HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam and Russia signed a deal to build a nuclear power plant in Vietnam as the Southeast Asian country revives its nuclear plans with hopes of boosting energy security while curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
The deal for the Ninh Thuan 1 plant, reported by Vietnamese state media, comes after two similar projects were shelved in 2016 over rising costs and safety issues.
The agreement was signed Monday during Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s visit to Moscow, where he met his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin. The two countries described the plant as a “symbolic project” of their friendship, according to Vietnam’s official government newspaper.
The new plant also fits with Vietnam's ambitions to become rich by 2050 by growing into Asia’s next “tiger economy."
The deal outlines plans to build two Russian-designed reactors with a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts, which are based on an existing plant in Russia.
Concerns over energy security have sharpened since the war in Iran triggered a global energy shortage, raising the cost of imported fossil fuels and adding urgency to Hanoi’s search for stable, long-term power sources.
Across Southeast Asia, fast-growing economies are turning to nuclear power for cleaner, more reliable energy. Advocates say it offers lower emissions than coal, oil and gas, while newer technology has made reactors safer, smaller and cheaper to build.
Beyond nuclear energy, Monday's meeting in Moscow included discussion of expanding cooperation in oil and gas, technology and infrastructure.
Vietnam and Russia have maintained ties since 1950, rooted in the Cold War. But economic links remain modest. Trade rose from $3.63 billion in 2023 to $4.77 billion in 2025, far below Vietnam’s trade with China and the United States.
Russia remains a key arms supplier, though Hanoi is seeking to diversify.
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Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, second left and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, second right, applaud at a signing ceremony of agreements during Chinh’s official visit in Moscow, Russia, March. 23, 2026. (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, right and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, hug during Chinh’s official visit in Moscow, Russia, March. 23, 2026. (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, standing left and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, standing right, witness a signing ceremony of agreements during Chinh’s official visit in Moscow, Russia, March. 23, 2026. (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)
BERLIN (AP) — Rescue teams in northern Germany are working to refloat a humpback whale stranded in shallow water in the Baltic Sea, racing against time in an effort to save its life.
Experts gathered Tuesday morning on the Timmendorfer Strand beach to find a way to get the 10-meter-long (30-feet-long) mammal off the ground after the high tide around midnight was not sufficient for the animal to swim free, German news agency dpa reported.
Earlier rescue efforts on Monday afternoon with police boats, inflatable boats and the help of firefighter drones guiding the rescue efforts were also unsuccessful.
The animal is still alive, breathing, making sounds and occasionally lifting its head, Carsten Mannheimer of the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd told dpa.
So far, all rescue efforts have proven difficult.
Rescuers initially managed to turn the whale so its head was pointing toward deeper water, hoping it could find its own way back there, but the animal then turned back to its previous position. Boats from the coast guard and the fire department passed by, creating large waves in the hope of freeing the animal — but also without success, German public broadcaster NDR reported.
The animal, which weighs several tons, cannot actively be pulled back into deeper water because it could be seriously injured in the process, experts said.
“If the whale can’t get off the beach, it’s a death sentence for the animal,” Sven Biertümpfel of Sea Shepherd told NDR, adding that the whale’s condition is deteriorating by the hour.
Experts assume that the whale is a young male, as males, unlike females, tend to migrate. It also seems to be the same whale that has been spotted several times in the port of Wismar in eastern Germany in recent weeks.
It was not immediately clear why the whale got stranded, but rescuers found parts of a fishing net wrapped around the body of the whale, which they managed to cut off.
In the meantime, police cordoned off the beach area with construction fences to keep a large crowd of onlookers at bay.
"It is very important that the animal does not become even more stressed,” police spokesperson Ulli Fritz Gerlach said.
Standing at a distance from the scene, strollers were out and about on the beach, moved by the struggle of the whale.
“Poor thing. I hope he can still be saved,” said Stefan Stauch, who had come with his wife from the nearby village of Scharbeutz. He said they had heard the whale's sounds during the night.
“We had hoped that the rising tide during the night would free him, but that didn’t work out.”
A cost guard boat patrols near a whale which washed up on the beach on the Baltic coast near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)
People from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research observe a whale washed up on the beach on the Baltic coast near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)
Rescue workers try to bring a whale stranded on the Baltic Sea coast back into deep water, near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Jens Büttner/dpa via AP)
People from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research and firefighters attempt to free a whale washed up on the beach on the Baltic coast near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)
