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The operator of a building in Ho Chi Minh City has taken legal action against Highlands Coffee, a popular café chain in Vietnam, for failing to pay nearly five months of rents, shortly after a similar controversy between the coffee shop brand and another building owner in Hanoi. In its denunciation letter sent to the police bureau of Ward 25 in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoa Binh House Corporation (HBH) accused Highlands Coffee Service JSC of illegally trespassing on Pax Sky building, which belongs to HBH, disrupting security and order, and hindering HBH’s business activities at the building. Highlands Coffee has owed up to VND500 million (US$22,000) worth of rents from July to date for the space of its outlet inside Pax Sky building, which is located at 26 Ung Van Khiem Street in Ward 25, Binh Thanh District, according to a sales manager of HBH. Before submitting the denunciation letter, HBH had discussed the issue with representatives of Highlands Coffee by …

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Australia will introduce legislation to make social media giants provide details of users who post defamatory comments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday. The government has been looking at the extent of the responsibility of platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, for defamatory material published on their sites and comes after the country's highest court ruled that publishers can be held liable for public comments on online forums. The ruling caused some news companies like CNN to deny Australians access to their Facebook pages. "The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people," Morrison said at a televised press briefing. "That is not what can happen in the real world, and there is no case for it to be able to be happening in the digital world." The new legislation will introduce a complaints mechanism, so that if somebody thinks they are being defamed, bullied or attacked …

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Melaleuca forest at Tan Lap Floating Village is seen from above. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Hưng The Đồng Tháp Mười (Plain of Reeds) region in the Mekong Delta is just hitting the peak of flooding season, a time for the southern province of Long An to show off the charming natural beauty of its vast wetland areas. Like many other regions in the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has all but wiped out tourism in the region, but it is now mobilising a wide-scale plan to recover. Coronavirus aside, the province faces another threat. With its large swathes of low lying wetland, it is at particular risk from climate change, with a study from Cần Thơ University estimating that if sea levels rose by just one metre almost half the province would be underwater. Long An needs tourism but it also needs to be eco-conscious. It is with this in mind that it wants to pivot to green tourism with a focus on the eco-friendly “smoke-free” industry, putting its diverse waterways, wetlands and attractive …

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Illustration by Trịnh Lập by Anh Đức "Treat others as you would like others to treat you" is probably one of the most common teachings people come across. The great philosopher Confucius is widely known as among the first to preach this idea, and it can also be found in other religions and cultures across the world: in a verse of the Bible, the teachings of Buddha and Prophet Muhammad's Hadith. It is called "the Golden Rule". As society and technology progress, it is confusing and sad that the Golden Rule is being ignored. People now tend to mistreat others, and do whatever they want without consent. And sadly, in most cases it is women who bear this mistreatment, offering little to no retaliation. An expat TikToker in Việt Nam has become famous for his "crazy" videos. One of his latest videos was, however, polarizing. It shows a young girl sitting alone, happily eating noodle and sausage. The TikToker then shows up, scooches closer and closer to the girl, and gestures for her …

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RUSTIC CLASSIC: Cabbage rolls made according to age-old tradition. Photos courtesy of Slavic Tea House It goes without saying that the Vietnamese capital is hardly noted as being a hotbed of Eastern European culture. But all that may be slowly changing with the opening of The Slavic Tea House in Hà Nội’s Tây Hồ District. This new restaurant was not, as one might imagine, opened by Muscovite pining for home-cooked delights, but a long-term expat from Melbourne, Australia. Ali Waugh has lived in the city for 15 years, mostly working at the Hà Nội International School in varying roles, including careers counsellor, teacher and marketer. But she has long had a sideline as a businesswoman, initially with Emporium, a fashion and homeware boutique; then with the Eastern and Oriental Tea House and Coffee Parlour (famed for its astounding array of cakes); and most recently the Slavic Tea House itself, which has barely been open five months. Waugh is energetic, friendly …

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