Thousands of mangroves planted in Nha Trang

More than 10,000 mangrove trees were planted around Nha Trang Bay in central Khanh Hoa Province on Saturday.

The planting was done by more than 100 volunteers as part of the province's activities supporting the national Sea and Island Week, which runs from June 1-8 in Ha Tinh Province.

Nguyen Thi Nguyet Ha, deputy director of the province's Sea and Island Department, said the activity aimed at raising community awareness on protecting the sea and island environment from climate change effects.

Nha Trang Bay currently has more than 10 hectares of mangroves. Seven hectares were replanted by different organisations and individuals from 2002.

Unsafe bread sends dozens to hospital

As many as 107 people in southern Ben Tre Province were hospitalised after eating bread, deputy head of the province's Food Safety Department Cao Thanh Diem Thuy confirmed yesterday, May 26.

All the victims reported that they had bought the bread at the Minh Tuyen store in Phu Khuong Ward, Ben Tre City last Wednesday's late afternoon.

About 20 people went to hospital on Thursday after suffering food poisoning symptoms while others bought medicine to treat themselves at home.

The store has been temporarily closed.

Warehouse blaze

A fire on Saturday evening destroyed a 1,000sq.m warehouse used to store electrical goods in Ha Noi's Gia Lam District.

A fire on Saturday evening destroyed a 1,000sq.m warehouse used to store electrical goods in Ha Noi's Gia Lam District.

The warehouse, owned by the Machinery and Spare-parts Import-Export Joint Stocks Company, housed electric appliances such as cookers and air-conditioners.

The fire was brought under control early yesterday morning, May 26.

Vietnam aims to eradicate rabies by 2020

A meeting on eradicating rabies was held in the northern province of Phu Tho on May 24, attracting representatives from 10 northern provinces prone to the fatal disease.

Delegates stressed the need to raise public awareness of the dangers of rabies and vaccinations for domestic pets and local people, especially ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous provinces.

Representatives from the World Health Organisation in Vietnam and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations suggested vaccinating dogs and cats, and enhance awareness campaigns.

Son La provincial delegates said the province offered vaccines to over 1,000 welfare beneficiaries in the locality as of January 2013. Apart from educational campaigns and supplying vaccines, it will kick-start the action month for rabies prevention across the locality in the time to come.

Addressing the event, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long urged cities and provinces nationwide to join the efforts of the authorities, expand vaccination spots in key mountainous provinces, and integrate measures between public health and agricultural sectors to fight the disease.

Long said his ministry will submit a report to the Government on funding vaccinations in key provinces.

According to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, fatalities from rabies in northern mountainous provinces have averaged 100 per year since 2007.

Among the 571 fatalities caused by the disease across the country since 2007, 72 percent of them were in northern Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, Son La, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Cao Bang, and Thai Nguyen provinces and central Nghe An province.

In the first five months of this year, 24 people died from rabies in the said 10 provinces, most in northern localities. Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Hoa Binh recorded the highest number of cases.

Central city sees first medical university

The Da Nang Medicine and Pharmaceutics University debuted after 50 years working as a school of medicine.

It's the first ever university of medicine and pharmaceutics of the central city.

The newly established university is set to train around 6,000 students with four faculties for the central and Central Highlands region.

It has trained 23,000 students from 27 provinces since 1975.

Man arrested for carrying explosives to Vietnam

Border guards in Quang Binh province bordering Laos have arrested a man suspected of illegally transporting 850kg of explosives from Laos to Vietnam.

Nguyen Ngoc Van, born in 1977, was caught red handed attempting to carry 16 packages of explosive substances to QuangB inh’s Bo Trach district.

Van did not admit being involved in the case, but said that he knows two of the seven people who directly transported the explosives. He named them as Lanh, about 40 years old, and Lich, 36, both from Bo Trach district.

Colonel Ho Phi Hung, head of the Quang Binh provincial Border Guard Command anti-drug section, said local guards have spent more than four weeks investigating the case.

Traffickers often transport drugs and explosives through forests, making it very difficult for law enforcement agencies to catch them, he said.

The scope and scale of the investigation continues to expand.

Lightning kills two in Phu Yen

A father and son died in Son Ha Commune in central Phu Yen Province's Son Hoa District from a lightening strike last Friday afternoon when crossing the Ba River.

The body of the father Ha Van Minh, 39, was found late in the evening on the same day while the body of the 5-year-old son was found on Saturday.

Chairwoman of the commune's People's Committee Phan Thi Ha Phuoc said local authorities visited and gave VND2 million to the victims' family yesterday, May 26.

Lightening strikes causing deaths have been reported previously in the mountainous district.

Cluster bombs in Hung Yen defused

Two unexploded wartime bombs recently discovered on the banks of the Hong (Red) River running through the northern province of Hung Yen have been disabled by disposal experts.

With a diameter of 30cm and a length of 80cm, each weighed more than 100kg. They were cluster bomb, dropped by the US during the war in 1972, experts said.

Dozens of unexploded bombs and mortar shells left over from the war have been discovered in the province since last year.

HCM City celebrates Vietnam-Japan friendship

The 2013 Study Abroad - Jobs Japan Exhibition and the awards ceremony for the second essay contest on Japan were held in Ho Chi Minh City on May 25.

The events were jointly organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations, the Japanese Consulate General in HCM City and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, to mark 40 years of friendship between the two countries.

Around 150 Japanese universities, colleges and businesses participated in the event, providing the latest information about policies and the educational environment in Japan for overseas students, as well as employment opportunities with Japanese businesses.

Japanese Consul General Harumitsu Hida said that relations between Japan and Vietnam have developed well in many fields over the past few years.

More than 1,200 Japanese businesses are currently investing in Vietnam and more than 45,000 Vietnamese people have studied Japanese, while nearly 4,500 Vietnamese are now studying in Japan, he said.  

Meanwhile, the second essay contest on Japan aims to encourage the younger generation to to further develop the friendship between the two nations.

Since it was launched in April 2013, the contest has received nearly 1,000 entries from high school, college and university students in HCM City.

The contest organizers awarded four first, eight second, and sixteen third prizes for the best essays. First prize winners will experience a 10-day trip to explore Japan.

VN needs more support to clear bombs, mines

Viet Nam is seeking further international support in its continued attempt to overcome the consequences of post-war bombs and mines that still litter the country. This is among the many actions to be taken under a national programme to deal with post-war ordnance from now until 2015.

The plan, which was outlined in a Prime Ministerial decision dated May 13, was revealed at a meeting of the State Steering Board in charge of implementing the programme - dubbed Programme 504 - held in Ha Noi on Friday.

Speaking at the meeting, Vietnamese Defence Minister, General Phung Quang Thanh emphasised that the Prime Ministerial decision indicated the strong commitment of the Party, State and Government towards this issue.

He said a large number of bombs and mines from several wars over the last century had wrought havoc across the country.

"Even though the war ended several decades ago, 20 per cent of our land is still contaminated with bombs and mines and more than 100,000 people have been killed or injured due to post-war bombs and mines," he said.

The programme aims to mobilise domestic and international resources to minimise the consequences of bombs and mines, ensure public safety and help victims continue with their lives.

At the meeting, participants agreed on a set of concrete actions that will be implemented in the upcoming time.

These included setting up a contamination map, establishing a national level database centre and training centre as well a trust fund.

Projects to support victims will also be continued, as will an information campaign on mine accident prevention.

Child malnutrition rate falls significantly

The malnutrition rate among Vietnamese children under five years old has been reduced from 33% last year to 26.7% at present, according to the National Institute of Nutrition.

The figures were released at a press briefing in Hanoi on May 24 to launch 2013 Micronutrient Day to improve public health.

Head of the Nutrition Institute, Professor Le Thi Hop, said 90% of Vietnamese children between 6-36 months old are now provided with Vitamin A annually, which has resulted in zero fatalities due to Vitamin A deficiency.

However, she said, many children are still either under or over weight as a result of the lack of basic vitamins.

Deputy Head of the Nutrition Institute Le Danh Tuyen said Vietnamese children under five often suffer from deficiencies of Vitamin A, iron and iodine, most of them living in the northern, central and Central Highland regions.

If local children receive an adequate supply of Vitamin A, Vietnam can reduce the rate of fatalities and blindness in children under five by 23% and 70%, respectively, Tuyen said.

The Government has approved a national nutrition strategy aimed at reducing child malnutrition in the 2011-2020 period. The strategy aims to lower the rate of malnutrition among children under five to less than 10% by 2015 and 8% by 2020.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA