A Vietnamese cultural, culinary space was opened in Israel's Netanya city on April 16.

Organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel, the space is expected to popularise the beauty of the Southeast Asian country’s cuisine, culture and tourism while bolstering business cooperation and people-to-people exchanges of the two countries.

Ambassador Ly Duc Trung said the space will hold several activities monthly, including seminars, business meetings, art performances, and fashion shows.

Netanya city Mayor Miriam Feirberg-Ikar emphasised that as a tourism city, the locality welcomes visitors from all over the world and many people are amazed with Vietnamese food and culture.

On the occasion, the embassy introduced a “tripartite” model event among Vietnam – Israel and another country such as Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic.

Earlier this month, a “Night of Pho” event was held in Or Yehuda city introducing one of Vietnam’s most popular noodle soups to locals, as part of a series of activities of the Food Lovers’ Association of the Ambassadors' Club of Israel, on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day of Israel, and towards the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Israel (1993-2023).

Thirty first color photos of Hanoi displayed

Both locals and visitors to Hanoi will have the opportunity to learn about the changes in the capital's architecture and the landscape's transformation throughout history.

 The photo exhibition, themed "Hanoi - The Beginning of a Western City in Southeast Asia", is part of the 12th Vietnam-France Cooperation Conference organized by Hanoi and the Ile-de-France Region.

Being on display until April 22, the exhibition features 30 color photographs taken by Léon Busy between 1915 and 1921, considered the first color photographs of Hanoi.

These photographs show the appearance of Hanoi as it changed and developed. In addition to the public works that have long been part of the process of changing Hanoi's urban form, many details appear on these frames that show the spread of Western culture, even into the living space of Hanoians in the Old Quarter.

Highlights of the photo exhibitions include a photo taken inside Quan Thanh Temple showing a large crystal chandelier imported directly from France; the image of beautiful Vietnamese girls with macaron hair and large buckled shoes - a popular image in French fashion magazines in the 1910s; photos of press posters in French testifying to the excitement of the French press in Vietnam in the early twentieth century.

According to Duong Duc Tuan, deputy chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, cooperation between Hanoi and the Ile-de-France dates back to 1989. It is the first decentralized cooperation agreement signed between France and Vietnam and one of the oldest international partnerships of the Ile-de-France region.

Villa 49 Tran Hung Dao is the first French villa restored and embellished by Hanoi with the technical support of the Ile-de-France Region.

Vietnam-Italy Year activities held in Umbria

The Vietnamese Embassy in Italy from April 14-16 organised activities in the Umbria region within the framework of the Vietnam-Italy Year 2023, after the launching ceremony of the year took place in Rome on March 31.

Among the activities were the meetings between Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung and leaders of the regional and local governments, seminars and talks on the potential for economic cooperation between Vietnam and Umbria, the photograph exhibition "Vietnam Country and People", the screening of Vietnamese films, and a food festival.

At the meeting with President of the Umbria region Donatella Tesei, Ambassador Hung briefed him on the plan to organise the Vietnam - Italy Year programme there and received a letter of sponsorship and companionship from the regional government for the programme.

For her part, Donatella Tesei said the activities effectively help enhance understanding between the two sides, opening up cooperation opportunities and tightening the good friendship between the two countries. She affirmed that the authorities, departments, and localities in Umbria will actively support and accompany the embassy in this series of activities.

Meanwhile, Stefania Proietti - President of Perugia province, the capital of Umbria region and the place where most of the important activities in programme take place - affirmed that the local government, agencies, businesses, and communities will actively coordinate with the embassy to organise the activities.

On this occasion, Ambassador Hung also met government leaders, businesses, and  organisations of many localities in the region such as the cities of Citta di Castello, Foglino, and Gubbio.

In particular, the embassy collaborated with the Rotary Club of Perugia Trasimeno to organise a photograph exhibition introducing the country and people of Vietnam in Perugia city.

Efforts required to effectively use allocated AstraZeneca vaccine doses

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) under the Ministry of Health recently sent a dispatch to the Departments of Health, Centres for Disease Control of provinces and cities on strengthening the implementation of vaccination and supplementation of AstraZeneca vaccine against the COVID-19 pandemic from April to June.

The institute, which stores COVID-19 vaccines before distribution to localities, asked provinces and cities’ health authorities to review the list of people that should get vaccines to have an estimate of the amount of doses needed.

In February, NIHE allocated 832,900 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine with an expiration date of July 9 and July 11 to the 63 provinces and cities nationwide as booster shots for people aged from 18.

Over 266 million doses have been administered nationwide, of which about 51.6 million people aged 18 and older have received the third dose, equivalent to 81%. However, this rate is not uniform across the country and there are still many localities with booster coverage below 80%.

Currently, the number of AstraZeneca vaccines remaining at local level storage facilities (not including 204,400 doses in the national reserve) is about 300,000. The rate of vaccinations in the first eight days of April 2023 is slow, averaging about 1,040 doses per day, which means a lot might go unused.

According to statistics from the Health Ministry, from April 10-16, Vietnam reported 3,325 new COVID-19 cases – the highest in a week since the beginning of this year. In the past more than 3 months, the country has recorded no fatality.

More employment opportunities expected for Vietnamese in Macau

Consul General of Vietnam in Hong Kong and Macau (China) Pham Binh Dam has visited the Macau Special Administrative Region for the first time since it reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the trip from April 13-14, Dam held a working session with Ho Iat Seng, Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region, who appreciated cooperation between Macau and Vietnam in various fields, especially trade, labour, tourism and investment.

He stressed that many Vietnamese products are favoured by Macau people, while Vietnamese workers are skilled and hard-working, and have made positive contributions to Macau's economy, and also actively participated in local cultural activities.

As Vietnam’s economy has maintained impressive growth over the past years despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Macau businesses have paid attention to and want to expand cooperation with Vietnam, he added.

Dam thanked the Macau administration for caring and creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese people to work and live in Macau, especially during the pandemic.

The Consul General also made a series of proposals on expanding the reception of Vietnamese workers, actively exchanging business delegations, participating in trade events organised by the two sides, and coordinating to well handle emerging issues related to labourers and the removal of visa restrictions for Vietnamese visitors.

At his working session with representatives of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), Dam said that the potential for cooperation between Macau and Vietnam is huge and has not been fully tapped.

He encouraged Macau and Vietnamese businesses to explore cooperation opportunities through visits or participation in trade fairs in both Vietnam and Macau. The Consulate General of Vietnam in Hong Kong and Macau is always willing to help connect and support businesses of the two sides.

The Consul General also met with leading officials of the Vietnamese Association in Macau. Currently, there are about 7,000 Vietnamese people living and working in Macau, down more than a half compared to the pre-pandemic period, with an average income of 500-1,000 USD per month.

He also had meetings with leaders of Galaxy Entertainment Group and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited.

Buc Tuong rock band releases new album shot underground

The band Buc Tuong (The Wall) released their latest album, Can bang (Balance), on April 16, at Hanoi Book Street, marking their 28 years in the music industry.

The album includes 10 songs in the genres of Hard Rock, Modern Rock with youthful rhythms, and romantic rock ballad, which has been a specialty of Buc Tuong for many years.

With the song Sunflower, the audience enjoyed for the first time a rock song mixed with the symphony orchestra music - a new and unprecedented experiment in the music of Buc Tuong with the participation of the orchestra and conductor Luu Quang Minh.

Sunflower brings images of vast fields, wishes, and thoughts for positive things in life, skillfully expressed by Buc Tuong and the orchestra’s music.

Photos depict the start of Western-style city in Hanoi

A photo exhibition opened in Hanoi on April 15, spotlighting the start of a Western-style city in Southeast Asia in the capital of Vietnam.

The event is held at an old villa at No 49 Tran Hung Dao street, Hoan Kiem district, on the occasion of the 50th founding anniversary of Vietnam - France diplomatic relations, the 10th anniversary of the bilateral strategic partnership, and the 12th conference on decentralised cooperation between the two countries.

It displays the first 30 colour pictures of Hanoi, which were captured by Leson Busy between 1915 and 1921. They describe the start of a Western-style city where local traditional characteristics co-existed with foreign factors imported from France.

Aside from the structures that helped change the urban face of Hanoi, many details in the photos also show the presence of the Western culture in the Old Quarter and local living spaces, reflecting the strong influence of the French culture and its confluence with the local culture in the city in the early 20th century.

Exhibition on President Ho Chi Minh’s life, revolutionary career held in Belgium

Photos and documents featuring the life and career of late President Ho Chi Minh were exhibited at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, from April 14-16.

The exhibition was among activities to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of Vietnam-Belgium diplomatic ties and the 133rd birth anniversary of the late President.

On display were 200 file photos and documents, including some publicised for the first time, thereby contributing to clarifying the life and glorious revolutionary career of President Ho Chi Minh, as well as honouring and recognising his great contributions to the revolutionary cause of the Vietnamese people and building the friendship and solidarity between the Vietnamese people and the people of the world.

Bert De Belder, Head of the Department of International Relations of the Workers' Party of Belgium, said he was impressed by the exhibition, which, he described as a good chance for young people in Belgium, and Europe at large to understand more about the life of the late Vietnamese leader.

Within the framework of the exhibition, on April 15, a talk on the late President was held, with French historian Alain Russio being the speaker.

OV representatives from Netherlands to join trip to Truong Sa

Representatives of Vietnamese people in the Netherlands will join a delegation of overseas Vietnamese (OVs) on a visit to soldiers and residents on the island district of Truong Sa and DK1 platforms of the homeland.

At a recent meeting with the representatives, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Pham Viet Anh said the trip will help OVs directly learn about the life of the residents and soldiers living and performing duties at sea.

It will also help strengthen the OV communities’ solidarity and connections with the soldiers and people who are safeguarding the sovereignty of Vietnam. Given this, the OV delegates have an honour and mission that is conveying the expatriate community’s sentiments to the residents and soldiers on faraway islands and delivering messages from the residents and soldiers to the overseas communities, he noted.

The diplomat wished the delegates a successful trip so that when returning, they can help introduce part of the homeland to the Vietnamese in the Netherlands and set up a Truong Sa club in the European country in the near future.

The island district of Truong Sa is part of the central province of Khanh Hoa. Meanwhile, DK1 platforms are offshore economic, scientific, and technical service stations on Vietnam’s southern continental shelf.

The coming trip will be the 10th of its kind to be held for OVs by the State Committee for OV Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Vietnam People's Navy.

HCM City event marks Vietnam Day of Persons with Disabilities

An event was held in Ho Chi Minh City on April 16 to mark the Vietnam Day of Persons with Disabilities (April 18).

In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Van Hoi emphasised that the Party and State always pay attention to the affairs related to persons with disabilities (PWDs); encourage the responsible participation of the whole society as well as promote PWDs’ efforts to participate in social and welfare activities.

Susan Burns, US Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, acknowledged Vietnam's efforts to enact comprehensive policies to protect PWDs, including care for, and training and introduction of jobs for them.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Duong Anh Duc said that the celebration was an important event about equal development, bringing happiness to PWDs and also an opportunity for them to assert themselves and strive to integrate into the community.

According to the Vietnam National Committee for Persons with Disabilities, Vietnam currently has over 7 million PWDs, accounting for more than 7% of the population aged 2 years and over.

To date, more than 1.1 million PWDs have received monthly social benefits and free health insurance cards.

At the event, a photo exhibition featuring activities of PWDs was held. The organisers also presented the State President’s third-class Labour Orders to six coaches and athletes with disabilities, and the Prime Minister’s Certificates of Merits to nine coaches and athletes with disabilities for their outstanding sport achievements.

Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference wraps up

The 12th Vietnam-France cooperation conference with the theme "The driving force for sustainable and comprehensive recovery and development after the COVID-19 pandemic" wrapped up successfully in Hanoi on April 15.

Taking place at a time when Vietnam and France are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership, the conference showed the role and prestige of this cooperation mechanism with the participation of 50 localities of Vietnam and 12 localities of France, and many state and private organisations of the two sides.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh affirmed that after the three-day conference, more discussions and exchanges will be continued on other forums to realise the conference’s goals of creating new connections, new partners, and new successes.

The joint statement issued at the conference pointed out that environmental and climate changes are caused by human activities, reaffirming the determination to cooperate, based on the potential of experience exchanges in sustainable development, especially effective water management.

Participants at the conference agreed that environmental protection is a solid basis for sustainable socio-economic development.

There is a need to quickly adapt to digital transformation, which is now becoming a big challenge for socio-economic transformation, affirming that the cooperation between Vietnamese and French localities can offer new effective actions and solutions to successfully lead the transformation, through sharing common perceptions, policies, and experiences of success and failure in the development of a digital ecosystem, digital economy, digital society, and smart city. In this process, the priority is to improve the quality of public services and the business environment.

Challenges of urbanisation for the sustainable development of cities and people's lives give people no choice but to develop sustainably.

Therefore, it is necessary to promote projects based on a holistic approach and adapt to local conditions to ensure harmony and balance between modernity and tradition, heritage preservation, economic development, environmental protection, integration, and preservation of cultural identity. This not only requires a long-term vision of urban planning and management but also solutions to encourage and mobilise different stakeholders, especially urban residents, to participate in the transition towards a greener, more sustainable stage.

According to the joint statement, through discussions on forms of heritage conservation, cultural promotion, and tourism development, the localities of Vietnam and France, with diversity and richness in culture and heritage, have common interests and strengthen cooperation in formulating strategies for socio-economic development, green growth, and cultural industries associated with the conservation of tangible and intangible heritage.

The local-level cooperation is essential and indispensable for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals under the 2030 Agenda. The conference called for the development of this form of cooperation and committed to implementing the recommendations of the conference, with the support of all stakeholders.

On this occasion, localities including Hanoi and Toulouse, Yen Bai and Val-de-Marne; Thua Thien - Hue and Grand Poitiers signed cooperation agreements.

Month-long events honour cultures of Vietnam’s ethnic minority groups

A kaleidoscope of the cultures, rituals, and cuisine of ethnic minority groups around Vietnam will be highlighted throughout April at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Son Tay town on the outskirts of Hanoi.
 
A series of events will be held for the Vietnamese Ethnic Groups’ Culture Day on April 19 to introduce visitors to their culture, customs, and practices.

The Organising Board will create a cultural space featuring different cultures of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam’s northwest and northeast regions. The highlight of them is mountain markets, where visitors can not only enjoy typical dishes from each locality, but also enjoy artistic performances and play folk games.

Unique festivals and celebrations of ethnic minority groups around the country will also be reproduced within the framework of the programme.

Notably, an art show entitled “Central Highlands love songs” will be staged as part of the programme, entertaining the audience with folk songs, dances, and music from the Ta Oi, Xo Dang, Co Tu, Raglai, and E De ethnic minority groups.

More employment opportunities expected for Vietnamese in Macau

Consul General of Vietnam in Hong Kong and Macau (China) Pham Binh Dam has visited the Macau Special Administrative Region for the first time since it reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the trip from April 13-14, Dam held a working session with Ho Iat Seng, Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region, who appreciated cooperation between Macau and Vietnam in various fields, especially trade, labour, tourism and investment.

He stressed that many Vietnamese products are favoured by Macau people, while Vietnamese workers are skilled and hard-working, and have made positive contributions to Macau's economy, and also actively participated in local cultural activities.

As Vietnam’s economy has maintained impressive growth over the past years despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Macau businesses have paid attention to and want to expand cooperation with Vietnam, he added.

Dam thanked the Macau administration for caring and creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese people to work and live in Macau, especially during the pandemic.

The Consul General also made a series of proposals on expanding the reception of Vietnamese workers, actively exchanging business delegations, participating in trade events organised by the two sides, and coordinating to well handle emerging issues related to labourers and the removal of visa restrictions for Vietnamese visitors.

At his working session with representatives of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), Dam said that the potential for cooperation between Macau and Vietnam is huge and has not been fully tapped.

He encouraged Macau and Vietnamese businesses to explore cooperation opportunities through visits or participation in trade fairs in both Vietnam and Macau. The Consulate General of Vietnam in Hong Kong and Macau is always willing to help connect and support businesses of the two sides.

The Consul General also met with leading officials of the Vietnamese Association in Macau. Currently, there are about 7,000 Vietnamese people living and working in Macau, down more than a half compared to the pre-pandemic period, with an average income of US$500-1,000 per month.

He also had meetings with leaders of Galaxy Entertainment Group and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited.

Nearly 1.17 million SIM cards now two-way locked

Vietnam Telecommunications Authority said that approximately 498,000 mobile phone subscribers had verified their information, leaving nearly 1.17 million SIM cards two-way locked. 

When the SIM cards are two-way locked, users are not able to verify their information through service providers’ applications and websites, but instead have to bring their personal identification documents to the carriers’ transaction points to complete the process. 

The action follows a plan of the Ministry of Information and Communications to manage subscriptions and eradicate unverified SIM cards, spam calls and messages, while preventing risks to mobile phone users. 

Subscribers with unverified information will have their mobile phone numbers withdrawn on May 15. 

Ministry of Transport to complete 260km of North-South Expressway before April 30

The Ministry of Transport has set a goal of completing three component projects of the North-South Expressway Project before April 30, which is Việt Nam's Reunification Day.

The three projects of Mai Sơn-National Highway No. 45, Vĩnh Hảo-Phan Thiết and Phan Thiết-Dầu Giây have a total length of 260km and are part of the North-South Expressway Project.

According to the transport ministry, the project contractors have been urgently finishing up items such as levelling asphalt pavement, installing medians, corrugated iron, anti-glare nets and signposts, and marking roads in order to complete the projects on schedule.

In addition, the ministry regularly inspects the construction sites and urges the units to speed up progress and promptly handle construction delays with the determination to complete this year the other six component projects of National Highway 45 - Nghi Sơn, Nghi Sơn-Diễn Châu, Diễn Châu-Bãi Vọt, Nha Trang-Cam Lâm, Cam Lâm-Vĩnh Hảo, Mỹ Thuận Bridge 2.

According to the ministry, 12 localities through which the North-South Expressway passes through in the period of 2021-2025 have handed over 579 out of 721,2 km of land, reaching 80.2 per cent of the plan.

Fourteen localities of HCM City, Hà Nội, and the provinces of Cần Thơ, Hưng Yên, Bắc Ninh, Khánh Hòa, Đắk Lắk, An Giang, Hậu Giang, Sóc Trăng, Long An, Đồng Nai, Bình Dương and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu have completed the works of measurement, calculation and compensation plans for the three highways of Khánh Hòa-Buôn Ma Thuột, Biên Hòa-Vũng Tàu and Châu Đốc-Cần Thơ-Sóc Trăng, and two ring roads in HCM City and Hà Nội.

Hà Nội and the provinces of Hưng Yên, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu and Hậu Giang have implemented land hand-overs and compensation.

The ministry said that although the localities had made strong efforts, ground clearance is still a bottleneck of the projects.

For projects starting construction before June 30, site clearance has been urgently carried out. However, if the approval of plans of compensation is not sped up, the construction of resettlement areas and technical infrastructure will not meet the schedule, the ministry said.

To accelerate the construction of 25 bidding packages for the North-South Expressway in the period of 2021-2025, the ministry requested contractors complete personnel and machinery mobilisation, construction designs, co-ordinate with local authorities to handle procedures for mining construction materials and dumping sites, and list demands for construction materials as per the project implementation schedule to send to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for allocation.

Community Bike Day held in Pleiku City to promote safe, green transport methods

A Community Bike Day was held on Sunday in the Central Highlands city of Pleiku, together organised by the AIP Foundation along with the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee and the Pleiku’s People Committee.

The event is part of “Slow Zones, Safe Zones” programme, which, in its 5th year, is increasingly encouraging students and their families to use sustainable means of transport – paving the way for healthier and greener cities as well as promoting safe and sustainable mobility. This also aligns with Việt Nam’s National Green Growth Strategy 2021-2030. 

The Community Bike Day will kick-start safe and sustainable mobility-promoting activities, leading to the 7th UN Global Road Safety Week 2023 in May.

This year, the global campaign, under the theme of #RethinkMobility, focuses on sustainable transport, in particular, the need to shift to cycling, walking, and using public transport.

The ultimate goal is to ensure that safer modes of transportation, such as biking and walking, are made safe and accessible so that they can be used as a healthy alternative.

This Community Bike Day brings together over 1000 community members to speak up on safe mobility and take action for greener streets across their city.

In December 2022, as part of “Slow Zones, Safe Zones,” AIP Foundation launched the ‘Bike to school’ campaign providing 85 new bicycles for low-income students to be able to bike to and from school.

Today, an additional 50 bicycles will be handed over to students from underrepresented communities. The bicycles have been donated by individual supporters and corporate donors.

Since the beginning of 2023, AIP Foundation has been hosting bicycle safety training sessions across 19 project schools in Pleiku City to equip 18,117 students with knowledge on safe cycling practices.

10,000 books gifted to primary schools to celebrate VN Book Day

The HansaeYes24 Foundation will donate 10,000 books on various subjects to 100 primary schools in the southern province of Tây Ninh to celebrate Việt Nam Book Day on April 21.

The annual book donation programme entitled Một Vạn Cuốn Sách - Triệu Tình Yêu Thương (Ten Thousand Books - Millions of Love) has carefully selected books on various subjects such as science, culture and history that best fit with primary students.

Speaking at a ceremony on Friday to kick off the programme, Shin Soo-cheol, general director of Hansae Việt Nam Co Ltd, said the programme is aimed at providing useful books to young students and fostering their love of reading.

It will be carried out in the coming years to help students easily access good books and develop reading culture at schools.

The books and 100 bookshelves will be delivered to schools this month.

The foundation has coordinated with departments of education and training in HCM City, Đà Nẵng and Tây Ninh to gift books to schools since the programme was launched in 2017.

Can Tho to host events celebrating national holidays

Mekong River Delta city of Cần Thơ will launch several cultural and sports activities to mark the Hùng Kings Commemoration, the 48th anniversary of South Việt Nam's liberation and Reunification Day (April 30), and International Labour Day (May 1).

The city’s annual Southern Traditional Cake Festival will be held from April 28 to May 2 in Bình Thủy District.

With the theme of “Preserving and promoting cultural values of Southern traditional cakes”, the event will introduce around 100 signature savoury and sweet cakes from the south such as bánh xèo (sizzling rice pancake), bánh khọt (deep-fried shrimp pancake), bánh ít trần (sticky rice dumpling), and bánh bò (steamed rice cake).

More than 100 artisans will compete in the cooking contest, as well as present cooking demonstrations for visitors at the festival.

The event will also include cooking classes for children, folk games, and a food court featuring other specialties of southern provinces.

The festival is expected to attract around one million visitors in five days.

In addition, Cần Thơ will organise a permanent exhibition to celebrate the Hùng Kings Commemoration Day (the tenth day of the third lunar month, which falls on April 29 this year) at Cần Thơ Museum.

The exhibition will showcase documents and antiques highlighting cultural values of the practice of worshipping the Hùng Kings and Đông Sơn Culture in ancient Việt Nam dating from the seventh century BC to the second century AD.

A photo exhibition titled “Hương Sắc Cần Thơ” (The Beauty of Cần Thơ) will display works on the city’s landscapes, culture, people and social-economic development and achievements.

The city will also host a book fair featuring hundreds of books in different fields from April 19 to June 9 at the city library to celebrate Việt Nam Book Day (April 21).

Meanwhile, the National Motor Racing Championship will be held on April 30 at Cần Thơ Stadium. It is expected to attract the participation of nearly 50 racers across the country. 

Formers SEA Games champions Lai, Bình dominate Imperial Huế Marathon

Formers SEA Games champions Nguyễn Văn Lai and Phạm Thị Bình won their categories' titles at the VnExpress Marathon Imperial Huế 2023 on April 16.

Lai, who dominated the regional men's 5,000m and 10,000m for many years, took his first full marathon gold medal with a time of nearly 2hr 32min.

Lai and several others separated from the bunch, which included foreign runners from Japan, the Netherlands and Kenya, at the beginning, and he led the race until the finish line.

His time was two minutes better than Bùi Thế Anh, the reigning champion, who did not compete as he is with the national team training for the 32nd SEA Games.

Last year, Lai also ran in Huế and topped the half marathon pool.

Finishing second and third yesterday were veteran Lê Văn Tuấn and Triệu Tiến Luyện.

Bình meanwhile finished the women's elite race with a time of 3:05.25. It was her second win in VnExpress Marathon Series. The first one was the Sparkling Quy Nhơn Marathon last June. She said an easy win for her mainly because many strong rivals were absent. 

Although she did not run as fast as she did at the Quy Nhơn event (2.58 hours), she was happy because it was the first time she was wore shoes for the whole race.

Bình is famous across the region for always competing in bare feet. She would lose the skin on her feet, and her soles would shrink if running with shoes. 

Bình was in second and third place in the race's first half. She went ahead at the 20km mark but suffered cramps 10km later. She had to pause for moments to solve the problem before continuing her race.

In the 42km race for amateurs, Hứa Thuận Long took the top place. He was followed by Đặng Anh Quyết and Nguyễn Đăng Khoa. The women's winner was Nguyễn Thị Minh Hiền, who left behind Tạ Thị Minh Nghĩa and Trần Thị Hoa.

In the half marathon, Lý Nhân Tín ​​and ​​​​​Đoàn Thu Hằng took the men's and women's titles. While it was Tín's second time winning a race in the VnExpress Marathon series, Hằng successfully defended her top place in Huế.

The winners of the 10km race were Vòng Vành Long (men) and Nguyễn Thị Thanh Xuân (women). It was Tống Nguyễn Gia Hưng (men) and Đinh Thị Kim Phượng (women) taking the 5km golds, respectively.

In the third edition, the Imperial Huế Marathon saw a double number of participants, increasing from 4,700 in 2022 to 10,500 this year.

The organisers delivered 134 awards for winners of different categories with a total cash of VNĐ1.1 billion (US$46,900). 

World classic play first on cai luong stage

Medea - an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides and first produced in 431 BC has been on the cai luong (reformed opera) stage for the first time, conquering Vietnamese audiences.

The Medea was based upon the myth of Jason and Medea. The plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the Greek world threatened as Jason leaves her for a Greek princess of Corinth. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by murdering his new wife as well as her own two sons, after which she escapes to Athens to start a new life.

Euripides' play has been explored and interpreted by playwrights across the centuries and the world in a variety of ways, offering political, psychoanalytical, and feminist, among many other original readings of Medea, Jason, and the core themes of the play.

In Vietnam, the work was translated into Vietnamese by translator Hoang Huu Dan and has also been staged many times. The Medea play was adapted by People's Artist Trieu Trung Kien from a poetic script written by Excellent Artist Le Chuc.

Chuc and his team have surprised the public by bringing a version that fully guarantees the value of the original tragic work and makes the play new, luxurious, and imbued with human values.

Sharing the reason for choosing the Medea script to be staged as a cai luong play, People's Artist Trieu Trung Kien, Director of the Vietnam Cai Luong Theater, said that forms of stage are facing a shortage of good scripts, so choosing to stage the Medea is a way to enrich the theater's performance.

Right after the debut on April 11, the Theater offered a show for athletes participating in the 12th ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia and another show to audiences from the National Academy of Public Administration.

The Theater is also planning to cooperate with businesses to bring the play to students of universities and colleges.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes