Businesses unsure about requirements on tour-bus drivers’ English skills

VietNamNet Bridge - Transport firms say that a tentative requirement on tour-bus drivers’ English skills will be “more difficult to fulfill than going to the sky”. 

Art & Entertainment News 13/5

HTV to put on reality show for men, Hermann Hesse's book introduced in Hue, Southeast Asian singers compete in talent show, Music nite to celebrate songwriter Nguyen Anh 9, Ly Son boat-race seeks national recognition

Nepal earthquake: Rescue resumes after latest deadly tremor

 Rescue work has resumed to find victims and survivors of the latest deadly earthquake to hit Nepal.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 13/5

Tra fish decree to be amended, Ministries race to step up SOE equitization, Long Thanh airport area to be halved, HCM City to cut investment approval time, FLC to start building resort in Binh Dinh, Fisheries revenue and profit down in first quarter

Yellow lotus collection of Hue royal antiquities

Numerous artifacts that are worship items, weapons, and daily-life instruments of the Nguyen Dynasty are carved with gold lotus motifs. These items are on display at the “Lotus on Antiques” exhibition, at the History Museum of Vietnam.

Farmer makes wind power generator that may receive World Bank support

VietNamNet Bridge - A wind power generator is one of 30 products related to climate change adaptation which may receive support from the World Bank.

Lotte to send Vietnam goods to S.Korea

 Lotte Vietnam Shopping Co. Ltd. will spend about US$1 million buying around 200 Vietnamese products for export to South Korea this year.

Paracel Islands no longer China’s territory on Google

 VietNamNet Bridge – Being opposed by Vietnamese netizens, Google has no longer noted Vietnam’s Hoang Sa Archipelago (Paracel Islands) as part of its Hainan province.

4-ton whale drifts to Mui Ne beach

 VietNamNet Bridge – On May 11 people in Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province discovered a giant whale on the coast of Mui Ne Ward.

Vietnamese shooters seek medals at World Cup in Fort Benning

 Vietnam’s leading shooters including Hoang Xuan Vinh, Ha Minh Thanh, Le Thi Hoang Ngoc, Nguyen Hoang Phuong and Tran Quoc Cuong, will represent the country in the 2015 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Fort Benning, Georgia, USA from May 12 to 19. 

VN takes sovereignty over Paracel and Spratly Islands to court of public opinion

Vietnam is taking its claim of legitimate sovereignty over Paracel and Spratly archipelagos to the national and international court of public opinion, with major exhibitions to be held in France, Russia, the US and the Czech Republic.

Man United legend to attend football festival

 VietNamNet Bridge – Manchester United legend Mikael Silvestre will visit Viet Nam as part of the UNITED: LIVE fan party's final leg in HCM City on May 24.

Finance Ministry dissuades Transport Ministry from offering airport concessions to airlines

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has suggested not offering the concession to exploit airports to air carriers, warning that if airports are put under control by airlines, this would create unhealthy competition in the market.

Vietnamese film trailer wins Golden Trailer Award

 A trailer of the Vietnamese movieDoat Hon (Hollow), entitledTheatrical Trailer #2,was named the Best Foreign Horror Trailer at the 16th annual Golden Trailer Awards.

Robot finals open in Can Tho City

 Thirty-two teams have gathered for the final round of the 2015 Viet Nam Robot (Robocon) contest that opened last night in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta city of Can Tho.

Peabo Bryson to perform in Vietnam

 American R&B and soul singer-songwriter Peabo Bryson will visit Viet Nam in September to perform in the musical show In The Spotlight.

Taiwan's Kinh Do noodle firm to build $30m plant

 Kinh Do Joint Stock Company has taken a major step in developing its new instant noodle business by tying up with giant Taiwanese producer Saigon Ve Wong.

April car sales up, but producers worry

 April was a positive month for Vietnamese auto sales, though carmakers have claimed difficulties conducting business in the country's unstable and undevel-oped automobile industry.

AAG optical cable repaired, Internet connection in Vietnam resumes

 VietNamNet Bridge – International Internet connection to Vietnam has back to normal yesterday, after 20 days of incident.

Former editor-in-chief of the Elderly faces investigation

 Police investigators have decided to prosecute Kim Quoc Hoa, former Editor-in-Chief of The Elderly newspaper, after an investigation into an accusation that he abused his freedom and democratic rights to violate the State's interests and rights.

Comments sought on criteria for judging English text books

 Concerned individuals and organisations are offering their comments on a draft of 45 criteria for evaluating the quality of English textbooks for primary to high school education nationwide.

Draft amendment for shorter Vietnamese full names

VietNamNet Bridge – The full name of a Vietnamese citizen should not have more than 25 alphabets, or have numbers or symbols, 

German graphic work on Hanoi show

 Selected prints from novels by award winning German graphic artist and author Reinhard Kleist are on display at an exhibition at the Goethe Instiute in Hanoi which runs until the end of the month.

Workshop opens prospects in VN-France outer space cooperation

 The Ministry of Science and Technology and the French space agency held a workshop in Hanoi on May 12, enabling scientists to share experience and build cooperation programmes in outer space for sustainable and long-term mutual interests.

43 Sunda pangolins rescue in Hoa Binh

 VietNamNet Bridge - 43 Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) have arrived safely at the Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Program - Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW) after being rescued from animal traders in Hoa Binh province.