published in Esquire forty-five years ago with the cover line, “Oh My God — We Hit a Little Girl!” Bonus question/current-events IQ test: See if you can guess why I am suggesting reading these two stories back to back. This John Sack article, which I remember seeing as a teenager, is part of a wonderful Esquire project of putting ” The 7 Greatest Stories in the History of Esquire Magazine ” on line, in their entirety. Congrats to Esquire’s Tim Heffernan for this effort, and to the Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf for the tip to it, via his The Best of Journalism site.  ___ Can’t say it often enough: by far the best way to read these long online essays is with  Instapaper , which sends beautifully and readably formatted versions to your iPad, Kindle, portable computer, etc. More about it here .

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Two Stories to Read Today