ART & ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF 15/11

Charity scooter run to help underprivileged children; Vietnamese pupil receives gold medal in letter writing contest; Fine art exhibition to raise funds for Agent Orange victims; Student beats nearly 2,000 to win English Olympic competition

Film on city founder hits cinemas

VietNamNet Bridge – A movie about the life of King Ly Thai To who moved the capital from Hoa Lu (now in the northern province of Ninh Binh) to Thang Long (today's Ha Noi), is now being shown at cinemas across the country.

VN beats Chinese Taipei to host competition in 2016

VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam was selected to host the fifth Asian Beach Games in 2016 at the Olympic Council of Asia's (OCA) meeting which concluded on Saturday in Guangzhou, China.

Acute labour shortages are rattling FIEs

As high inflation hits Vietnam, workers are turning their backs on poor paying foreign-invested companies.

Bronze in wushu puts nation on tally board

VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam added its name to the 16th Asian Games medal tally yesterday, Nov 14, when wushu artist Nguyen Manh Quyen won a medal on the second day of competition in Guangzhou, China.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 15/11

Viet Nam exports 6 million tonnes of rice; More traders to be licensed to import gold; HCM City to host watch, jewelry exhibition next month

FPT Telecom to broadcast EPL Sunday matches

VietNamNet Bridge – FPT Telecom will broadcast K+ channels on its iTV under a contract signed last week.

Domestic market nearly saturated, time to make outward investments

Within just two years, Viettel has expanded its investments into many countries in the world with its committed investment capital of up to hundreds of millions dollars.

Installing cameras will make teachers give up their jobs

While the HCM City Education and Training Department is still discussing the plan to install cameras at kindergartens in order to reduce abuses, many private kindergartens have moved ahead.

Government needs to restore confidence in VND

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) lack of dollar is not the reason for the depreciation of the Vietnamese dong.Instead, the key issue at the moment is that Vietnamese people do not want to keep the Vietnam dong.

What is K Plus?

VietNamNet has received many emails asking what K plus (K+) television station is. Some people collected hundreds of opinions protesting K+ to send them to VietNamNet.

Cultural development support should be set as a criterion to rank businesses

"I feel sad that repaired embellishment of the O Quan Chuong was supported by the US Embassy in Vietnam,” Painter Le Thiet Cuong told VietNamNet’s Vietnam Economic Forum (VEF) when talking about culture socialization in Vietnam.

Hunting for air tickets for Tet days

Only 2.5 months left until the lunar new year, but people already rush to book air tickets now fearing they will run out soon.

Banks complain about overly high interest rates

VietNamNet Bridge – Many commercial banks say they do not lack capital, but they still have to keep high deposit interest rates in order to retain depositors.

ESPN and Star Sports will not air EPL in Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – The two channels this morning, August 9, removed the English Premier League (EPL) from their broadcast schedule because they don’t have to right to show this event in Vietnam.

Miss Earth contestants collect waste on the beach

Contestants of Miss Earth 2010 pageant and many volunteers on November 14 collected waste on the beach of Phan Thiet city, grew and water trees in the city’s golf course.

State budget to continue financing state-owned groups

VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly (NA) on November 15 agreed that five state-owned groups will be allocated the capital from the state budget in 2011.

Ministry confirms K+ holds exclusive rights to Sunday EPL matches

The Ministry of Information and Communications has certified that K+ holds the exclusive broadcasting rights to Sunday matches of the English Premier League (EPL) in Vietnam.

Vietnam to have first male beauty contest

VietNamNet Bridge – The local version of Mr. International pageant for men will be held in Vietnam in December 2010.

Vietnamese fashion to be introduced in London

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s top models will appear in a Vietnamese fashion show named “Vietnam beauty” in London, the UK on December 5.

Hydro-power reservoirs help reduce floods in central Vietnam, official says

Without hydro-power reservoirs, floods in the central region may be more serious, stated Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong at a workshop last week.

Vietnam lost half a billion dollar because it picked unripe coffee beans

Despite being a big coffee exporter in the world, Vietnam’s coffee is unable to obtain high prices.

Former US President Bill Clinton returns to Hanoi

VietNamNet Bridge – Mr. Bill Clinton returned to Hanoi on November 14 the second time as the President of Clinton Foundation, after his visit in 2006.

Explosion kills 6 in Mexico hotel

An explosion on Sunday killed 6 and injured 20 others in a hotel in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, in southeastern Mexico, Quintana Roo's prosecutor Francisco Alor Quezada said.

APEC leaders conclude meeting with joint declarations

Leaders from member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum concluded their meeting on Sunday after adopting a leaders' declaration that pledged further efforts in free trade and balanced economic growth.