TalkVietnam

PARIS: France will not attend the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang if the current international stand-off over North Korea's atomic weapons programme worsens and security cannot be guaranteed, the country's sports minister said on Thursday (Sep 21). "If this (situation with North Korea) gets worse and we do not have our security assured, then our French team will stay here (for the 2018 Olympics)," Sports Minister Laura Flessel told RTL radio; "We will not put our team in danger". (AFP/JUNG Yeon-Je) "If this gets worse and we do not have our security assured, then our French team will stay here," Laura Flessel told RTL radio. "We will not put our team in danger." Flessel is the first leading politician to publically cast doubt over a country's participation at the Olympics which run from Feb 9-25 in Pyeongchang which … [Read more...]

BERLIN: Germans vote in a general election on Sunday (Sep 24) after a campaign which has seen parties spar over how closely refugees and immigrants should integrate into the national culture, sparking fierce discussions about what it means to be German. The debate over how best to integrate millions of migrants now in Germany is looming over the country's coming elections. (Photo: AFP/Christof Stache) WHAT STARTED THE DEBATE?  The armies of Turkish "guest workers" brought over for German factories after the devastation of World War II had kept the integration debate simmering for decades. But it was propelled to centre stage in the 1990s by university professor Bassam Tibi, himself from a migrant background. Tibi suggested that the country needed a "Leitkultur" or "leading culture" which would … [Read more...]

Military-run telecom group Viettel has put the new technology to test on Thursday, when it begins running technical checks for the transfer of numbers between networks operated by itself and those by Vinaphone and Mobifone. The three major mobile network providers have confirmed preparations to launch mobile number portability by the end of this year, as scheduled by the Ministry of Information and Communications. According to the ministry, 90% of the cellphone users in Vietnam who subscribe to networks operated by these three telecom giants will benefit from the new service. Mobile number portability (MNP) enables cellphone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers after changing mobile network providers. The service is available to both prepaid and postpaid subscribers. Currently, mobile users in Vietnam are … [Read more...]

Dr Kidong Park,WHO representative in Vietnam, calls for more efforts to be stepped up in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at a workshop on September 21 in Hanoi. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The health sector called for efforts to be stepped up to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at a workshop on September 21 to review the first-phase implementation of the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance in Vietnam. Speaking at the event, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said AMR has been an alarming problem in Vietnam, especially the issue of antibiotic resistance in the food chain and ecological environment due to the increase of antibiotic use and weakness in antibiotic management in healthcare and animal husbandry. She said survey results on selling antibiotics at retail drug stores in the north showed weakness in the community’s awareness … [Read more...]

Now aged 90, the only thing he wants to do before he dies is go home -- to North Korea. Born in what is now South Korea, where he still has relatives, then a soldier and spy for the North -- where he left a wife and two children -- Seo epitomises the enduring divisions of the peninsula, and the way Koreans have been buffeted by the forces of history and politics. Seo is stooped and gaunt, walks with a cane, and has a truculent manner, but his mind remains clear. "I've done nothing wrong but loved the fatherland," he said -- adding that for him, that encompasses both North and South. The South repatriated some 60 former long-term prisoners in 2000, mostly soldiers, guerillas and spies, following a landmark inter-Korean summit. But Seo was not eligible as he had signed a pledge of loyalty to the South to secure his release from prison, obtaining citizenship as a result. Now activists are mounting a campaign for him and 17 other ageing ex-inmates still loyal to … [Read more...]

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions against North Korea on Thursday and Pyongyang's leader defiantly vowed to persist with its nuclear and missile programs and said it would consider measures against the United States. Tensions have risen as Pyongyang has resisted intense international pressure and the rhetoric between Trump and Kim Jong Un has also escalated. The U.S. president on Tuesday called him a 'rocket man' on a suicide mission and Kim described Trump early on Friday in Asia as "mentally deranged". The escalating rhetoric came as even the U.N. Secretary General called for statesmanship to avoid "sleepwalking" into a war. South Korea, Russia and China all urged calm. Kim said the North would consider the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" against the United States in response to Trump's threat to "totally destroy" the North in his first speech to the United Nations on Tuesday. Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear … [Read more...]

VietNamNet Bridge - Enjoy vegetarian dishes on any day of the month to maintain a healthy body and soul.  1. Loving Hut Restaurants – Loving Hut World Vegetarian, number 192/4, Quan Thanh street, Ba Đinh district, phone: 0462737 403. – Loving Hut Peace, number 8, lane 40 alley 2, Ta Quang Buu street, phone: 0466732729. – Loving Hut original source, number 3, 121/10, Chua Lang street, phone: 04.66748762. – Loving Hut, number 18, alley 71, Nguyen Hong street, Dong Da district, phone: 0466751197. 2. Bodhi Heart Restaurants – Number 68 Pham Huy Thong, phone: 0437245872. – Number 89 Nguyen Khuyen, phone: 0437475663. 3. Suburban Restaurant – Number 19 Nguyen Gia Thieu street, phone: 0439422424. – Number 32 Ba Trieu street, phone: 0462784406. – Number 63 Tran Duy Hung, phone: 0435558429. 4. Nang Tam: 79A Tran Hung Dao street, phone: 0438221530. 5. Vegetarian Restaurant Au Lac, 420 … [Read more...]

From deadly droughts and destroyed crops to shrinking water sources, communities across sub-Saharan Africa are struggling to withstand the onslaught of global record-breaking temperatures. But the dangers do not end there. Rising heat poses another threat - one that is far less known and studied but could spark disease epidemics across the continent, scientists say. Mosquitoes are the menace, and the risk goes beyond malaria. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads debilitating and potentially deadly viruses, from Zika and dengue to chikungunya, thrives in warmer climates than its malaria-carrying cousin, known as Anopheles, say researchers at Stanford University. In sub-Saharan Africa, this means malaria rates could rise in cooler areas as they heat up, but fall in hotter places that now battle the disease. In those areas, malaria - one of the continent's biggest killers - may be rivaled by other vector-borne diseases as major health crises. "As temperatures go … [Read more...]

Many students attend the conference on Thursday in HCM City. — VNS Photo Thu Ngan The two-day 4th International Conference on Finance and Economics which opened on Thursday in HCM City is focusing on innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship. The event, hosted by Ton Duc Thang University, seeks to create a link between scholarly research and the reality of the business world. It is being attended by hundreds of experts, academics and students from Viet Nam and other countries and territories like Germany, Italy, Australia, US, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and India. It will publish theoretical findings, comments and novel propositions in the fields of management, marketing, international business, economics, finance, accounting, hospitality, and tourism. Many studies on the Vietnamese market have been tabled at the conference. They include the effects of information on the stock … [Read more...]

A booth at the International Agriculture Trade Fair being held at HCM City’s Phu Tho Indoor Stadium from September 21 to 24. — VNS Photo Xuan Huong More than 200 local and foreign companies are displaying their products at the 17th International Agriculture Trade Fair, which opened in HCM City on Thursday. The products include regional agricultural specialties, safe foods and the latest equipment and technologies used in food preservation and processing and agricultural production. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dao Van Ho, director of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Centre for Agriculture, said AgroViet 2017 seeks to enable organisations and individuals to market their agro-forestry, fisheries and handicraft products and introduce new agricultural technologies. It also offers provinces and cities the opportunity to promote their products, potentials and strengths and solicit investment in agriculture, … [Read more...]