The HCM City Journalists Association will display more than 100 special publications from the city’s major newspapers and magazines including Trẻ (Youth), Thanh Niên (Young People) and Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn). … [Read more...] about Annual Tết book fair to open in downtown HCM City
Travel news
Incense-making craft of Nung ethnic group in Cao Bang
Residing in Phia Thap Hamlet at the foot of Pha Hung mountain, the Nung ethnic minority people are renowned for producing agarwood incense sticks. For several hundreds of years, members of the Nung ethnic group follow their traditional craft of making incense sticks from agarwood trees. Their incense sticks are made of natural materials, with artificial chemicals free. Each piece is soaked four times in a flour mixture of sawdust and agarwood powder in order to create beautiful incense sticks. Producing these items requires great skills, including eye movement, from makers. Generations of the Nung community have passed the tradition down to younger members. The craft is closely associated with the Vietnamese custom of burning incense on the first or 30th days of every lunar month and other special occasions, such as the ancestors’ death anniversary. The most time-consuming stage of the process is drying the incense. Locals often dry them … [Read more...] about Incense-making craft of Nung ethnic group in Cao Bang
Indonesian volcano erupts, spewing hot ash three kilometres away
Some of it travelled as far as three kilometres (two miles) away from its peak, Indonesia's geological agency said. Authorities told residents to stay outside a five-kilometre no-go zone, warning about possible lava flows. Fiery red lava has been seen flowing down the volcano in recent days, but authorities have kept its alert status at the second-highest level. Mount Merapi's last major eruption in 2010 killed more than 300 people, and forced the evacuation of around 280,000 residents from surrounding areas. That was its most powerful eruption since 1930, which killed around 1,300 people, while another explosion in 1994 took about 60 lives. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", a vast zone of geological instability where the collision of tectonic plates causes frequent quakes and major volcanic activity. The Southeast Asian archipelago nation has nearly 130 active volcanoes. … [Read more...] about Indonesian volcano erupts, spewing hot ash three kilometres away
Online coverage of Party Congress excellent opportunity for foreign reporters
Hanoi (VNA) – Foreign reporters who could not come to Vietnam to cover the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) due to the COVID-19 pandemic have praised the country’s initiative to allow their online coverage. “Knowing that this 13th Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party is a major event in the political life of this country, and of all its people, it seems to me that all the necessary means have been mobilised to allow journalists to cover in time real, and in excellent condition,” said Mohamed Abdoun from Algeria’s La Patrie News. “I would also like to thank the authorities of Vietnam for allowing me to be as close as possible to this major event in the history of the country in particular and of all of Asia in general”, said Mohamed Abdoun. It is a great pity that it is not possible to travel to Vietnam to meet on the spot because of the pandemic, said Stefan Kühner from the newspaper of the German … [Read more...] about Online coverage of Party Congress excellent opportunity for foreign reporters
