The Grand Ho Tram Strip today officially unveiled its new, Las Vegas-inspired fountain show, set to dazzle guests from near and far as it dances to the hits of the day. Launching nightly from 6pm to 9pm, the “Fountains of Ho Tram” are able to project water over 25 metres into the air from its 120 jets, synchronised with a full spectrum LGP LED light show. Pre-loaded with the latest playlists, the fountain area will also regularly be used as a stage for live performances for famous singers, whose shows will light up as they perform before a six-storey water spectacular. The grand opening featured live performances from chart-topping pop star Son Tung M-TP and the original Vietnam Idol Phuong Vy. The two superstars, flanked by a symphony of dancing lights and bouncing aqua, had their performances paired with an unforgettable dinner from The Grand’s recently renovated … [Read more...]

Kos (Greece) (AFP) - A 6.7-magnitude undersea quake hit the Greek holiday island of Kos and the Turkish resort of Bodrum on Friday, killing two people and injuring hundreds in areas abuzz with nightlife. Greek police said a 22-year-old Swede and a 39-year-old Turk died in the quake that hit the island of Kos (AFP Photo/LOUISA GOULIAMAKI) The epicentre of the quake was about 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Bodrum, a magnet for holidaymakers, and 16 kilometres east of Kos, the US Geological Survey said. "(There was) this loud rumbling noise and we all ran out... my four friends fell to the ground due to the place shaking so much," 18-year-old Briton Harriet Longley told AFP from Kos. "We all crawled out and managed to get down the stairs where the other guests were screaming." Television footage … [Read more...]

NEW YORK: A bag Neil Armstrong used to collect the first ever samples of the moon - which was once nearly thrown out with the trash - sold at auction on Thursday (Jul 20) for US$1.8 million, Sotheby's said. Sotheby’s Cassandra Hatton displays the Apollo 11 Contingency Lunar Sample Return Bag, used by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11 to bring back the very first pieces of the moon ever collected, during a media preview for Space Exploration auction in New York. (Jewel SAMAD/AFP) The outer decontamination bag, which was flown to the moon on Apollo 11 and still carries traces of moon dust and small rock, was sold on the 48th anniversary of the first moon landing in 1969. Auctioneer Joe Dunning introduced the lot as "an exceptionally rare artifact from mankind's greatest achievement." It sold to an anonymous buyer on the telephone … [Read more...]

BANGALORE: An Indian man who strummed the guitar as surgeons operated on his brain demonstrated on Thursday (Jul 20) how the unusual procedure had cured the problem hindering his ability to play. Abhishek Prasad plays the guitar during brain surgery in Bangalore. (Photo: AFP/Handout) Abhishek Prasad had been suffering a neurological disorder that caused his fingers to cramp in one hand, preventing him from strumming properly. The 37-year-old sought treatment from numerous specialists before doctors at Bangalore's Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital recommended a bizarre procedure to reverse the condition known as "musician's dystonia". Surgeons drilled into his skull under anaesthetic and attached an electrode that allowed them to pinpoint where in the brain needed "burning" to cure the rare nerve … [Read more...]

MADRID: A Madrid court on Thursday (Jul 20) ordered Spanish football federation president Angel Maria Villar and his son Gorka to be held in custody without bail following his arrest on corruption charges. Angel Maria Villar has headed the Spanish Football Federation since 1988. (AFP/JAVIER SORIANO) High Court judge Santiago Pedraz ordered the two men detained because he said there was a significant flight risk given their "huge financial means" and they could destroy evidence. Pedraz questioned Villar, a senior president of world football governing body FIFA, and his son throughout the day. Also examined were federation vice-president Juan Padron and Ramon Hernandez Baussou, general secretary of the Tenerife federation. Police arrested the four men on Tuesday following raids on federation … [Read more...]

ISTRES: French President Emmanuel Macron was to address troops at an air base on Thursday (Jul 20) as he sought to repair the damage following the resignation of a highly-regarded military chief who challenged the government's budget cuts. French President Emmanuel Macron (R) visits the BA 125 French Air Force base in Istres on Jul 20, 2017. (Photo: Arnold Jerocki/Pool/AFP) Macron flew to the base in Istres, southern France, a day after General Pierre de Villiers quit in the wake of a row over the government's plans to slash €850 million (US$980 million) from his budget. De Villiers stepped aside after being publicly slapped down by Macron in front of the troops for telling a parliamentary committee he would not allow the armed forces to be "screwed". The 39-year-old president's handling of the dispute with … [Read more...]

Shares dropped on Thursday as blue chip stocks diverged and money flowed to companies releasing solid earning results. A production line of Habeco in Ha Noi’s Me Linh District. Habeco (BHN) dropped by a daily maximum 7 per cent, which dragged down the VN-Index. - VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung   The VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange recovered in the afternoon trade but still closed down 0.37 per cent at 768.41 points. The key southern market index increased 0.5 per cent on Wednesday. Large-cap stocks were mixed on the HCM City bourse. Sixteen of the top 30 largest firms lost value while 12 gained. Brewery Habeco (BHN) dropped by a daily maximum 7 per cent, which dragged down the VN-Index. Despite the global oil prices hitting a six-week high and petrol retail price increasing slightly … [Read more...]

GE Healthcare in collaboration with Friendship Hospital yesterday the new high performance GE CT scanner launching ceremony and the symposium on Diagnostic Imaging on Cardiac with the participation of  government officials, international medical experts, a large number of managers and doctors from big hospitals across the country. Investing on the new high performance GE CT scanner is considered as a breakthrough in cardiac diagnosis and treatment of Friendship Hospital. “Friendship Hospital invested in CT 64 detector rows technology since the early days to improve the quality of cardiac disease treatment. However, this method still has some drawbacks. In order to solve these problems to meet professional requirements, we recognize the need to invest in 256 detector rows and GE Revolution CT scanner is our most appropriate choice,” said Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Thanh Ha, … [Read more...]

Once a farmer, Ram lost his hands and toes within a few years of contracting leprosy, forcing the father-of-three to turn to begging in a desperate bid to feed his family. That's where he was spotted by U.S.-born Matthew Rockwell, the founder of Disaster Hack, a non-profit technology startup that is making functional prosthetic hands for those who couldn't otherwise afford them. Disaster Hack makes its money doing tech consulting and teaching people to code, while running altruistic ventures on the side like teaching Nepalis IT skills and manufacturing low-cost, basic prosthetics. Rockwell -- who flits between Nepal and the US, where he is part of the tech team behind the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert -- brought a 3D printer to Kathmandu after a powerful earthquake struck the country in 2015. Soon, he began printing new hands for those in need: a girl who lost both limbs after being electrocuted by hanging power lines, a construction worker … [Read more...]

NDO/VNA – Authorities of Ho Chi Minh City will closely coordinate with the Republic of Korea to prepare for the Ho Chi Minh City – Gyeongju World Culture Expo 2017, said Permanent Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem on July 20. He made the statement during a reception for Secretary General of the event’s Organising Committee Lee Dong Woo in the city. Speaking highly of the significance of the festival, Liem noted that the event, which is featuring an array of cultural exchange activities, will help deepen mutual understanding and solidarity between people of the two nations and enhance their bilateral strategic partnership. The two sides’ competent authorities are actively cooperating with each other for the hosting of the expo, which demonstrates the interest and goodwill of the two local governments, the official said. He commended the Organising Committee for drawing up a detailed master plan for the … [Read more...]

NDO/VNA – A consultation workshop took place in Hanoi on July 20, focusing on a draft action plan for rural-urban development aiming to strengthen food security and quality growth in APEC economies. The event was held by the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD) and the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It was the fourth activity within the framework of the APEC Policy Partnership on Food Security (PPFS) in 2017. Director of the International Cooperation Department Tran Kim Long said as the host of APEC activities and the PPFS in 2017, Vietnam has built a draft action plan for the APEC Strategic Framework on Rural-Urban Development to Strengthen Food Security and Quality Growth, approved at APEC Peru 2016. Growth quality in rural areas amid urbanisation and globalisation needs to be associated with income raising opportunities, ensuring employment, forming local and … [Read more...]

Shares went on a downward spiral again on Thursday morning after a brief recovery on Wednesday, as big companies in the retail, rubber and plastic sectors tumbled. The VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange dropped 1 per cent to close Thursday morning session at 763.83 points. The VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange dropped 1 per cent to 763.83 points. On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index went down 0.74 per cent to 98.08 points. Rubber, retail and plastics shares were badly hit, with an average drop of 2.3 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively, data on vietstock.vn showed. Large retailers such as Mobile World Group (MWG) and FPT Corp (FPT), two of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the HCM exchange, fell 1.6 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively. Sao … [Read more...]

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he never would have hired Attorney General Jeff Sessions if he had known the top law official would recuse himself from a probe into Russia's alleged election meddling. US President Donald Trump speaks alongside US Attorney General Jeff Sessions after Sessions was sworn in as Attorney General, at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, in February 2017 AFP/SAUL LOEB WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Jul 19) he never would have hired Attorney General Jeff Sessions if he had known the top law official would recuse himself from a probe into Russia's alleged election meddling. In an interview with the New York Times, the president also criticized Sessions' recent testimony before a Senate panel which is investigating possible collusion between Moscow … [Read more...]

NDO – Reigning national futsal champions Thai Son Nam will represent Vietnam to compete at the 2017 AFC Futsal Club Championship, scheduled to take place at Phu Tho Gymnasium, in Ho Chi Minh City, from July 20 to 30. The ten-day event will gather the participation of the 14 strongest futsal clubs from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, Qatar, Japan, Thailand, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Australia, Lebanon and hosts, Vietnam. The participating teams will battle it out in a round robin tournament of four groups, with the top two placed teams of each group advancing to the quarterfinals. Thai Son Nam Club has been drawn in Group A, together with Erem (Kyrgyzstan), Al Dhafra (UAE) and Vic Vipers (Australia). The best result achieved by Thai Son Nam at the AFC Club Championship was a third-place finish, along with the Fair Play prize, in Iran two years ago. The door is wide open for the Vietnamese representatives to seize one of Group … [Read more...]

The scales have tipped in the fight against AIDS, with more than half of people infected with HIV now getting treatment and AIDS-related deaths almost halving since 2005, the United Nations said on Thursday. In its latest global report on the pandemic, which has killed around 35 million people worldwide since it began in the 1980s, the UNAIDS agency said there were particularly encouraging signs in Africa, a continent ravaged by the disease. Eastern and southern Africa are leading the way, reducing new HIV infections by nearly 30 percent since 2010, the report said. Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zimbabwe have gone further, cutting new HIV infections by 40 percent or more since 2010. And among the most significant impacts of a vast scale-up of HIV testing, treatment and prevention programs, has been in the reduction of AIDS-related deaths, which have dropped by almost half since 2005. As a result, more people in what had been some of the worst affected countries, are … [Read more...]

The first stop for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be a luncheon at the giant modern office complex of Chancellor Angela Merkel, widely considered the European Union's most powerful leader. Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, talks with spectators as he visits Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate. (Gregor Fischer/POOL/AFP) BERLIN: Prince William and his wife Kate on Wednesday (Jul 19) began a three-day visit to Germany billed as a "charm offensive" by local media as Britain begins thorny Brexit talks in earnest. Under brilliant summer sunshine, William, who is second in line to the British throne, and Kate touched down in Berlin from Poland accompanied by their young children George and Charlotte. The first stop for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was a lunch of cod, tuna and salmon at the … [Read more...]

BERLIN: Germany raised the possibility on Wednesday of suspending European Union aid payments to Turkey after summoning Ankara's ambassador to Berlin to protest over the arrest of six human rights activists including a German citizen. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Ankara in February 2017. (Photo: AFP/Kayhan Ozer) The moves mark a further escalation of tensions between NATO allies Germany and Turkey, who are at loggerheads over a wide range of issues. This month, Turkey arrested rights activists including Amnesty International's Turkey head Idil Eser and German citizen Peter Steudtner on terrorism charges, which Berlin has labelled "absurd". "Unfortunately we have constant cause to talk to Turkey about civil and press freedoms," government spokesman … [Read more...]

A newly effective bill, government Decree No.59/2017 on the management of access to genetic resources and the sharing of their benefits (issued on May 12, 2017), was expected to protect the country’s rich genetic resources. A rare primate being cared for at the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre of the Cúc Phương National Park in northern province of Ninh Bình.-VNA/VNS Photo Ngô Lịch In 1992, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre ranked Việt Nam the 16th most biologically diverse country in the world, while the World Bank said “the entire country is included within Conservation International’s Indo-Burma hotspot, one of the earth’s richest and most threatened biological regions.” Nguyễn Đặng Thu Cúc, head of the Division of Genetic … [Read more...]

More needs to be done to ensure that human traffickers are brought to justice and Rohingya migrants are protected, rights groups said on Thursday, after a trial in which 62 people were convicted of crimes including trafficking and murder. A Bangkok court convicted the 62, including a general, police officers and provincial officials, on Wednesday at the end of Thailand's biggest ever human-trafficking trial. The trial began in 2015 after the discovery of more than 30 bodies in shallow graves near the Malaysian border in what authorities said was a jungle camp where traffickers held migrants hostage until relatives paid ransom for their release. The discovery led to more than 100 arrests. Many of the dead were believed to be Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority from Myanmar, many of whom seek refuge in mostly Muslim Malaysia. Thailand has not released a full report on the graves or the results of forensic tests. "The trial and convictions was just the first step," … [Read more...]

The United States has ended a four month ban on passengers carrying laptops onboard U.S. bound flights from certain airports in the Middle East and North Africa, bringing to an end one of the controversial travel restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump's administration. Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport was the last of 10 airports to be exempted from the ban, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed in a tweet late on Wednesday local time. Middle East carriers have blamed Trump's travel restrictions, which include banning citizens of some Muslim majority countries from visiting the United States, for a downturn in demand on U.S routes. In March, the United States banned large electronics in cabins on flights from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa over concerns that explosives could be concealed in the devices taken onboard aircraft. The ban has been lifted on the nine airlines affected -- Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar … [Read more...]