Limestone mine blast injures four

Houses were damaged by the explosion. — Photo plo.vn

Four people were injured and several houses and farm produce of residents were damaged yesterday in a limestone mine explosion  in northern Yên Bái Province’s Lục Yên District.

The four victims are Lương Văn Cần, 30; Lương Thị Nhung, 3; Trần Thanh Dự, 51; and Nguyễn Văn Huỳnh, 14.

The explosion sent limestone flying far away, leaving holes on the roofs of five houses in Mường village of Tô Mậu Commune and destroying property inside the homes. The total damage was estimated initially at nearly VNĐ50million (US$2,200).

Local authorised agencies immediately sent the four victims to the local healthcare centre for treatment and assisted affected residents, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Bùi Việt Hùng, head of Lục Yên District’s police, said.

The limestone mine in the Mường village reportedly belongs to the Bó Luông co-operative and is managed by Nguyễn Thị Kim, 49, a local resident. Residents often carry out mine blasts to extract limestone, which is used as construction material.

The Bó Luông co-operative granted VNĐ3 million ($130) each to the households hit by the explosion and ordered limestone exploitation to stop in the region.

The cause of the incident is being further investigated.

Human trafficking cases uncovered in Sơn La

Several human trafficking cases were recently uncovered in the poor remote areas of the northern mountainous province of Sơn La.

Human traffickers had cheated people living in these areas and sold them to other countries, the local police said.

In a recent case, the Mường La District Police arrested three people - Thàng Văn Hằng, 23, Vàng Páo, 24, and Sùng Thị Mỷ, 40. On April 30, these traffickers contacted two locals, Và Thị Nu and Vừ Thị Dua, with the intention of selling them to China. The traffickers, who were stopped by the police while taking the victims to Mường La District on motorbikes, admitted to earning some US$460 for each girl.

Earlier on April 4, the Mường La District Police apprehended Vàng A Chớ, 26, and Thào A Sính, 31, for human trafficking. The traffickers befriended Mùa Thị Dê, 26, and Mùa Thị Máy, 27, via a social network and promised to help the two girls find good jobs with high salaries and marry rich men. The traffickers were arrested while bringing the victims to the district’s Chiềng San Commune.

On March 21, the provincial police busted Giàng A Chu, 27, Giàng A Vù, 29, and Lờ A Khài, 24, all from the northern province of Yên Bái. They admitted to cheating Vàng Thị S and Giàng Thị X, promising the victims good jobs with high salaries, but instead selling them to China.

NA Chairwoman meets Can Tho voters

National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and other candidates hoping to represent the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho in the 14th parliament met with voters in Cai Rang district on May 5.

Deputies to the 14th NA will be chosen at the same time as all-level People’s Councils for the 2016 – 2021 term on Sunday May 22.

At the meeting, candidates presented their plans if they are elected as NA deputies.

Constituents in Cai Rang said if the candidates are elected, they should address local issues such as stabilising fertiliser and plant protection product prices and creating better conditions for the use of health insurance.

Future parliamentarians also need to improve benefits for the elderly and grassroots officials, raise manpower quality, and provide jobs for youths, local voters added.

The NA Chairwoman and other candidates promised once elected, they would work with the Party and State to tackle problems.

Ngan also said she hopes that local constituents will provide more feedback to officials to help fuel Can Tho and Vietnam’s development.

Exchange visit helps tighten Vietnam-Thailand friendship

Representatives from the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (COVA) hosted a reception for the visiting delegation of overseas Vietnamese teachers and students from Thailand’s Nakhon Phanom province, in Hanoi on May 5.

During the event, COVA Vice Chairman Dang The Hung said the visit allows expatriate students in Thailand to learn about the homeland’s history and culture.

He expressed his gratitude to Thai provincial authorities and local teachers for their support for teachers and students living and studying in Thailand.

Kiattisak Larpchit, head of the delegation, said the visit promotes mutual understanding among the two countries’ students.

Nakhon Phanom is home to 550 primary schools, with more than 50 including the Vietnamese language in their curriculums, he noted, adding that exchanges help students practice Vietnamese and better understand Vietnam.

Trinh Thi Be, a Vietnamese language teacher in the Anouban Nakhonphanom Primary School said through the visit students see Vietnam’s cultural identities and Vietnamese hospitality in person.

The visit helps tighten solidarity between Vietnam and Thailand, she said.

In the framework of the visit, the delegation toured the native land of Late President Ho Chi Minh in the central province of Nghe An. Their plan includes visits to Ha Long Bay in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh and the Bai Dinh pagoda and Hoa Lu ancient town in the northern province of Ninh Binh.

French Fuzeta rocks central Da Nang city

Indie rock band Fuzeta from Bretagne, France, performed at Bien Dong (East Sea) Park in central Da Nang city on May 5.

The concert was organised by the French Institute in Da Nang, the Embassy of France and the central city as part of a cultural programme between the embassy and the city.

The band comprises of vocalist and bass guitarist Charles Alexandre, vocalist and guitarist Dorian, singer and guitarist Pierre Antoine, drummer Jeremy Herve and technician Jeremy Silvestre.

Last year, they performed at music festival Rencontres Trans Musicales which is held annually in December in Rennes, Brittany, France.

More activeness needed in Vietnam’s disaster risk management

Vietnam should be proactive in disaster risk management, Deputy Director General of the Directorate of Water Resources Nguyen Van Tinh has said.

He made the remark at a workshop in Hanoi on May 5 on building the roadmap for the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 – 2030.

The Sendai Framework was adopted at the third UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.

Dr Le Quang Tuan from the directorate’s Centre for Natural Disaster Control said the framework aims to prevent new disaster risks and mitigate existing risks through integrated measures.

It has four priorities: understanding disaster risk, strengthening disaster risk governance, investing in disaster risk reduction, and enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

In Vietnam, the focus will be on overhauling regulations, improving public awareness and community-based disaster management, and enhancing disaster forecasting, prevention and rescues.

The country will also mobilise resources for prevention efforts, while increasing disaster prevention facilities’ resilience and updating the disaster database. Information sharing, science-technology application, along with international cooperation will be stepped up, Tuan noted.

Chinese passenger caught on camera stealing phone at airport

Security officers at Cam Ranh International Airport in central Vietnam on May 5 said they have returned a mobile phone to its owner soon after it was stolen from his luggage.

Zhao Jin Bo, 34, who was about to fly to Tianjin, reported that he lost his phone at around 10:30 a.m, the airport security department said.

Yan Fengge signs a minutes on May 5, 2016, admitting she stole a mobile phone from the luggage of another Chinese on the same plane. Photo provided by Cam Ranh International Airport

Authorities later checked their security footage and found that Yan Fengge, a Chinese woman on the same flight, had stolen the phone.

Securities officers told the 48-year-old to return the phone to Zhao. Both later boarded the plane as the man said he would not make any complaint, according to the security department.

100 scientists helping Vietnam crack fish death mystery

Vietnam's environment ministry has invited around 100 experts to investigate an environmental disaster that has killed tons of fish and affected thousands of families in fishing villages along the central coast.

It announced on May 4 that it had established a national council to find the causes of the mass fish deaths.

The council has sought assistance from around 100 experts from more than 30 local institutes and universities, as well as experts from Israel, Germany and the US.

It also sent samples of water and dead fish to laboratories in Japan, Switzerland and the US for testing.

According to the ministry, scientists have ruled out diseases, oil spills, thermal shock and other aftermaths of earthquakes as possible causes of the fish kill, which first reported last month.

They are now focusing on biological and chemical substances that may have killed the fish in four central provinces.

The same day, the ministry sent inspectors to Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh Province to check all companies operating there as part of efforts to solve the environmental disaster.

On May 4, a team of inspectors visited Taiwanese-invested Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company. The large firm in Vung Ang has been accused of discharging toxic wastewater, a claim it has repeatedly rejected.

The inspectors are expected to work with Formosa in four days to test the company's wastewater.

Officials have promised that the results of inspection will be made public.

In a new development on Wednesday, residents found the water along a 1.5-km stretch of a beach in Quang Binh Province’s Bo Trach District turning red at around 7:30 a.m. The color then gradually changed and became normal at around 11 a.m.

Local authorities took the water samples for testing. Scientists have been invited to investigate the phenomenon.

The provincial environment department has warned residents not to swim in the area or source the water for their fish farms, until test results are announced.

Hundreds of tons of fish were washed ashore in early April in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces, apparently killed by industrial effluents.

Suspicion has centered on Formosa, which admitted it has a large sewage pipe going straight into the sea. But it claimed all its discharged wastewater had been treated.

Officials have said they could not find any connection between Formosa's discharge and the disaster yet.

Vietnamese across the country have been anxiously waiting for a satisfying answer for the prolonged case, which has tested the ability of the country to detect and handle large-scale disasters.

Son La disseminates election information in ethnic languages

The northern mountainous province of Son La has deployed numerous activities to raise the awareness of the general election among local ethnic minority groups.

The publicity campaigns have been organised in both the national and ethnic minority languages such as Thai and Mong, and in remote and border areas.

They focus on disseminate the directives of the Politburo and the Prime Minister, election-related legal regulations, requirements for National Assembly and People’s Council deputies, the results of the Vietnam Fatherland Front’s consultation meetings, and election rules.

The dissemination is conducted in the forms of art performances, sports games and hanging national flags, banners and slogans on streets, according to Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Tan Phong.

The election of deputies to the 14th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2016-2021 tenure will take place on May 22.

Ministry releases list of safe-food outlets

A list of 69 stores that sell food meeting safety control requirements was released to the public by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at a press conference in Hanoi on May 5.

The move is part of the ministry’s program “Dia chi xanh – Nong san sach” (Green outlets – Safe farm produce).

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam said it is the first step taken by the ministry to introduce safe farming products and reliable suppliers to consumers.

He hoped that the program would raise consumer confidence on food safety and encourage safe food production and distribution.

Also during the press conference, the ministry announced the safe farm foods week which will be organised at the Trade Promotion Centre for Agriculture in Hoang Quoc Viet Street, Hanoi from May 6-12.

The event will feature about 100 stands displaying VietGAP certified products or those produced under the food safety chain management from more than 40 cooperatives and agribusinesses nationwide.

Adjustments made to Da Nang sustainable development project

The Prime Minister has approved adjustments concerning the project on sustainable development for Da Nang city funded by World Bank loans.

According to the modified project, 78.8 million USD will be added to construction costs, of which 49.89 million USD will be used for improving the rain water and wastewater drainage system, increasing capacity of the Hoa Xuan wastewater treatment plant and rain water and wastewater collection system for the eastern part of the city.

The budget for building a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network will receive an additional 8.54 million USD to make changes to system architecture, ticket-pricing systems and intelligent transport systems (ITS) with the aim to integrate the city’s whole public transportation system. The increased capital will also be used to improve infrastructure, expand ticket outlets and ITS system for 5 urban bus routes and reorganise traffic at key intersections along the BRT corridor.

The increase of 20.42 million USD in the capital for strategic urban roads will be invested in the DH 2 road that acts as a collecting road, connecting the road network in the city’s western part and the North-South Highway.

Other expenses and reserved capital increased 7.34 million USD.

The total investment of the project went up by 86.185 million USD, of which 72.52 million USD will be sourced by loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), while corresponding capital rises 13.665 million USD, to be paid by Da Nang city.

The project’s total investment after adjustment is 358.32 million USD

Mixed reviews as Hue fest wraps up

The biennial cultural event Hue Festival wrapped up yesterday, ending six festive days in the former feudal capital city of Hue.

Speaking at a press briefing held yesterday on the closing of the festival, Che Cong Chung, director of Hueá Festival Centre said the festival was a successful one as its activities received one million visits.

Phan Tien Duong, director of local Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said a total of 250,000 visitors arrived in Hue in the holiday days of Viet Nam’s Reunification Day and Labour Day, making an increase of 23 per cent over the same period last year.

Duong said the number of visitors increased thanks to the Hue Festival. The previous events were held in early April but this year’s event took place during the holiday.

Observation by Viet Nam News pointed to a conclusion that “Rural market in festive days”, a program held in Thanh Thuy village, was the most successful one of the festival.

The 5-day program attracted the most visitors although it was held in a rural site of 5km away from the city’s centre. There locals participated in the rural games as they feel the re-inaction of games and rural custom were authentic.

However, journalists, who had the broadest access to every of 50 programs at the festival expressed disappointment on the event shows, saying many of them under qualified.

The street parade, for example, one of the most anticipated activities of the festival, stroke audiences as weak management, leading to mess on streets. The performers could not properly showcase their skills.

Many others felt they were cheated at the baloon show. About 200 locals bought tickets for their first ever flight on hot baloons, but unannounced changes in schedule and short duration on air had let them down.

“I feel cheated because of unexpected changes in time and rules for flights. Safety regulations were not properly enforced as well,” said local Nguyen Van Sum about his balloon flight.

Experts called for rethinking by organisers for the preparation of the 10th Hue Festival, which is scheduled to take place in 2018. They emphasised that local participation, authenticity of re-inaction activities, and respect to audience would be key to any future Hue Festival.

Medicinal herbs with unclear origins seized

The provincial police and Market Watch Department yesterday confiscated 9.7 tonnes of medicinal herbs with unknown origins used to make Chinese traditional medicine.

The herbs were reportedly discovered while a truck driver name Hưng, 40, was unloading the goods in Hồng Nam Commune of Hưng Yên City.

The herbs were stored in sacks and cartons with Chinese titles on their covers.

The owner of the cartons, Nguyễn Thị Thắm, failed to provide legal documents to prove the origin of the goods, saying that she bought the herbs from two women whose address she did not know.

According to the local inhabitants, Thắm, a trader in HCM City, usually buys herbs smuggled from China and sells them to traditional medicine stores in her hometown in Hưng Yên Province.

The herbs are being kept by the police for further investigation.

According to authorised agencies, smuggling low quality medicinal herbs to make Chinese traditional medicine between Việt Nam and China border has increased recently. Traders smuggle medicinal herbs with unclear origins from China to Hà Nội and southern provinces for consumption.

Those who consume medication made from these smuggled ingredients could face health risks, the agencies warned.

Cà Mau to invest in eastern sea dyke

The Government has given the green light for the construction of the eastern sea dyke in this southernmost province, with a total investment of VNĐ1.3 trillion (US$58 million).

The investment aims to help residents in the area respond to climate change and the rising sea level.

Cà Mau Province has a 254km-long coast, including 100km facing the eastern sea and 154km facing the western sea. A dyke along the western sea shore was constructed in the 1990s, while the eastern sea dyke has yet to be built.

According to local authorised agencies, the area along the eastern sea is home to 260,000 households, with 130,000ha of farming land.

This area is suffering from serious landslides and saline intrusion, with seawater affecting farming land. Meanwhile, the destruction of protective coastal forests and the polluting of the environment have created unsafe living conditions for the locals.

The Government project, scheduled to be rolled out over the course of many years, will begin this year. Funding will be mobilised every year until the project is finished.

The primary tasks will be building the sea dyke system, planting protective forests, relocating residents and securing their livelihoods.

Local authorities are completing procedures to start the project as soon as possible.

Another investment worth nearly VNĐ18 billion ($800,000) from the State budget has been mobilised to help the province with recovery from the severe drought and saline intrusion.

The provincial authorities directed localities to dredge nine fresh water canals in districts of Trần Văn Thời, U Minh, Thới Bình and Cà Mau City, and dig new canals in Cà Mau City.

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is building a water pumping station worth nearly VNĐ1.2 billion ($53,300) in U Minh District, while repairing and building three irrigational sluices in the communes of Khánh Bình Tây, Khánh Hưng and Khánh Bình in Trần Văn Thời District.

Additional State budget spending will be earmarked for affected areas to overcome drought and saltwater intrusion that occurred during the winter-spring crop between 2015 and 2016.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of April 15, nearly 40,000ha of rice in the province were damaged due to prolonged droughts and saline intrusion.

VN Airlines offers discounted Europe fares

 The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is offering promotional airfares on several international routes that connect Ha Noi and HCM City to Paris, Frankfurt and other European cities.

The tickets are available for booking until June 15 for travel from now until October 31, the airline said in its statement yesterday.

In the past three months, the carrier earned an estimated consolidated revenue of more than VND19 trillion (US$851.3 million), representing a year-on-year increase of 13.3 per cent and reaching 26.4 per cent of the yearly target.

The pre-tax consolidated profit is more than VND1.071 trillion, a rise of 32.5 per cent compared with the same period last year.

During the period, it flew more than 4.6 million passengers and nearly 61,000 tonnes of goods, 11.6 per cent and 11.2 per cent higher than its plan, respectively.

French-Vietnamese job fair slated for next Saturday

The 2016 French-Vietnamese Job Fair will take place at Novotel Saigon Center Hotel in District 3, HCMC from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on May 14.

Organized by the Embassy of France in Vietnam and the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (CCIFV), the event will create an opportunity for French and Vietnamese companies to meet and connect with potential candidates.

The candidates, especially Vietnamese who have studied in France and those who have obtained a French degree in Vietnam, can also learn more about the participating companies, and recruitment and career prospects.

The participating French and Vietnamese companies are active in diverse fields such as commerce, distribution, audit and accounting, IT, media and communication, industry, mechanical and electrical engineering, construction, service, hospitality and tourism. They include Sofitel Saigon Plaza, Novotel Saigon Center, Hôtel des Arts Saigon, Pullman Saigon Centre, Novotel Phu Quoc, Bachy Solétanche Vietnam, Big C, Safviet, Mazars Vietnam and Hoa Binh Corp.

Workshops will take place at the event as well, allowing the participating companies to introduce their HR activities and strategies. For the first time, the organizers will organize workshops to show how to write a resume and a motivation letter, and how to succeed in a job interview.

The Novotel Saigon Center Hotel is located at 167 Hai Ba Trung Street in HCMC’s District 3.

German movie to mark European film festival in town

German movie “Hin und Weg” (or Tour de France) will be screened at 8 p.m. on May 23 at Cinestar in District 1, HCMC to mark the European Film Festival 2016.

The 95-minute movie, directed by Christian Zübert and released in 2014, tells a story about Hannes, his wife Kiki and their closest friends going on a bike tour. Hannes chooses a destination. For some strange reason he selects Belgium and the others aren’t excited at first.

Nevertheless, the trip starts well and the group of friends has a lot of fun until Hannes tells them the reason why he opts for Belgium. He is terminally ill and wants to end his life on his own terms. In Belgium, medically assisted suicide is legal. This trip with his wife and friends is his final ride. After the shock subsides, the group decides to pedal hard and enjoy a wild time to fulfil Hannes’ last wish. Till their arrival at the clinic, his friends want to fully enjoy and celebrate life from the heart with Hannes.

Director Christian Zübert was born in 1973 in Würzburg. After his studies, he initially began working as a scriptwriter for television and later on also for cinema productions. He first directed the movie “Lammbock” in 2000, for which he got known to a wider audience.

The European Film Festival 2016, organized by European cultural institutions and embassies in Vietnam, show current films from 13 European countries. These movies reflect the variety of Europe – history, culture, society and even the tradition of filmmaking, which are different from country to country but still closely linked to each other.

Audiences can get a maximum of four tickets per person at the Goethe-Institut HCMC and Cinestar at 271 Nguyen Trai Street, District 1, HCMC at 9 a.m. on May 11. For further information, call 08 3600 9587.

Hanoi student cruises into FameLab 2016 finals in UK

Pham Tuan Thach, a student at Hanoi University of Science of Vietnam National University in Hanoi, has secured a ticket to enter the finals of the FameLab communication competition in the UK after he won the contest in Vietnam in 2016.

With his speech about blood stem cells and pets, Thach defeated 11 other finalists in the final round at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi. He will compete in the UK in June with other winners from 30 countries and territories.

Organized by the British Council in Vietnam, the Vietnam National University in Hanoi and the Center for Science and Technology Communication, FameLab required contestants who are young scientists, engineers, researchers, lecturers and reporters to break down science, technology and engineering concepts into three-minute presentations.

The contest was aimed at promoting STEM education in Vietnam. STEM is an abbreviation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

FameLab was initiated at the Cheltenham Science Festival in England in 2005. Since then, the Cheltenham Science Festival has cooperated with the British Council to hold FameLab in over 25 countries.

Hung Yen strives to increase number of fresh-water users

The northern province of Hung Yen targets 92 percent of residents having access to clean water by year’s end.

To achieve this, local authorities invested in sanitation programmes and water supply technologies.

It has completed 23 projects on water supply and toilet facilities at medical units and schools.

A total of 22,000 new water meters have been installed since the beginning of the year.

Communications campaigns have also been implemented, as more than 11,000 documents on fresh water and rural sanitation were disseminated across ten districts.

Residents were urged to plant trees, clean up after themselves and save water.

Viettel brings telecoms services to all corners of Laos

The telecom giant Viettel has made extensive investment in Laos, building a telecom network reaching all corners of the country, turning the once expensive services into a common necessity for all Lao people.

Unitel, the joint venture between Viettel and Lao Asia Telecom, went into operation in October, 2009 and has quickly become the No 1 mobile operator in Laos. It currently has 2.5 million subscribers or 47 percent of the country’s market share.

The company has installed 4,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) and 23,000 km of fibre optic cable across Laos to bring telecoms services to all districts in Laos and 95 percent of its population.

In 2011, Viettel put into operation the Indochina Ring that connects Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, ensuring communications and serving security and defence of the three countries.

The company has opened 15,000 outlets and points of sale to provide services directly to customers and has created jobs for 20,000 local labourers with stable income.

In 2015, Unitel launched 4G service in Laos and increased the rate of data-using customers from 29.6 percent to 49.2 percent. In this year alone, the company contributed 178 million USD to Laos’ state budget

Through Unitel, Viettel has also made great contribution to Laos’ educational sector. The company has launched a 3 million USD programme to bring free internet services to 1,295 schools within five years, while offering discount service packages to students and presenting computers and telephones to the poor.

In addition, Viettel funded the construction of a school in Bolikhamxay province and two hospitals in Atapeu province in 2015.

NA deputy candidates meet with voters

Candidates for the National Assembly deputies yesterday had a meeting with voters in Biên Hòa City in the southern province of Đồng Nai.

The candidates included Võ Văn Thưởng, Poliburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee (PCC) and Chief of the PCC  Education and Publicity Commission.

At the meeting, candidates talked to voters about their working agendas and what measures on economic development they would take for the province if they won the election.

The measures included the promotion of industrial and agricultural production, rural development, job generation, enhanced administrative reforms and the provision of public healthcare services.

The meeting was also a venue for voters to express their concerns on many issues to the candidates. Many voters said that they have not had many chances to talk face-to-face with the candidates.

The voters raised their concerns of planning being suspended in Biên Hòa City which was affecting people’s daily lives, the low salary of staff on the commune- and ward-level people’s committees, and of shortcomings in healthcare services.

In this meeting, many voters expressed their satisfaction with the candidates’ working agenda. They said that the agendas were practical and of enough detail to be relevant to the province’s real situation.

The voters hoped the candidates would realise their agendas once they had won the vote. They also wished the candidates would raise their voice to protect people’s rights.

Võ Văn Thưởng and the other candidates listened to the voters’ opinions and recommendations carefully and promised to realise their working agendas if elected.

Regarding the salaries paid to staff on the commune- and ward-level people’s committees, Thưởng said that the adjustment of salaries was discussed several times, but had not yet been finalised. He hoped the issue would be resolved soon.

Also yesterday, Trần Quốc Vượng, a member of Poliburo, Head of the PCC Inspection Commission, and member of the National Election Council went to the northern Thanh Hóa Province to check the preparation work for the upcoming election.

After the inspection, Vượng expressed his high appreciation of the province’s preparation work including issues of security.

He asked the provincial authority to further promote information dissemination about the election so as to help people thoroughly understand their rights and obligations, especially in remote mountainous areas.

The local authority was also asked to prepare measures to organise elections in regions where many voters work offshore fishing.

In Thanh Hoá Province, there are 18 candidates for National Assembly deputies, of which female candidates account for over 55 per cent.

Early election approved in Quang Nam province

Voters in the central province of Quang Nam will cast their ballots in 49 locations on May 19, three days earlier than the Election Day as approved by the National Election Council.

Early voting will take place in 28 locations in Cho Chun, La EE, La Dee, Dac Toi, Dac Pre, Dac Pring and Zuooih in Nam Giang district, five locations in Ch’om, Ga Ri and A Vuong in Tay Giang district, one location in Thang Binh district as well as five others in Tan Hiep commune in Hoi An city. They are remote, border and island areas with poor transport infrastructure.

The National Election Council asked the provincial council to guide the election of deputies to the 14th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils of the 2016-2021 tenure in line with regulations.

Clay flower exhibition on display in Hanoi

A photo exhibition on clay flowers from local artist Huong Thuy opened at the Republic of Korea (RoK) Culture Centre in Hanoi on May 5.

The exhibition displays 27 3D paintings of clay flowers mimicking various types of flowers like lotus, barringtonia acutangula flowers, roses, orchid, chrysanthemum, cherry flowers, and colza flowers.

Talking about how she became a clay flower artist, Thuy said “To make a clay flower requires many stages. First, you have to mix colours with clay to get the colour you want and then thin clay down to various levels for each type of flower.

Thin clay pieces are cut into the shape of petals and leaves. Shaping petals requires deftness from the artist to make flowers look real through the printing and shaping technique of flower veins and petals. Petals are then painted with details to have flowers the artist wants. Pistils and buds are shaped by hand. Then all parts of a flower are bonded and attached to a stick and put into a pot.”

Park Nark Jong, Director of the Korean Culture Centre, said that anyone who looks at these flowers will like them immediately.

California announces special day for Vietnamese ao dai

California, the US state with a large Vietnamese community, has won a lot of hearts after officially choosing May 15 as the day for ao dai.

Vietnamese American Janet Nguyen and her co-senators Jim Beall and Richard Pan proposed a resolution to honor the Vietnamese traditional dress.

The resolution said that by celebrating the dress, which is an icon of Vietnam, Vietnamese people in California and across the US can contribute to the US's diverse culture.

Vietnamese don ao dai to celebrate the recognition of Ao Dai Day at California Senate office. Photo courtesy of Jenny Do Facebook page

A statement from the state senate said Nguyen is the first person to don ao dai in office.

Vietnamese-Americans have been holding their Ao Dai Festival every two years. This year's event will be held in San Jose, on May 15.

There are more than 1.7 million people of Vietnamese origin living in the US, and around half of them in California.

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