International high school exchange programs

12-grade students at their break time at Trần Nhân Tông High School in Hà Nội. —VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tùng HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly (NA)'s Committee on Culture and Education has asked the Ministry of Education and Training to reverse an earlier decision and make history a compulsory subject at high school level. Nguyễn Thị Mai Hoa, deputy chairwoman of the committee said following a new survey on the implementation of new general education programme for history in high schools, the majority disagreed with the ministry’s announcement that it will no longer be a compulsory subject in the 2022-23 academic year. There are some reasons for the disagreement, according to the deputy chairwoman. History is believed to be a particularly important subject, playing a key role in political and ideological education for future generations. High school students, aged 15 to 17 years old, have more mature awareness so they could have the acquisition of history knowledge better than the … [Read more...] about History must be compulsory subject at high schools

At the 31st SEA Games, the men's football teams in Group B - Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia – stayed at the Nam Cuong hotel in Nam Dinh Province, just two km from the Thien Truong Stadium. The hotel's kitchen had to serve the five teams with special nutritional requirements keeping in mind their religious faiths and preferences. Nguyen Van Chien, the hotel's manager, said that the three main meals for the teams were served as a buffet of 60-70 dishes. For example, the Indonesian team wanted masala fried eggs, which the team leader said suited the nutritional needs of the players. Some of the Indonesian players were Muslims who don’t eat pork, so their meals had to be adjusted accordingly. For the Thai team, the hotel’s chefs served stir-fried noodles with special spices. Before the meal, the Thai team sent a player to the kitchen to provide guidance and instructions. Chef Dong Van Quang said that the Thai players ate food that was quite salty and had more … [Read more...] about SEA Games attendees enjoy native cuisine, Vietnamese staples

BUENOS AIRES -- Argentine scientists discovered a new species of a huge flying reptile dubbed "The Dragon of Death" that lived 86 millions of years ago alongside dinosaurs, in a find shedding fresh insight on a predator whose body was as long as a yellow school bus. The new specimen of ancient flying reptile, or pterosaur, measured around 30 feet (9 meters) long and researchers say it predated birds as among the first creatures on Earth to use wings to hunt its prey from prehistoric skies. The team of paleontologists discovered the fossils of the newly coined Thanatosdrakon amaru in the Andes mountains in Argentina's western Mendoza province. They found that the rocks preserving the reptile's remains dated back 86 million years to the Cretaceous period. The estimated date means these fearsome flying reptiles lived at least some 20 million years before an asteroid impact on what is now Mexico's Yucatan peninsula wiped out about three-quarters of life on the planet about 66 … [Read more...] about Ancient massive ‘Dragon of Death’ flying reptile dug up in Argentina

The World Health Organization does not believe the monkeypox outbreak outside of Africa requires mass vaccinations as measures like good hygiene and safe sexual behaviour will help control its spread, a senior official said on Monday. Richard Pebody, who leads the high-threat pathogen team at WHO Europe, also told Reuters in an interview that immediate supplies of vaccines and antivirals are relatively limited. His comments came as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was in the process of releasing some Jynneos vaccine doses for use in monkeypox cases. Germany's government said on Monday that it was assessing options for vaccinations, while Britain has offered them to some healthcare workers. Public health authorities in Europe and North America are investigating more than 100 suspected and confirmed cases of the viral infection in the worst outbreak of the virus outside of Africa, where it is endemic. The primary measures to control the outbreak … [Read more...] about WHO says no urgent need for mass monkeypox vaccinations

Leading property portal Batdongsan.com reported a 8-9 percent decline year-on-year in the number of searches for land and houses on its platform last month. The land market segment slowed down, with no transactions recorded last month, according to consultancy DKRA Vietnam. Insiders attributed the slump to a surge in prices driven by HCMC’s outlying districts’ plans to develop into cities within a city and limited supply after some localities stopped granting permission for land subdivision. The gloomy outlook also haunted the city’s apartment market, with sales plunging by 68 percent from the previous quarter to 1,385 units in the first three months, the lowest in a year. Meanwhile, an increasing number of investors decided to sell off their apartments due to financial distress after interest incentives expired, a VnExpress survey in early May found. But demand was gloomy over credit tightening, rising interest rates and high prices despite developers’ efforts to stimulate … [Read more...] about HCMC real estate market gloomy in Q2

JAKARTA -- Indonesia allowed a resumption of palm oil exports from Monday after a three-week ban, but shipments were not expected to get underway until details emerge on new rules aimed at securing domestic supplies of the edible oil. The Southeast Asian country, the world's biggest palm oil producer, halted exports of palm oil from April 28 in an attempt to bring down soaring local prices of cooking oil, rattling global edible oil markets already struggling with sunflower oil supply shortages due to the war in Ukraine. President Joko Widodo announced the lifting of the ban on exports of crude palm oil and some derivative products last week, expressing confidence that bulk cooking oil prices were heading towards a target level of 14,000 rupiah ($0.9546) per litre, even if they were currently higher in some areas. Palm oil, used in everything from margarine to shampoo, comprises a third of the world's vegetable oil market, with Indonesia accounting for about 60% of supply. To … [Read more...] about Indonesia policy uncertainty hampers resumption of palm oil exports

Vietnam impresses regional sports delegations and visitors who felt nothing but warmth, friendship, and hospitality. Vietnam has helped raise the level of the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) by including Olympic and Asian Games (ASIAD) sports in the competition program. Ramon Fernandez, Head of the Philippines sports delegation, gave the idea when sharing some impressions on the organization, and the qualification of international referees in SEA Games 31 that was held in Hanoi and 11 nearby localities. He said the host country has been very open and tried to create a fair game, contributing to raising the level of SEA Games. Other delegations supported Vietnam’s model and vowed to bring more Olympic athletes to the SEA Games. Vietnam is believed to help raise level of SEA Games. Photos: The Hanoi Times Vietnam finished top at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) which concluded today [May 23] after two weeks of competition. Its athletes won … [Read more...] about SEA Games 31 concludes: Vietnam helps raise regional sports level

Bamboo Airways and leaders of Gia Lai Province signed the co-operation agreement. — VNA/VNS Photo Bamboo Airways and Vietnam Airlines have signed comprehensive cooperation agreements with the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai at the province’s investment promotion conference 2022 held in Pleiku City on Saturday. Accordingly, Bamboo Airways will co-ordinate and support Gia Lai Province to realise important goals, including strengthening the promotion of new direct flights to Gia Lai from key markets and maintaining available routes effectively; research and propose to develop potential international commercial routes to/from Gia Lai and pilot charter flights in the safe adaptation phase. Gia Lai will actively work closely with Bamboo Airways to regularly exchange information on tourism development plans, mechanisms and policies, creating favourable conditions for the airline to operate new routes to Gia Lai, supporting the promotion of tourism products and services as well … [Read more...] about Airlines sign co-operation agreement with Gia Lai Province

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính gave the speech at the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity on Monday. — VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam will join 12 countries in the region in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) as US President Joe Biden launches the initiative on Monday during his visit to long-term ally Japan. The formal rollout of the IPEF was held in a hybrid format in Tokyo – with US President, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking part in person, and leaders from Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand joining remotely. The White House said this economic framework with an initial 13 countries represents 40 per cent of global GDP. The framework will focus on four key pillars – Connected Economy (including rules on digital economy, standards on cross-border data flows and data localisation, online privacy, … [Read more...] about Việt Nam joins Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity

The Deputy PM’s participation at the session will deliver an important message from the Vietnamese Government that it highly values the effective cooperation with the U.N. in general and ESCAP in particular over the past 45 years, while demonstrating the country’s strong commitments to promoting its partnership with the U.N. and ESCAP in the coming time, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chi Thanh, who is also the Permanent Representative of Vietnam to ESCAP. Vietnam wants to further accelerate the dialogue and cooperation process with member countries, effectively optimize ESCAP's support to implement Vietnam's development strategies and goals, especially during the post-pandemic recovery and sustainable development process, and realize its commitments at the 26th UN Climate Conference (COP26), he stressed. Ambassador Thanh affirmed that the Deputy PM will be the highest leader of Vietnam to attend a session of the commission in person in many years, which shows … [Read more...] about Vietnam aims to deepen partnership with U.N., ESCAP: Diplomat