Heavy downpours are forecast in central and southern provinces from November 21 to 23, according to the national weather center.

Rainfalls in provinces from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai would range from 70 and 150 millimeters, while rainfalls of up to 120 millimeters would hit Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and the southern region.

Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan and the Central Highlands will continue to experience torrential rains with rainfalls averaging at 30-60 millimeters, the local media reported.

The national weather center also forecast heavy rains and thunderstorms in provinces from Thanh Hoa to Quang Binh between November 23 and 24.

The center issued a flash flood and landslide warning to low-lying and mountainous areas.

Over the past 24 hours, the provinces from Ha Tinh to Binh Thuan and the Central Highlands region have been facing medium to heavy rains and thunderstorms.

Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces saw rainfalls averaging at over 50 millimeters, while Binh Dinh Province experienced a downpour with rainfall at 95 millimeters on November 20, leading to flooding in many parts of the province. Many streets in Quy Nhon City were flooded by up to 0.5 meters.

Ischool food poisoning: hundreds hospitalized, one dead

Hundreds of pupils of an international school in Nha Trang, central Vietnam, (ISchool Nha Trang) have been hospitalized for food poisoning treatment, and one has passed away due to serious illness.

The incident happened on November 17 when the school offered a meal of chicken rice, egg sauce, chicken salad, fried chicken wings, soup and cakes to 930 pupils at lunch time as usual.

Several hours after the meal, many school children showed clinical symptoms of food poisoning infections such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and nausea, and they were immediately taken to some hospitals in Nha Trang city for medical check-ups and treatment.

The Nha Trang Department of Health reported on November 20 local hospitals had received 600 ISchool pupils for treatment. Of the total, 240 were allowed to stay at home for health monitoring, 93 were discharged from hospital, and 266 others are currently receiving treatment at hospital.

Unfortunately a pupil of grade 1 died on the way to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after showing serious symptoms.

On November 20 ISchool Nha Trang held a meeting with hundreds of parents whose children caught food poisoning infections.

Pham Huu Binh, head of the school, admitted responsibility for the incident and requested relevant agencies launch an investigation into the cause of the case.

ISchool Nha Trang is part of the ISchool system that offers pupils the opportunity to study in an international integration environment in Vietnam. Besides Nha Trang, the system has also developed schools in Ho Chi Minh City, and provinces of Quang Ninh, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan, Long An, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang and An Giang.

State President confident of stronger Vietnam – Japan relations

The extensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan is developing deeply and effectively, especially in the fields of trade, ODA, education, culture, and labour cooperation.

State President nguyen Xuan Phuc was speaking while receiving Kuroiwa Yuji, governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, in Hanoi on November 20.

Cooperation between the two countries’ localities plays an important role in bilateral relations, and strengthening such local cooperation and exchanges will create the prerequisite for elevating the Vietnam – Japan partnership to new heights.

The President highly appreciated the Governor’s role in promoting relations between Kanagawa and Vietnam, notably through trade networking seminars and annual cultural exchange events, including the recent Kanagawa Festival in Hanoi that attracted a large number of visitors.

Acknowledging that Kanagawa and Vietnamese localities hold great potential for investment and business cooperation, Phuc called on Kanagawa businesses to step up investment in high-quality agriculture, supporting industries, information technology, health care, cancer screening, wastewater treatment, and environmental protection in Vietnam.

The President proposed Kanagawa expand the reception of Vietnamese trainees, nurses and labourers, and at the same time create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study and work in their host community.

Yuji, for his part, briefed his host on the results of the recent Kanagawa Festival in Hanoi, which he said helped promote not only cultural exchanges but also business opportunities between the two countries.

He affirmed many businesses of Kanagawa are keen to invest in Vietnam, and expected their businesses would receive support and assistance from the government of Vietnam in undertaking their future projects in the country.

Kanagawa will host more cultural, education and economic exchanges with Vietnam, and it will give full support to Vietnamese students in studying in the prefecture, Yuri affirmed.

He shared issues related to aging population and expressed Kanagawa’s desires to promote cooperation with Vietnam to effectively respond to this challenge in the future.

Airlines told to improve security, service quality during Lunar New Year holiday

The Civil Aviation Authority of Việt Nam (CAAV) has ordered airlines to improve security, flight safety and service quality, including to minimise delayed and cancelled flights, while maintaining COVID-19 prevention measures, during the upcoming 2023 New Year and Lunar New Year (Tết) holidays.

Đinh Việt Thắng, head of CAAV, said demands on air travel are expected to sharply increase during the holidays.

Airlines have been told to allocate enough staff to deal with any incidents and minimise delayed and cancelled flights.

Thắng has also asked all airlines to ensure that pilots, flight attendants and technicians follow regulations on flight safety.

The country’s busiest airports, such as Tân Sơn Nhất, Nội Bài, Đà Nẵng, Vinh, Cam Ranh, Phú Quốc and Cát Bi, have been asked to focus on flight safety during this time, according to Thắng.

Thắng has also directed the Việt Nam Airlines Corporation to make its own plan to serve passengers during the holidays.

The corporation should check its infrastructure and facilities, and then take measures to repair or maintain runways and parking lots if necessary.

The Việt Nam Air Traffic Management Corporation is asked to allocate more staff to ensure operations run smoothly when additional flights are changed or weather conditions worsen.

Airlines must also control alcohol and drug use violations by aviation employees, especially pilots, aircraft maintenance staff, air traffic controllers and ground service staff.

The departments of transport across cities and provinces have been asked to work with competent authorities to reduce congestion at airports, especially Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City.

Domestic airlines will add more night flights before, during and after the holidays to meet increasing passenger demand, according to CAAV.

The airlines plan to increase the number of seats to 6.7 million from 5.1 million to meet travel demand, it said.

During the holidays, the average number of daily flights will be increased to more than 1,000 from 826, it added.

Routes that will see more round-trip flights are from HCM City to Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng, Đồng Hới, Vinh, Thanh Hóa, Chu Lai, Hải Phòng, Qui Nhơn, Huế, it added.

The Lunar New Year holiday will fall on Sunday, January 22, 2023. 

Well-known historian, publisher sign copyright agreement

HCM City’s based Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House has signed an exclusive copyright deal with well-known historian Nguyễn Đình Đầu, writer of many books and documents on Vietnamese history and culture. 

The deal grants the printer exclusive rights to publish and sell all of Đầu’s works.

The publisher will soon release four books written, compiled and edited by Đầu.

These books feature the history of the South’s development in different periods from the 19th century until the 20th. Southern people, particularly farmers, and their contributions to the fight against the French colonialists, are featured.

Trẻ Publishing House has released eight publications by Đầu, including Tạp Ghi Sử Địa Việt (Records on History and Geography of Việt Nam) in 2020. 

The 232-page book is on the history and geography of Việt Nam. 

Born in 1920 in Hà Nội, Đầu graduated from the Bách Nghệ (Polytechnic) School in 1941 and Sorbonne University in Paris in 1953.

He returned to HCM City in 1955 and worked as a high school teacher of history and geography.

Since 1960, he has focused on research on the history and geography of Việt Nam, and published several articles in local newspapers and magazines.

Đầu released more than 40 books, including Việt Nam Quốc Hiệu và Cương Vực – Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa (Việt Nam's Official Names and Territories – Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa) in 2013.

He won the Trần Văn Giàu Prize in 2005 and Phan Châu Trinh prize in 2008, the country’s prestigious awards for research works in different fields such as history, geography and culture.

He owns a collection of many maps of Việt Nam, especially more than 3,000 ancient maps of the country’s sovereignty rights over Trường Sa and Hoàng Sa archipelagos. 

Folk painting collection donated for display in Đà Nẵng

A 259-painting collection has been donated to the central city’s Fine Arts Museum for public display in celebration of Heritage Day. They will be displayed from November 18-25. 

The museum said the collection was contributed by director of Hà Nội Ceramics Museum, Nguyễn Thị Thu Hòa, French-Vietnamese painter Vũ Trọng Thuấn and artisan Nam Chi from Hà Nội.

Collector Hòa alone donated 240 folk paintings that she had collected over a long time, and she wants to introduce folk arts to art lovers nationwide and foreign travellers through a public display at the museum.

Hòa’s collection comprises famous folk paintings including Hàng Trống, Đông Hồ, Kim Hoàng, hand-drawn paintings and glass paintings from Huế.

Thuấn, 83, who lived in Paris from 1980-2003 before moving to Đà Nẵng in 2004, provided 17 lacquer paintings on canvas and different material bases.

The museum will display 61 paintings from the donated collection, including 49 folk paintings, seven lacquers and acrylic on canvas paintings, and one gold-plated bronze painting at 78 Lê Duẩn Street.   

Last year, Japanese painting collector, Toyokichi Itoh also donated 238 paintings to the museum to boost friendship between Japan, Việt Nam and Đà Nẵng. 

Exhibition honours women in fight against COVID-19

A meeting and photo exhibition honouring women at the frontline of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic has opened at the Southern Women’s Museum, District 3, HCM City.

Nguyễn Thị Thắm, director of the museum, emphasised that the fight against the pandemic saw the strength of solidarity, the spirit of sharing and the kindness of the people who are overseas Vietnamese and the female frontline force, such as healthcare workers and volunteers.

Those women are the most beautiful "flowers" that reflected a deep knowledge of sacrifice, kindheartedness, strength and resilience, Thắm said at the event. 

Their outstanding contribution once again affirmed the role and image of Vietnamese women with the traditions of self-confidence, self-respect, loyalty and courage, she added.

An exhibition displaying more than 150 photos and items of the fourth wave of COVID-19 in HCM City opened at the museum on November 18 and will run until June 30, 2023.

For this occasion, the organization's board sponsored a photo contest honoring the female frontline force and presented awards for the best pictures. The competition attracted 400 submissions from 45 photographers. 

Poet shares thoughts about life through verse

Director and poet Lê Quý Dương has released a new bilingual book Nhịp Đập Sáng Tối (The Beats of Light and Shadow) comprising 30 poems written between 1996 and 2022.

The poems are accompanied by photos taken by Trần Thị Thu Đông, Chairwoman of Việt Nam Association of Photographic Artists, which creates a dialogue between poetry and photography.

This is his second bilingual book after Ký Họa Cơn Mê (Sketches of Dreams), released in 2020 and comprising his poems and paintings by different contemporary artists.

While Sketches of Dreams covered his inner feelings and personal memories, the latest book shared his thoughts about the world, especially life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Explaining the inclusion of pictures and photos in his poetry collections, Dương said that in poetry, there are paintings, pictures and music. He wanted an emotional connection between artists and readers.

Lê Quý Dương was born in 1968 in Hà Nội, graduated valedictorian in theory and criticism at Hà Nội University of Theatre and Cinema in 1990, in theatre directing from the Australian Federal Institute of Dramatic Art in 1998 and majored in film directing at Los Angeles Film School under a Fulbright scholarship from the US in 2003.

Currently, he works as a director and writer of cultural festivals and stage arts. Lê Quý Dương has made outstanding contributions in the field of creativity and development of cooperation programmes and cultural and art exchanges between Việt Nam and other countries in the world. He is the President of the International Festival Forum (IFF), member of the Executive Council of the UNESCO’s World Theatre Association (ITI) from 2014 to present. 

Hanoi midnight marathon promises unique take on running in Vietnam

The VnExpress Marathon Hanoi Midnight will be back this weekend with double the number of participants in its second edition.

Almost 10,000 elite and amateur runners have registered to participate in the event, starting at midnight.

Athletes will compete in different categories of age groups, distances and genders, vying for a total bonus of VNĐ1.5 billion (US$60,500).

Those who set new records will receive extra bonuses from the sponsor and prizes for the winners.

Among runners are 2,000 children from six to 10 years old. They will be divided into different groups and run in the Kun Marathon on Saturday morning.

On the 1km track, organisers will set up obstacles to increase the difficulties and push the motor skills of the kids. Top three finishers of each group will receive awards.

The opening ceremony will be organised on Saturday night with the participation of famed artists such as rapper Rhymasric, singers Bảo Trâm and Madihu.

The race which is sponsored by Aqua Việt Nam will be kicked off at 0.00 Sunday for the 42km, 21km, 10km and 5km, respectively.

According to organisers, running at night athletes would enjoy typical experiments when people were sleeping and most activities were off. The city became quiet and peaceful. It was time to discover another beauty angle of the capital city in the early days of the winter.

Through the race, they will pass by Hà Nội's most famous and beautiful roads and streets such as Thanh Niên, Nguyễn Đình Thi, Hùng Vương and Phan Đình Phùng roads.

They also admire famous landscapes such as President Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum, the Opera House, the St. Joseph's Cathedral and the Hà Nội Flagtower.

With better understanding, people voluntarily hand over rare endangered animals to authorities

More than 80 captive wild animals in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế have been handed over to authorities this year, before they were all released back to nature.

Thừa Thiên-Huế Province currently has more than 288,400ha of forest including 211,200ha of natural forest. The province is also home to Bạch Mã National Park, Phong Điền Nature Reserve, Sao La Conservation Area, with a total area of ​​up to tens of thousands of hectares.

Located in central Trường Sơn Mountain range, the forests of Thừa Thiên-Huế Province have high biodiversity, with about 134 species of mammals and more than 500 types of birds.

The forests are well-known for many endemic species such as saola (Pseudoryx Nghetinhensis), giant muntjac (Muntiacus vuquangensis), Trường Sơn muntjac (Muntiacus truongsonensis), striped civet (Chrotogale owstoni), Sao pheasant (Rheinardia ocellata), Trường Sơn striped rabbit (Nesolagus timminsi), yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus annamenis), the brown-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix spp) and many other species of the pheasant family (Lophura spp).

These include the project "Sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation", the project “Raising public awareness and strengthening law enforcement to reduce demand for wildlife in Việt Nam” and the project of carbon storage and biodiversity conservation.

In mid-July 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development co-ordinated with Animals Asia to launch the project "Việt Nam Bear Rescue Centre Campus II" in Bạch Mã National Park. The centre covers an area of ​​​​12.7ha with a construction cost from the non-refundable aid of Animals Asia worth US$10.5 million.

To be completed in 2026, the centre will have the capacity to raise and rescue more than 300 bears received from private bear breeding facilities.

From the beginning of this year until now, the department received six pig-tailed macaques and red-faced monkeys, and three turtles. The animals were then returned to the wild thanks to coordination between the department and the Phong Điền Nature Reserve Management Board.

Vietnam reiterates support for IAEA’s major pillars

Vietnam has reaffirmed its consistent policy of supporting all three major pillars of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including ensuring nuclear safety and security, and inspection and application of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

The Vietnamese delegation led by Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien, Governor - Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the IAEA - was attending the year’s final regular meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria from November 14-18, with representatives from 35 member states and international organisations as observers taking part.

Affirming support for IAEA’s key role, the Vietnamese side also shared concern over complicated developments of security at present and highlighted the principles of conducting dialogues and settling disputes by peaceful means in line with the United Nations Charter and international law.

Vietnam attends ADMM Retreat, ninth ADMM Plus

Defence Minister Gen. Phan Van Giang is attending the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Retreat and the ninth ADMM Plus in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from November 21-23.

He is also attending the ASEAN-US and ASEAN-India defence ministers’ informal meetings.

His attendance at the events aims to affirm Vietnam’s role as an active, proactive and responsible member in promoting the ASEAN defence cooperation as well as defence cooperation between the grouping and its partners, showing Vietnam's high support for Cambodia in its role as the Chair of the ADMM and the ADMM Plus 2022, while demonstrating Vietnam's goodwill with the US and Indian partners, thereby contributing to promoting the Vietnam-US and Vietnam-India defence cooperation.

Bilateral meetings on the sidelines of these events are also an opportunity to contribute to strengthening defence ties and friendship in particular between Vietnam and partners.

Top legislator meets Vietnamese people in Cambodia

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue met representatives of the Vietnamese community in Cambodia on November 20 afternoon, within the framework of his official visit to the country and his attendance at the 43rd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-43).

Hue told Vietnamese people living in Cambodia that the two countries have completed 84% of the demarcation and marker planting of their shared border line, and are working on the rest.

Two-way trade reached 9.5 billion USD in 2021 and is projected to hit 11 billion USD this year. Meanwhile, Vietnam is running 198 valid investment projects totaling 2.92 billion USD in its neighbouring country, leading ASEAN and among the top five biggest investors in the nation.

Regarding a proposal related to the legal status of people of the Vietnamese origin, the top legislator said that in their latest meeting, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen told him that Cambodia was taking a new approach to the issue of nationality. With this move, anyone who has lived continuously in Cambodia for seven years has the right to apply for naturalisation, and the Cambodian Government will consider and propose to the King on this issue.

Hue also said that in his official visit, he had proposed the National Assembly President, the Senate President and the PM of Cambodia take measures to ensure the livelihoods for Vietnamese people, especially those engaged in fish farming in cages.

The NA Chairman stressed the importance of maintaining Vietnamese and Khmer languages in the community, affirming his backing for plans of the embassy and Vietnamese associations in Cambodia in this work.

He expressed his hope that Vietnamese businesses operating Cambodia prioritise recruiting Vietnamese Cambodians and help them in vocational training and skill improvement.

The Party and State always pay attention to and consider the overseas Vietnamese community as an integral part, and an important factor contributing to strengthening the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries.

On this occasion, the top legislator presented 30,000 USD to a fund supporting the relocation of Vietnamese people from lakes and rivers, while the Vietnamese NA Office granted 5,000 USD to the Khmer-Vietnam Association in Cambodia.

Crackdown on fishing vessels cutting off contacts at sea

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has requested coastal cities and provinces report fishing vessels that lose contact with authorities for more than ten days at sea.

The people’s committees of coastal cities and provinces must send their reports to the ministry’s Directorate of Fisheries before November 30.

The ministry said after the European Commission held its inspection in Việt Nam this October, it assessed that local authorities have made great efforts in monitoring, detecting and punishing fishing vessels that cross maritime borders at sea or lose contact for more than ten days at sea.

However, most violations were only given warnings and very few cases received administrative sanctions. In addition, many localities have not handled violations according to regulations.

The Directorate of Fisheries revealed that 853 fishing vessels disconnected their vessel monitoring systems in 2021.

Local authorities in 21 cities and provinces failed to report on 300 of the violating vessels.

This year through October 25, 412 vessels lost contact, and authorities in nine localities did not report 46 violation cases.

In an attempt to remove the yellow card for Việt Nam's seafood industry, the ministry has asked the people's committees of coastal cities and provinces to notify vessels that lose contact at sea for more than ten days via email (giamsattauca.tcts@gmail.com) and report violation cases to the Directorate of Fisheries.

The ministry has also requested localities to fully report the results of violation cases in 2021 and 2022 and send the results to the Directorate of Fisheries before November 30.

Hanoi hosts Vietnam – Korea culture exchange

A Vietnam – Korea culture exchange programme was held in Hanoi on November 20 by the Foreign Ministry’s State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (SCOV) in coordination with the Association for Liaison with Overseas Vietnamese and the Vietnamese Buddhist Cultural Centre in the Republic of Korea (RoK). 

The event was part of the activities to celebrate the 30th founding anniversary of the Vietnam –RoK diplomatic ties (December 22, 1992-2022) and in response to the "Day for honouring Vietnamese language in Vietnamese communities abroad”. 

Addressing the event, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Phu Binh, who is also chairman of the Association for Liaison with Overseas Vietnamese, appreciated efforts by the centre in supporting overseas Vietnamese in the RoK, and its positive contributions to promoting the close relations between the two peoples through the activities to popularise and preserve the Vietnamese culture and language.

According to SCOV Deputy head Mai Phan Dung, there are 200,000 OVs living, working and studying in the RoK. The increasing number of  the Vietnamese-Korean multicultural families, along with the growing trade ties between the two countries in recent years, has helped the bilateral diplomatic relations become closer.

Vietnamese Buddhist nun Thich Nu Gioi Tanh, director of the Vietnamese Buddhist Cultural Centre, said Buddhists and members of the centre have made great efforts to cultivate friendship and promote culture exchange between Vietnam and the RoK, thus strengthening trust and mutual understanding among their peoples.

In the framework of the programme, a wide range of activities were organised, including a talk show on the Vietnamese and Korean cultures, a fashion show featuring Vietnamese and RoK traditional costumes, and a ceremony to honour organisations and individuals who have made meaningful contributions to the community and society. 

The event has contributed to promoting the cultural, economic and political development of the two countries, and tightening the bilateral relations.

Nearly 100 households relocated for Quang Tri bomb detonation

The Quang Tri Provincial Military Command announced on Sunday that they had just safely handled a 227-kilo bomb from the American War in Tan Thanh Commune, in Huong Hoa District.

The bomb was found lying around a metre underground at a local farm. The farmers then informed authorities who identified it a MK82 bomb, measuring 1.54 metres in length, 27 centimetres in diameter and weighing 227 kilos.

The bomb contains over 80 kilos of explosives and has an M906 detonator that should be detonated on-site to ensure safety. As it was estimated to have a blast radius of 1.5 kilometres, local authorities had to evacuate nearly 100 households in the surrounding area before conducting the bomb's detonation to ensure their safety.

The bomb was then safely detonated the same day.

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