Week second day

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spent time visiting a local beer spot in Hanoi to enjoy bia hoi (light Vietnamese draft beer) after he arrived in the Vietnamese capital city on Saturday afternoon. PM Albanese joined a crowd at a draft beer spot on Duong Thanh Street, Hoan Kiem District to drink ice-cold draft beer and have lunch there. The Australian leader sat at the same table as that of Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh and Director of the State Protocol Department Nguyen Viet Dung. Before visiting the draft beer spot, PM Albanese bought a loaf of banh mi, a Vietnamese baguette served with different fillings, for lunch. A staff member of a banh mi stall gives banh mi to PM Albanese. A representative of the Vietnam-based brewer Habeco briefs PM Albanese on the history and development of Hanoi draft beer. PM Albanese jointly says “Mot, hai, ba, do!” (one, two, three, Cheers!) and chats with … [Read more...] about Australian PM tries Hanoi draft beer during visit to Vietnam

The tie-up offers MPGS customers access to Vesta’s Payment Guarantee™ and Payment Protect solutions. — Photo courtesy of the company With merchants estimated to suffer more than US$48 billion in e-commerce fraud globally in 2023 – 22 per cent of that in Asia – Mastercard on June 2 announced the expansion of its partnership with Vesta, the global leader in payment fraud protection. Building on the two firms’ existing fraud detection collaboration, Mastercard will be integrating Vesta’s iron-clad Payment Guarantee™ and Payment Protect risk scoring solution into its Mastercard Payment Gateway Services (MGPS) platform. Starting in the second half of 2023, MPGS customers in the Asia Pacific region will be given optional access to both fraud-fighting solutions which would offer total protection for their eCommerce transactions and take their cost of fraud to zero. “To provide MPGS customers with the toughest, most impenetrable fraud protection available, Mastercard is committed to … [Read more...] about Mastercard ramps up fraud protection for e-commerce merchants

The north just experienced a week of elevated temperatures due to a low-pressure area from the west and the Foehn wind effect. May 31 and June 1 were the hottest days of the period, with temperatures recorded at a weather station in Son La reaching 43.8 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature of the last month. On Saturday, temperatures dropped 1-3 degrees from their searing peaks. The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said a mass of cold air arrived from the east Saturday night, causing rains in mountainous and midland areas, with rain levels going up to 80 mm. The heat will therefore gradually retreat from the plains and then disappear starting Monday. U.S. weather forecast service AccuWeather said Hanoi would see temperatures dropping to 26-35 degrees on Sunday. Temperatures in the capital would hover around 25-34 degrees in the days after, according to the service. However, the heat will likely return at the end of next week, raising temperatures to 36 … [Read more...] about Rains cool northern Vietnam

During the final days of April, Thuy Duong, a Hanoi resident, went on two cliff camping trips. Such tourism is not popular in Vietnam, and private tours for this activity are non-existent. Duong first discovered the concept of cliff camping around five to seven years ago through foreign travel websites, but it is only now that she has had the opportunity to pursue it. Duong's group embarks on a trekking trip through the Lan Ty Valley in the northern Lang Son Province in late April, 2023. Photo courtesy of Thuy Duong Her first adventure took place in Lan Ty Valley in Lang Son Province that borders China. Along with her friends, Duong engaged in various activities such as trekking through endemic forests and exploring caves. The highlight was camping on a cliff near the peak of Mat Than Mountain. The camp spot was in the middle of the valley, surrounded by mountains and forests. "It was difficult to reach the camp spot. There was heavy rain and thunder on our … [Read more...] about Cliff camping in Vietnam: an adventure amid stunning landscapes