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Games to include Vovinam martial art next year

In Uncategorized on June 3, 2010 at 2:09 am




Games to include Vovinam martial art next year


QĐND – Wednesday, June 02, 2010, 21:31 (GMT+7)

Vovinam, the traditional Vietnamese martial art, will be featured at the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia next year as a competitive sport for the first time, according to the SEA Sports Council.


Vovinam’s inclusion in the games will help promote the sport, which has gained recognition internationally in recent years, especially after the success of the first World Vovinam Championship in HCM City in July 2009 and at the third Asian Indoor Games last year, the Vietnam Vovinam Federation said.


“The presence of the sport in the SEA Games is a remarkable achievement by the Vietnam Olympics Committee and the Vietnam Vovinam Federation, which have trying to have the sport included in the games for years,” said Vo Danh Hai, World Vovinam Federation (WVVF)’s general secretary.


Next year’s SEA Games, martial artists will compete in 16 vovinam events –eight performance and eight combat events.


Vovinam is practised in six countries in the region aside from Vietnam , including Indonesia , Thailand , Singapore, the Philippines , Laos and Cambodia .


“The WVVF and the Vietnamese federation will send their coaches to train vovinam martial artists in countries that do not play the sport. Meanwhile, we will invite coaches and artists to practise in Vietnam,” he said.


“Hopefully, there will be at least nine delegations registering for this year’s SEA Games. It will be a great chance to promote Vietnam’s image to the world.”


Vovinam events will be held in Bali .


The martial art was founded in 1938 in Hanoi by late Grand Master Nguyen Loc.


It is practised in 40 countries and has more than 100,000 practitioners. It is popular in France , Italy and the US .


Cambodia will host the Southeast Asia Vovinam Federation meeting in July.


Source: VNA


Source: QDND

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New national golf tourney tees off next month

In Uncategorized on May 31, 2010 at 3:45 pm




New national golf tourney tees off next month


QĐND – Monday, May 31, 2010, 20:59 (GMT+7)

A national golf tournament, the Matrix Golf Trophy Series, will tee off at the Vietnam Golf&Country Club in Ho Chi Minh City next month. The tournament, open to all golfers, both locals and foreigners with a handicap from 0-24, will have two qualifying rounds.


While the qualifying round for golfers in the southern region will take place at the Vietnam Golf& Country Club on June 11, the round for northern residents will be held at the Phoenix Golf&Resort on July 30.


A total of 60 golfers, with 30 selected from each of the qualifying rounds, will play in the final round at the Da Nang Golf Club on November 26-27.


Besides men’s and women’s divisions, the tournament also has a division for juniors aged 12-16.


The tournament, organised by the Phuc An Ngoc Viet Golf Company and Golf Today Magazine, is intended to be an annual event.


Source: VNA


Source: QDND

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100% percent of students have enough textbooks in next school year

In Uncategorized on May 31, 2010 at 9:22 am

100% percent of students have enough textbooks in 2010-2011 school year.


80 million textbooks will be provided to students ranging from the primary levels through the secondary schools to ensure that 100 percent of students have enough textbooks for the upcoming academic year 2010-2011, said Education Publishing House.


The Education Publishing House also said that price of textbooks will remain unchanged and will be listed at bookshops nationwide.


Textbooks are issued from May 20 – June 20 and July 20 to August 20.


The Education Publishing House will offer free books to good students, disadvantaged students and martyrs’ and wounded soldiers’ students nationwide.

Source: SGGP

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Obama eyes ‘next steps’ in oil spill

In Uncategorized on May 14, 2010 at 8:52 am

US President Barack Obama meets with top advisers Friday to discuss the “next steps” to stem a giant sea of oil lapping the fragile Gulf Coast as BP readied its latest make-or-break bid.


Obama, who the White House has described as “deeply frustrated” that the leak has not been plugged three weeks since a spectacular explosion rocked an offshore drilling platform, has increased pressure on rig-operator BP as officials warned the oil could hit more coastal states over the weekend.


The British oil giant meanwhile prepared a new attempt to siphon the crude up to a tanker on the surface as serious questions emerged over exactly how much oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.


Remote-controlled submarines were set to perform the delicate operation to insert a narrow six-inch (15-centimeter) diameter tube into the main leak in a 21-inch thick riser pipe in inky depths 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) down on the seabed.

This image released by BP on May 11 shows the main oil leak (R) of the Deepwater Horizon rig which exploded April 20 and killed 11 workers.

“There will be a set of gaskets attached to the tube and they will help seat it in the riser pipe,” BP spokesman Bryan Ferguson said.


Success could see most of the leaking oil contained and allow BP to concentrate its efforts on mopping up the giant slick, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts would not make landfall in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama until late Saturday.


Louisiana’s fragile shores have been the hardest hit by the growing pool of oil so far.


BP is facing a growing backlash as experts warned the spill may actually be at least 10 times worse than the US Coast Guard’s official estimate that 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of crude are gushing from a ruptured well each day.


Scientists analyzing video of the leak released by BP told CNN and National Public Radio that the leak was actually spewing closer to 70,000 barrels (294,000 gallons) a day, with an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 20 percent.


The findings suggest the gulf spill is already the worst environmental disaster in US history, having eclipsed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. But BP has disputed the results, saying there is no reliable method to calculate how much oil is flowing from the broken pipe.


The Deepwater Horizon rig, leased by BP from Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor, sank on April 22, two days after a massive explosion that killed 11 workers.


BP is under fire after congressional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday revealed multiple warning signs were perhaps overlooked before the April 20 blast.


Top oil executives from BP, rig owner Transocean and Halliburton, which was being paid to seal the well, traded blame over the disaster.


One of the main questions is why BP or Transocean decided to go ahead with final operations to seal the well despite a test that apparently indicated highly combustible gas could still be leaking out.


Citing accounts by two contractors, The Wall Street Journal said a decision was also taken to conduct the final operations in reverse, meaning the drilling “mud,” or lubricant, was withdrawn before a final cement plug was inserted.


Engineers have been mulling several different options to seal the main leak and prevent a giant slick from destroying vulnerable coastlines.


Engineers decided to use the insertion tube method rather than a “top hat” containment box because they were concerned ice-like crystals that dogged efforts last weekend would form inside the structure.


BP is also contemplating a bizarre “junk shot” maneuver to jam up the blowout preventer (BOP) with golf balls, tires, rope and other debris.

It began drilling a relief well on May 2 that could divert the flow until the well is permanently sealed, but this may not be ready until August.

Louisiana’s 2.4 billion dollar fisheries industry has already been hit by a ban on fishing and shrimp harvesting in a large swath of coastal waters.

Cleanup teams are seeing oil wash up on island nature reserves in Louisiana and National Guard troops have been scooping up tar balls off beaches on Dauphin Island, a popular Alabama tourist spot.

Transocean, which BP is blaming for the failure of the blowout preventer, filed a petition in a US court Thursday to limit its liability in the spill to 27 million dollars.

US senators from the three US western Pacific Coast states introduced draft legislation calling for a ban on new offshore drilling near their shores.

Source: SGGP

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Thai Red Shirts mull next move after troop deployment

In Uncategorized on April 20, 2010 at 3:43 am

BANGKOK, April 20, 2010 (AFP) – Thailand’s “Red Shirt” protesters on Tuesday plotted the next move in their month-long anti-government campaign, after security forces blocked plans for a march on the financial district.


Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is resisting calls to stand down and announce fresh elections, said the government was intent on clearing the demonstrators from their sprawling rally base in Bangkok’s retail heartland.

Thai soldiers stand in a line along Silom road in the financial district of Bangkok on April 20, 2010. AFP photo

But after a botched crackdown on April 10 that left 25 dead and 800 injured, he said he could not set a deadline for ending the street rallies that have caused massive disruption to business and tourism.


“Both the government and the people want this to end quickly but we have to think about many factors,” he said on television late Monday. “We have to minimise the damage and do this effectively.”


“We cannot set a timeframe. The government knows that the people are suffering but authorities have many elements to consider. We will do our best,” he said.


Thousands of security forces, many armed with assault rifles, descended on central Bangkok Monday after the Red Shirts threatened to march from their protest base towards the nearby Silom financial hub.


“We can see the authorities have protected Silom from an invasion,” Abhisit said.


The Reds have said they will announce their new protest plans on Tuesday.


Amnesty International said that this month’s clashes, which left 19 protesters, five members of the security forces and one foreign journalist dead, must be investigated and those responsible held accountable.


“The military used lethal force in the operations, while some individuals among the protesters also used guns and grenades, as well as improvised weapons,” Amnesty said of Thailand’s worst civil unrest for nearly two decades.


The sequence of events on the night of April 10 remains shadowy. Witnesses and video footage indicated that the violence was kicked off by mysterious black-clad gunmen who both sides on the conflict have disowned.


Amnesty said the Thai government was obliged to protect the lives of all those involved in the crisis “including by exercising due diligence to prevent attacks by non-state actors”.


The red-shirted campaigners, who condemn Abhisit’s administration as elitist, have refused to leave their rallying base which has forced several major shopping centres to close.


The area is dotted with five-star hotels, most of which are virtually empty after days of being surrounded by the Reds’ encampment which stretches for several kilometres along some of the city’s main thoroughfares.


Red officials appear firmly in control of the area, mounting checkpoints, directing traffic and operating a formidable logistical base with long rows of of tents offering food, medicine and facilities for sleeping and washing.


The protesters are mainly supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and is now living in exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption.


The Reds say that Abhisit’s government is illegitimate because it came to power in a parliamentary vote, not a popular election, and that it is the tool of Thailand’s palace, military and bureaucratic circles.


A rival faction, the elite-backed “Yellow Shirts”, vowed Sunday to take action if the government fails to deal with the protesters within a week, raising fears of new clashes.


The chairman of Thailand’s leading opposition party, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who is a Thaksin ally, said Monday he had requested an audience with the nation’s revered king to help resolve the crisis.


King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 82, who has no official political role but is seen as a unifying figure, has made no public comment on this month’s violence.

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Source: SGGP

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Hanoi-Vinh air route to be resumed next week

In Uncategorized on April 10, 2010 at 5:20 pm




Hanoi-Vinh air route to be resumed next week


QĐND – Saturday, April 10, 2010, 21:8 (GMT+7)

The first flight between Hanoi and central Vinh city will be launched on April 12th, using ATR 72 aircraft, said Ho Duc Phuoc, Vice Chairman of the central Nghe An Provincial People’s Committee.


Early next week, leaders of Nghe An province will have a working session with Vietnam Airlines for a flight on May 19th to celebrate the 120th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh.


There are now two domestic air routes from Vinh to Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi, using Airbus 320 and ATR 72 aircraft. In 2009, over 280,000 air travelers flew on the Vinh-HCMC route, an increase of 156%.


Source: TPO

Translated by Vu Hung

Source: QDND

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Philippine diaspora begins voting for next president

In Uncategorized on April 10, 2010 at 1:42 pm

More than half a million Filipinos living overseas, who help pump billions of dollars into the Philippines’ economy, Saturday began voting for a new president.

A Filipino woman fills in the ballot at a polling station in Hong Kong April 10, 2010. (AFP)

Nine million Filipinos live outside the Philippines with many working as maids, nurses, construction workers and sailors and the 590,000 registered voters can cast their votes until May 10.


In Hong Kong an army of voters — at least 80 percent are female domestic helpers — was expected to flood the consulate-run polling station on Sunday, their usual day off, said election official Victorio Dimagiba.


“I think we’ll have a very high turnout tomorrow and in the coming weeks,” Dimagiba told AFP.


Foreign department spokesman Eduardo Malaya said in Manila that Filipinos around the world will cast their votes in 93 embassies and consulates to elect the successor to President Gloria Arroyo. Turnout is expected to be high.


Hong Kong and Singapore, which have a combined 128,000 voters, will serve as a testbed for a computerised system being used for the first time this year said Commission on Elections (Comelec) official Armando Velasco.


“Through this (overseas voting), we will know whether or not this really works,” Velasco told reporters, acknowledging popular concern that automated elections, aimed at curbing fraud and speeding up the process, will not work.


The machines are due to be used by 50 million voters in the Philippines itself on May 10.


Those outside Hong Kong and Singapore would vote by mail or by visiting their embassies or consulates to fill out ballots.


The Philippines’ economic diaspora send billions of dollars every year to their families, helping make ends meet in a country where one in three people lives on a dollar or less a day.


Polls show the battle is shaping up as a contest between two senators, Benigno Aquino, son of the late democracy icon and former Filipina leader Corazon Aquino, and multi-millionaire developer Manuel Villar.


Domestic helper Marina Saranglao, 47, believes Aquino is the best bet to lead her native country.


“Most of (the candidates) are corrupt, but not Aquino,” Saranglao told AFP.


In Singapore, domestic helper Susanita Salmorin, 50, cast her vote for Aquino, saying his family’s political legacy assured her that he would make a good leader.


“It’s because of the experience of his father, and his mother was a president…. They have a record of good service,” she said.

Source: SGGP

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HCMC tourism festival to kick off next week

In Uncategorized on March 31, 2010 at 9:31 am

A corner of September 23 Park (file photo)

The sixth annual Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival is set to take place April 8-11 in the city’s September 30 Park, just a few steps from Ben Thanh Market in District 1.


The free event promises a host of exciting activities aimed to promote tourism in HCMC, said the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on March 30.


During the festival, the city will introduce tourist services and summer programs offered by local travel agencies, including several promotions for domestic and foreign air travel.


An array of dynamic art performances will also be showcased throughout the event.

The festival is organized by HCMC’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in coordination with the municipal Tourism Association.

In related news, according to Vietnam Airlines, many foreign carriers have recently submitted applications to open new routes and increase flights to Vietnam.


Malaysia Airlines, for instance, will increase flights between HCMC and Kuala Lumpur from 14 to 20 flights per week. The change is expected to start March 31.

Qatar Airlines, meanwhile, said it will increase Airbus 330 flights from HCMC to Doha from four to seven flights per week and will open a direct route from Ha Noi to Qatar soon.

Earlier, Taiwan’s Transasia Airlines had opened a direct route between Da Nang and Taipei with two flights per week.


Transasia is the second foreign airline to offer direct flights to Da Nang after Singapore’s Silk Air.

Source: SGGP

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Price of power to rise 6.8 pct next month

In Vietnam Economy on February 28, 2010 at 11:30 am




Price of power to rise 6.8 pct next month


QĐND – Friday, February 26, 2010, 22:23 (GMT+7)

The price of electricity will increase by an average of 6.8 percent starting March 1, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced on February 26.


Accordingly, the price will stand at 1,058 VND/kWh and the retail price for production and trading services will go up by 6.3 percent, standing at 1,009 VND/kWh and 1,919 VND/kWh, respectively.


However, the retail power price for families using less than 50 kWh per month will remain at 600 VND/kWh as a support for low income households.


The higher rates will have no great impact on the public or the economy, Do Huu Hao, deputy minister of Industry and Trade said at a press briefing.


It will reduce the growth of the country’s gross domestic product by around 0.34 percent and directly push up the consumer price index by 0.16 percent this year, he said, adding that electricity expenditures for the production sector would grow by nearly 1 percent.


Deputy General Director of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Dinh Quang Tri said with the increase, the average electricity price in Vietnam will reach about 5.54 cents/kWh–higher than the price in Laos but lower than that of other countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).


Source: VNA


Source: QDND

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Pope Benedict XVI puts John Paul II on next step to sainthood

In World on December 20, 2009 at 4:37 am

VATICAN CITY, Dec 19, 2009 (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday declared his predecessor John Paul II “venerable,” moving the long-serving Polish-born pope closer to sainthood, the Vatican said.








This file picture taken on June 14, 1987 shows Pope John Paul II (R) accompanied by Polish Premier General Wojciech Jaruzelski while listening to the Polish anthem at Warsaw`s Okecie airport at the end of the Pope third visit to Poland (AFP photo)

The decree bestowing the title is the first step towards beatification and eventual sainthood for the charismatic Pole who headed the Roman Catholic Church for nearly three decades.


Pope Benedict launched the lengthy process — which can take decades if not centuries — just two months after the death in 2005 of John Paul II, whose funeral was marked by calls of “Santo Subito” (Saint Now).


The final stage for beatification is providing evidence of a miracle, usually a medical cure with no scientific explanation which is reviewed by several commissions.


In John Paul II’s case, the miracle under consideration — and subject to another papal decree — involves a French nun who was cured of Parkinson’s disease in 2005.


Vatican watchers expect Benedict to approve the beatification, which could be celebrated next year, either on the April 2 anniversary of his death or in October on the anniversary of the start of John Paul II’s papacy in 1978.


Source: SGGP Bookmark & Share

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