All of the almost 3,000 athletes competing at the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are set to get perks including the latest $930 Samsung smartphones, top of the range new equipment to take home and sleek Nike uniforms. All except perhaps the 22 athletes from North Korea. Tough international sanctions including travel restrictions and a ban on the sale of luxury goods and sports gear have complicated South Korean Olympic organisers' efforts to provide their northern neighbors with the same benefits available to other Olympians. For months, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has sought North Korea's participation in the hopes it will ease tensions between the still officially warring nations and prevent the kind of violent incidents which have plagued previous major events hosted by the South. Officials have rolled out the red carpet and are keen to make sure the visits go off without a hitch. North Korean female ice hockey players and their South Korean teammates, who will compete … [Read more...] about No Samsung phones, Nike uniforms for N.Koreans? Sanctions cloud Olympic perks
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WHAT’S ON OCTOBER 15-31 (DAILY UPDATE)
Exhibition "Everything is Golden" by Michelle Wise Opening: Thu 29 Oct 2015, 6 pm Exhibition: 29 Oct - 12 Nov 2015 Spacebar Cafe 15/76 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho Dist, Hanoi Join us for the opening of "EVERYTHING IS GOLDEN", a selection of paintings and contemporary lacquer by Michelle Wise. "EVERYTHING IS GOLDEN" is a series of works developed out of Wise's personal interest in using colours and simple geometric shapes to explore how spatial and color relationships have the power to evoke emotional responses. Inspired by non-objective abstract expressionists such as Joseph Albas and Mark Rothkoe and drawing on Vietnamese and other Asian cultural artistic traditions, this series utilizes lacquer work and gold leaf in contemporary ways. Her work thematically focuses on shape and form within these media; eliciting a sense of spiritualism while avoiding reference to religious iconography. Born in 1975, Michelle comes from Whanganui, New Zealand. She hitchhiked out of town with nothing … [Read more...] about WHAT’S ON OCTOBER 15-31 (DAILY UPDATE)
Social News 21/10
Committee urged to stand ready for search, rescue missions Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung made the request while attending a ceremony to mark the 20th founding anniversary of the committee in Hanoi on October 21. He said natural calamities such as floods and landslides as well as climate change and rising sea level have become more complicated and unpredictable, alongside hidden risks of big accidents. Since the beginning of this year, the damaging cold in the north, the prolonged drought in the south-central and Central Highland regions, the saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta, and the maritime environmental incident in the four central provinces have seriously affected the country's socio-economic development as well as local life and production, he added. In that context, there are many shortcomings that need to be fixed in search and rescue work, especially those related to capacity, forecast quality, equipment and the building of prevention measures, he noted. Dung … [Read more...] about Social News 21/10
Social News 19/10
Vung Tau mass fish dead caused by lack of oxygen A lack of oxygen was the main cause to the recent mass death of more than 250 tonnes of farmed fish along the Cha Va River in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau according to local authorities in their report released Monday. In their report announced at a meeting yesterday by director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Tran Van Cuong, investigation results of tested water samples showed that heavy rains had brought a large amount of water into the river and made the saline and oxygen levels decreased. "Fish then stopped eating and died en mass," Cuong said. The report said that some 254 tonnes of farmed fish of 90 households in Long Son District had died en mass since October 10 with an estimated loss of VND 29 billion (USD1.31 million). Farmers had laid out their dead fish on part of Highway 51 in Vung Tau City on October 13 to protest, demanding compensation from local seafood processors for … [Read more...] about Social News 19/10
Social Highlights for November 4
Shop blaze kills four family members The victims are a couple, their 15-year-old son and 74-year-old father. The cause of the blaze remains unknown. Rescue teams failed to save the victims because it took time to break down the family's automatic rolling door, which was tightly closed, when the blaze occurred at 1am. The case is under investigation. Dozens survive passenger bus fire Dozens managed to escape a passenger bus with bunk beds after it was on fire in Ha Tinh province early on November 4. The North-South express bus caught fire when it was travelling past Phu Viet commune, Thach Ha district, at 04.00am. The blaze was said to break out at the rear-end of the bus and quickly spread across the vehicle. Passengers managed to get out of the bus before local fire fighters put out the roaring fire within 30 minutes. Investigation into the cause of the incident is under way. Students win American Academy scholarships As many as 28 students in the central city were … [Read more...] about Social Highlights for November 4