Vietnam Red Cross - together for humanity

Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) Central Committee held a conference in Hanoi on September 22 to discuss cooperation among organisations and individuals for humanity.

The event was attended by Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan, representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, along with local and foreign benefactors.

Addressing the conference, the Vice President highlighted the results of charity activities in the field of international cooperation over the past years and extended thanks to international partners who have shown generous and continued kindness to people in difficult circumstances.

Ms. Doan emphasised that charity activities should be open and transparent in order to encourage the involvement of many organisations and individuals, improve the efficiency of programmes and projects and to help those in need.

She added that to help the VRC fulfil its tasks in the future, it is necessary to evaluate their recent performance in order to improve the quality of its activities and strengthen cooperation with other charity activities. She stressed that it is necessary to devise feasible measures to identify and implement priorities.

During the two-day event, delegates discussed priority activities with a focus on the management of disasters, healthcare and the development of VRC.

By 2020, VRC will give priorities to preventing disasters, providing urgent emergency healthcare, collecting blood donations and carrying out social work.

Hanoi man dies in elevator crash

A 56-year-old man died in a Hanoi apartment block yesterday, Sep 21, after an elevator he had got into plunged from the fourth floor due to a power cut.

Hoa's body was being removed from the site. (Photo: Dan Tri)

According to residents, the power went suddenly.

Many then heard a loud noise from the basement. When they rushed to check, they found him dead and lying in a puddle of blood.

They contacted authorities and Hoa’s body was removed in a few minutes.

CT3 Yen Hoa is a 12-storied apparent built by the state-owned Constrexim Company in 2006.

The elevators often broke down, according to residents.

“It breaks all the time so everyone needs to take stairs,” Le Van Tang, who lives in apartment 307, said.

“We have submitted petitions to the management board but nothing has happened.”

Authorities are investigating.

More retail work for older people

More older people in the developed world would be hired in the retail commerce sector due to ageing societies, said the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in a report released here on Tuesday.

The report was prepared for the Global dialogue forum on the needs of older workers in relation to changing work processes and the working environment in retail commerce scheduled which opened yesterday at the ILO headquarter in Geneva.

While most discussions about population ageing deal with the sustainability of pension systems, this forum will focus on the impact of greying societies on labour supply in the retail commerce sector, an industry that has traditionally drawn a large proportion of its workers from people aged 30 and younger.

The share of the youth population aged under 30 was declining as that of those aged 50 and over increased, particularly in developed economies, said the report to the two-day forum that draw the participation of representatives from over 40 governments, employers and workers from 25 countries.

As competition in the labour market increased, the retail commerce sector might increasingly need to draw its workers form the expanding population segment of the older age group.

The number of UK retail workers aged 55 and over increased by over 50,000 between 2002 and 2009, even as overall employment in the sector was declining in the later part of this period. Workers aged over 50 employed in the sector account for 32 per cent of Japan's workforce and 22 per cent of Britain's.

These concerns are especially critical for a sector known for its combination of high labour-intensity and above-average labour turnover. The retail commerce sector therefore needs to review its employment practices, work processes and working environment in order to improve its ability to attract and retain more 50+ year olds, especially in sales and customer service roles.

Woman, 66, imprisoned for anti-state activities

The Dong Nai Province People's Court yesterday sentenced Pham Thi Phuong, 66, of Dinh Quan District to 11 years in jail for attempting to subvert the government and three other crimes.

Phuong aka Lam Nhat Phuong Thao was arrested in April 2010 for “acting to overthrow the government,” “organizing people to flee abroad,” counterfeiting documents and official seals of agencies,” and “swindling to appropriate assets.”

Between 1998 and 2002 she forged files for 60 people, including 55 half-Americans – born to US soldiers or officials before 1975 – for immigrating to the US. She took US$29,300 from them and disappeared.

In October 2002 she fled to Thailand.

There she contacted “the Party for People,” a Vietnamese reactionary organization that aims to topple the Vietnamese government.

In January 2010 she was admitted to the party and three months later was sent back clandestinely to Vietnam for carrying out violent and subversive activities during Liberation Day (30 April) and International Workers’ Day (May 1).

She was assigned to destroy the Ho Chi Minh Monument in Hanoi, scatter political leaflets on streets, and hang banners decrying the state and government, among others.

She was arrested on April 21, 2010 while preparing to commit those crimes.

At the trial, Phuong pleaded guilty to all four crimes.

A Vietnamese victim identified in Haiti plane crash

A Vietnamese passenger who died in the Haiti plane crash on September 20 has been identified as Le Minh Duc, born August 8, 1978, announced the Vietnamese Embassy in Haiti on September 21.

This was confirmed by the Natcom Telecommunication Company, a joint venture of Viettel Telecom Group in the country.

The company is now working with relevant administrative agencies in Haiti to complete legal procedures for the victim.

Asian, African scholars discuss climate change

Over 70 scientists and policymakers from Asian and African countries discussed ways to cope with climate change, ensure regional food security and natural resource management at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on September 21.

The four-day event is being jointly organised by the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), HCM City University of Technology, and Vietnam National University – HCM City. 

Vu Dinh Thanh, Rector of HCM City University of Technology said that the event aims to seek measures to improve human living environments in relation to areas such as protection of water resources, climate, environment, and erosion, in Asian and African countries. 

At the event, the Vietnamese delegates reported on erosion of the coastline and river banks, environmental and other related problems in the Mekong Delta. 

According to an UNCRD representative, as one of the countries most seriously threatened by climate change, Vietnam’s role and environmental issues will continue to be put on the agenda of future seminars, adding that Vietnam will receive technical and financial assistance to cope with climate change in the near future. 

As part of the event, a two-day fact-finding tour to the Mekong Delta will also be organised.

Fire drill conducted in Hai Van tunnel

Da Nang authorities and the Hai Van Road Tunnel Management and Developing Company held a major fire and rescue drill Tuesday in the Hai Van Tunnel, the longest in Southeast Asia.

This was the scenario of the drill: the brake fails on a nine-ton truck which then smashes into the tunnel wall and collides with a 29-seat passenger bus coming in the opposite direction before bursting into flames.

It took firefighters with modern fire equipment 15 minutes to put out the fire and safely evacuate people.

According to HAMADECO, in the six years since the tunnel opened 8 million vehicles have passed through it, with fires affecting 5,000 of them following accidents.

The 6.28km long Hai Van Tunnel connects Da Nang and Hue and has fire alarms and a radio network among other facilities.

Youths sentenced to 35 years for murder, robbery

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced Wednesday four young people, including 3 female minors, to a total of 35 years in prison following convictions for murder and robbery.

Ho Thi My Dung, a 17 year old girl hailing from the southern province of Tay Ninh, was accordingly condemned to 12 years in prison for murder and robbery.

Her accomplice 16-year-old Ky Thi Ngoc Nhung, a HCMC citizen, will serve 3 years for robbery.

Cao Hoang Diep, a 19-year-old accomplice coming from the central province of Quang Ngai, will be jailed for 15 years for murder and robbery while another accessory 21-year-old Tran Hoang Nhan will be imprisoned for 5 years for robbery.

According to the indictment, Dung and Nhung often hung out with Lan, the last accomplice who fled away and is now wanted, after they both quit school.

Lan one day suggested robbing rich men by trapping them into having sex and then drugging them, as the three were in dire need of money to pay for the rent of the room they were sharing.

Lan enticed D., one of her acquaintances, into laying Nhung at a guest house on December 4, 2009.

The man agreed to come to the guest house but turned Nhung down after knowing she was under age. The three’s conspiracy fell through this time.

The now-wanted girl gave D. another suggestion the next day: having sex with Dung. She at the same time asked for assistance from Diep and Nhan, her acquaintances as well, in case D. agreed to the offer. Unfortunately, the man again refused, saying he was busy.

Strongly urged by the room’s owner to pay the rent, Dung lured H.T.T., her acquaintance, into ‘having fun’ with both herself and Lan at another guest house. T. gave her the nod.

When the three were on the job, Diep and Nhan – waiting in the next room – broke in with a knife and demanded money and other possessions from T.

The two robbed T. of VND1 million and an expensive mobile phone.

For fear that T. would report to local police, Dung ordered Diep and Nhan to kill him but they did not dare to.

She grabbed the knife and by herself stabbed T. to death.

Rare monkey strays into residential area

An endangered monkey that strayed into a residential area from a nearby forest in Quang Binh Province was caught by locals, and authorities are planning to release it back in the forest.

The Stump-tailed Macaque, also known as Bear Macaque, (Macaca arctoides) listed in the Viet Nam Red Data Book of endangered plants and animals, was trapped by people in An Ninh commune, Quang Ninh District, last week.

On September 17 Tran Cong Thang, an 86-year-old local, was preparing to worship his late mother when he found the monkey eating a banana on the altar.

He called his neighbors for help, caught the animal, and caged it in good condition.

Local authorities, who turned up to see the money, plan to release it back in the wild.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre