Fake news finds fertile ground in Vietnam’s current issues

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Trending social issues in Vietnam such as the growing African swine fever epidemic and the ongoing clash between traditional fish sauce makers and industrial condiment producers have become fertile ground for fake news, but authorities are swift to take action.

On Monday, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI) of Vietnam said it had slapped a Facebook page with a fine of VND20 million (US$864) for spreading fake news on the African swine fever epidemic that is hitting northern Vietnam

The page, which operates as an online fashion store selling maternity dresses with nearly 300,000 followers, published a post on March 4 addressing ‘updates’ on the epidemic.

The post warned Hanoi residents against buying pork sold in the Vietnamese capital, claiming that the meat was sourced from pigs infected with the African swine fever.

Another post warning the page’s followers of fake news about the African swine fever epidemic on Facebook was also published on Sunday.

Information provided in those posts is false, said Le Quang Tu Do, ABEI deputy director.

ABEI had a meeting with the page owner on Monday, during which they admitted to spreading fake news and appeared remorseful for their action, Do said.

The owner also agreed to pay the administrative penalty and remove the incorrect post permanently.

The African swine fever, a highly contagious disease which is incurable in pigs but harmless to humans, has spread rapidly across neighboring China since August, and has been found in at least 13 cities and provinces in Vietnam,

Over 11,000 pigs have been infected and destroyed because of the virus, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In another case of fake news in Vietnam, officials have warned of a Facebook page pretending to be the official profile of the Central Propaganda and Education Committee of the Party.

On Sunday, the fake page published a post that attacked traditional fish sauce producers with false and fabricated information, said Tran Thanh Lam, deputy director of the committee’s Journalism and Publishing Department.

The post surfaced at a time when conventional Vietnamese fish sauce makers have expressed opposition to the draft national standards for the production of the liquid condiment, in which their products, made from natural ingredients, are equated with industrially produced counterparts that have a chemical content.

The Central Propaganda and Education Committee has no official Facebook profile, and any page that claims to be so is fake, Lam said.

The committee will issue an official dispatch asking the Ministry of Public Security to identify the owner of the page and take appropriate actions, he added.

“We will notify Facebook of the fake account,” an ABEI official told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday.

“We believe Facebook will cooperate closely with Vietnamese authorities in handling violating accounts,” the official said.

Source: Tuoitrenews

Google announces Cloud Platform support program for Vietnamese startups

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Google announced Google Cloud Platform for Startups, a special supporting program for startups based in Vietnam, at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City that attracted hundreds of enterprises and developers last week.

Google Cloud Platform for Startups is designed by the tech giant to help eligible early-stage startups take advantage of the ‘cloud’ – where computing resources are hosted and accessed via the Internet.

Participating startups can also get resources to quickly launch and scale their idea by receiving from US$3,000 to $100,000 in Cloud Platform credit, having 24/7 support, and accessing Google’s technical solutions team.

The offer is available to startups that have received no more than one Series A funding round, are less than five years old, are based in Vietnam and have not previously secured Cloud credit outside of the free-tier offering.

Early-stage companies with products developed based on digital technology and the desire to reach out to the international market can apply directly for the program, with registration now open at g.co/cloudstartups.

Startups can qualify for one of the three Start, Spark and Surge programs, depending on their needs and growth. The Start package is worth US$3,000 a year, the Spark package is worth $20,000 a year, and the Surge package is worth $100,000 a year.

All three support packages include G Suite credits, access to online training and materials, and a $500 package of other products through Qwiklabs – a hands-on learning platform for those who want to become more familiar with operating cloud environments and writing applications that run on them.

In addition, the startups can also build, test and run their applications on Google’s trusted platforms, while enhancing their products with Google Cloud AI (Artificial Intelligence) and creating immersive location experiences with Google Maps Platform.

Google Cloud Platform for Startups was among Google’s several community support programs for Vietnamese startups.

The total value of Google Cloud packages in support for startups in Vietnam exceeded $1 million after six months in 2018, and is expected to continue increasing strongly in 2019.

According to a report on Tuoi Tre

Tan Son Nhat scores lowest among Vietnamese airports in customer satisfaction

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The Ho Chi Minh City-based Tan Son Nhat International Airport came last in a survey by Vietnam’s aviation watchdog that ranked six international airdromes in the country by their customer satisfaction level.

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) announced the results of its survey, which assessed how Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Phu Quoc and Cat Bi satisfied flyers, on Monday.

The CAAV rolled out 25,000 questionnaires from October to December 2018, measuring passenger satisfaction in seven different areas – departure terminals, check-in counters, security screening, immigration, departure lounges, arrival terminals, and public transport – at each of the six airports.

Ratings range from one to five, representing “very bad,” “bad,” “fair,” “good” and “excellent.”

According to the results, the six airports’ overall scores fluctuate between 3.96 and 4.56 points.

The highest score, 4.56, was given to Cat Bi International Airport in the northern city of Hai Phong, whereas Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport took the lowest score of 3.96.

Cam Ranh International Airport in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa came second with 4.31 points, followed by Da Nang International Airport with 4.23 points, Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport with 4.22 points, and Phu Quoc International Airport on the namesake island off the southern province of Kien Giang with 4.04 points, respectively.

The CAAV said the ‘top three’ airports got the high scores as the Da Nang and Cat Bi airdromes both received new investment to improve service quality, while Cam Ranh inaugurated a new international terminal last year.

To be fair, the passenger satisfaction score of Tan Son Nhat remained unchanged from the 2017 survey, which the CAAV said is quite an “achievement,” given the increasing pressure on the Ho Chi Minh City-based airport.

Particularly, Tan Son Nhat did improve its scores on service quality in the security screening and immigration areas, while scoring lower in the departure terminal, arrival terminal, public transport and departure lounge categories, compared to 2017.

The air transport department under the CAAV attributed the bad performance of Tan Son Nhat to a 6.4 percent rise in the number of passengers passing through the airport last year.

Tan Son Nhat served some 38 million passengers in 2018, compared to its designed capacity of 25 million passengers a year.

According to a report on Tuoi Tre

Heatwave, salinization threaten southern Vietnam

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It will be as hot as 36 degrees Celsius in southern Vietnam this week while high salinity is forecast to harm freshwater plants, according to the southern weather service.

The weather will be dry given the high temperature and low humidity in the air, the southern branch of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said on Sunday.

Temperatures will hover around 35 degrees Celsius in the southeastern and southwestern parts of the country, with mercury even hitting 36 degrees Celsius in Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, and Tay Ninh.

It will be as hot as 35 degrees Celsius in Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, Can Tho, and Vinh Long.

The weather is forecast to be dry because of the heat and air humidity plummeting to below 50 percent.

Southern Vietnam is approaching the dry season so unseasonal rain is not likely, Le Thi Xuan Lan, a meteorologist, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

It has not rained in the region for the past two months, endangering local agriculture and forestry.

Salinization has encroached on 40km along the estuaries in Ben Tre Province.

The high salinity will be detrimental to most of the freshwater plants and aquatic products.

Winds are forecast to push saline water deeper into the estuaries in Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Tien Giang, and Tra Vinh.

According to a report on Tuoi Tre

K-pop boy band Super Junior will perform in Vietnam

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Popular K-pop boy band Super Junior will perform in a HCMC show featuring Vietnamese and South Korean artists on March 29.

The show, called V-Heartbeat, will be held at the Hoa Binh Theatre.

However, two members of the boy band, Heechul and Siwon, will not perform at this event due to personal commitments.

Another K-pop star who will perform in this month’s show is Chung-ha, a female singer who rose to fame through a Korean reality show called Produce 101 in 2016. Chung-ha was once a member of the female group I.O.I, and later debuted as a solo artist after the group disbanded.

Vietnamese artists who will perform at the upcoming concert include pop stars Vu Cat Tuong, Thanh Duy, Thanh Hung and Anh Tu.

Super Junior is considered one of the most successful K-pop boy bands. They made their debut in 2005 and have produced many hits like “Sorry Sorry”, “Bonamana”, “Mr Simple”, “Miracle” and “Black Suit”. Their latest release was the mini-album “One More Time” in October 2018.

Super Junior has performed in Vietnam several times as a group and separately. In 2010, the band performed in Hanoi at a music show to raise awareness of human trafficking. It also held a live concert called Super Show 3 in May 2011 in the southern province of Binh Duong.

According to a report on VnExpress

More 100,000 subscribers in Vietnam successfully switch between four mobile carriers

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As of March 10, a total of 109,561 subscribers successfully switched between four mobile carriers of Vinaphone, Viettel, Mobile and Vietnamobile while retaining their mobile numbers via the mobile number portability (MNP) service, according to Vietnam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA).

Mobifone, one of Vietnam’s three leading telcos, reported 18,809 subscribers coming in, but the number of leavers was more than double at 39,468. Of the total, the successful rate of leaving was 34% and joining the network 72.2%.

Another major telco Vinaphone has the number of subscribers expecting to join the network at 71,071, while 48,704 requested to leave. The successful rate of moving in was 73.5% and leaving 70.4%.

Viettel remained the preferred mobile carrier among the top three with 76,710 subscribers asking to join, however, the number of leavers was also the highest among three at 68,014. Viettel has the successful rate of moving in at 56.6% and leaving 85%.

Meanwhile, Vietnamobile had 1,007 subscribers moving in and 11,411 leaving, the successful rate of joining was 30.1% and leaving 35.4%.

As of March 10, more than 48,272 subscribers were rejected to switch mobile carriers due to failing to meet requirements, including wrong registration information, or unpaid bill, among others. Vinaphone had denied 11,302 cases, Viettel 7,025, Mobilfone 22,931 and Vietnamobile 7,014.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung previously requested mobile carriers to increase the successful switching rate to at least 90% in March.

Starting from November 16, 2018 to February 13, 2019, postpaid subscribers of Viettel, Vinaphone, Mobifone and Vietnamobile will be able to switch between mobile carriers while retaining their existing phone numbers. Gtel is the only carrier that did not join the pilot program.

By the end of October 2018, Vietnam had 130 million mobile subscribers, of whom postpaid subscribers made up 5% of the total or 6 million.

The MNP services was applicable to all cellphone users as of January 1, 2019.

According to a report on Hanoitimes

Vietnam Is Considered As The World’s Fastest-Growing Golf Market

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By Erik Matuszewski | Contributor

Of the 209 countries around the world with golf courses, the fastest-growing market just might be in Vietnam.

American golf course architects Brian Curley and Lee Schmidt have built five courses in Vietnam, most recently FLC Quang Binh, which is 330 miles south of Hanoi and stretches across dramatic dunes along the South China Sea. They plan to start another three projects in the next few months and have 20 more potentially in the pipeline if the economy holds.

Vietnam currently has 78 golf courses plus another 43 in different stages of development, according to the R&A’s latest Golf Around the World Report, which is based on the National Golf Foundation’s global facility database. Plans at FLC Quang Binh call for 10 courses on a 5,000-acre property with 120-foot high sand dunes.

“After spending 20 plus years working mostly on difficult terrain in China, this is like a dream,” says Curley.

Curley started his career working under Pete Dye and teamed with Schmidt to start Schmidt-Curley design in 1999. The duo dove into the Asian golf market and their portfolio (of more than 150 facilities) includes 10 courses each at two different Mission Hills projects in China: the original in Shenzhen and the second on Hainan Island.

Vietnam is now the fastest-developing market for golf in the region.

“There are plenty of sandy sites and dramatic properties, and rarely is there a huge demand for a big development component that would negatively impact the golf experience,” Curley adds. “I expect to see continued growth but, as has been the case, this will be largely from a few key companies. At some point there will be a settling down by a combination of market forces and more restrictive government permitting.”

Stone Valley Golf Resort near Hanoi, Vietnam, by Schmidt-Curley Design

Much of Vietnam’s recent growth has focused on creating quality golf courses at premier properties, many in remote areas. There is strong demand for golf among locals in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, but the sites are more severe (many on mountains) and the weather isn’t as ideal for good turf conditions.

“Hanoi sees packed courses on weekends,” Curley said. “Every course seems to have 200-plus players daily and the majority of the play is locals. The resorts at remote beach sites offer stunning golf and seem to cater to the tourist much more. But that will change in time as more players develop and the demand grows.”

With a population of almost 100 million, Vietnam is the 15th most populous country in the world. And access to resort properties with premier golf courses is improving. FLC, the company behind Curley’s latest project, recently started Bamboo Air to provide affordable flights to cities up and down the coastline of Vietnam.

The 15th hole at FLC Quy Nhon in Vietnam, by Schmidt-Curley Design

“Those remote courses will see increased play in time and, unlike western courses with high costs of operations, the cost to maintain and operate is very small so they can survive on less rounds and wait for the future,” says Curley, noting that water isn’t a logistical or political issue in these areas.

Overall, Asia has 149 courses in planning or under construction and accounts for 28 percent of worldwide development. And no country is growing quite as fast as Vietnam.

The 13th hole at FLC Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, by SCHMIDT-CURLEY DESIGN

 

Read full article on Forbes.com

The First Trial Production Of VinFast Lux SA2.0 car rolled off

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On March 6 in the northern city of Hai Phong, the first VinFast Lux SA2.0 car rolled off the assembly line, marking the success of the “made in Vietnam” commercial automobile production test.

The Lux SA2.0 vehicle has a beautiful design and powerful performance.

It is equipped with a turbo-charged DOHC 2.0L four-cylinder engine, with a capacity of 228hp and maximum torque of 350 Nm. The gearbox on the car is a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission and it has a two-axle vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all its wheels simultaneously with top safety features such as front radiator disc brakes, rear disc brakes, an ABS system, electronic stability control systems and parking assist sensors.

This is the most modern car production cycle in the world. The first prominent step is the engine assembly line, capable of automatically manufacturing the body, machine face cover, plating cylinder and crankshaft machining. The second outstanding item in the closed production cycle is the paint workshop with its modern machinery and equipment using automation technology from Durr Group (Germany).

The modern stamping and welding workshops are automated with up to 1,200 robots. VinFast is now the first automaker in Việt Nam with the ability to do self-stamping and welding at an international-standard quality.

The entire cycle is connected via automatic conveyor belts and managed by the Siemens Manufacturing Execution System.

Lê Thị Thu Thủy, Vice President of Vingroup and Chairwoman of VinFast, said: “We are on the right track and are always consistent with the goal of creating high-class products, contributing to bringing Vietnamese brand to an international level and joining hands with domestic enterprises to promote the industry in general and automobile production in particular.”

The first cars of the trial production phase will be transferred to many countries such as Austria, Australia and South Korea to verify the quality.

It is expected that the first VinFast Fadil and VinFast Lux vehicles will be handed over to customers in the second and third quarter of this year, respectively.

About VinFast

VinFast has closely co-operated with hundreds of various partners and suppliers in Vietnam and aboard. The Company has reached important co-operation agreements with leading names such as BMW, General Motors, Magna Steyr, AVL, Bosch, Siemens, Pininfarina, Ital Design, GROB-WERKE, Eisenmann, Schuler, Durr, ABB, FFT and EBZ.

- Media OutReach

VDSC’s Morning Brew: MSH, FPT, FRT, YEG, VIB, LDG

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Work permit service for foreigners, why you can’t work in Vietnam without it?

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Vietnam has become a potential market for foreign investor, the country is attracting more and more foreigner come to work. Every foreigner wants to work in Vietnam is obliged to apply for work permit, which will be issued by the Vietnam’s Department of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs.

The procedures for obtaining or renewing work permit is required many steps and a number of documents, which may confuse those who live abroad and have little knowledge about Vietnam’s Labour Law for foreigners. For this reason, many travel agents, law firms, such as GBS – a business law firm in Vietnam are willing to provide you with their work permit services. Are those services necessary? What should you prepare when using work permit services? Below are things you may wish to know more.

Why foreigners need work permit service?

Saying no to work permit service means you can save an amount of money but are you ready to face many difficulties happening when applying by yourself? Here are some troubles you may get:

Law changes: For example, a new guideline on work permit concerning foreign employment was implemented on 1 November 2013. There are changes in work permit exemptions and approval of technical workers for work permits. Without service instruction, you must know well about laws on compulsory conditions, exemptions, application and keep abreast with any changes every year.

Missing or wrong documents: A lot of documents are required during a lengthy process. You may get your documents notarized in the wrong way or you may forget to prepare some documents which result in work permit rejection.

Strange places: Even if your documents are approved, you still have to complete many steps in Vietnam before getting a work permit. Vietnam is new to you and you have to find ways to go to many strange places such as Department of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs, authorized hospitals, people committee. Language barrier is also a problem.

With understanding of laws and procedures, service providers can help you handle all the above troubles, give you any information you want, instruct you in application specifically.

What kinds of document should be prepared before using service?

You should contact a trusted work permit service provider in Vietnam, GBS is a good choice to be advised about furthest information. Basically, following are documents you must prepare and submit to your provider:

Notarized and Legalized of Non-Criminal record: issued by the foreigner’s authorized body before coming to Vietnam / Police track of Vietnam is issued by Department of Justice for foreigners who live in Vietnam for 6 months or more.

  • Health check certificate: must be checked by authorized hospitals in Vietnam.
  • Notarized and Legalized Certificates: degrees such as bachelor, master, doctor or appropriate qualifications
  • Working experience confirmation document from former employers.
  • Passport size photos
  • Employer’s Business certification.
  • Passports (Copy).
  • Approval document from Committee which allows employer to hire foreign workers.

Please make sure all of your documents are authorized by authorities, if you don’t know how to get your documents authorized, notarized, the lawyer at GBS can advise you in detail.

Processing time: Around 2 weeks

Service charge: depending on providers and kind of service

Processing time and service charge vary between travel agents and law firms. You may want to consider deliberately and make a comparison before choosing the provider.

If you require any further information, feel free to contact GBS – Business Law Firm in Vietnam at info@gbs.com.vn, mobile +84903189033 or visit the website: https://gbs.com.vn

Where and how to certify a document for foreigner in Vietnam?

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If you have been asked to supply certified copies of your original documents, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the lawyer at GBS, a business law firm can certify that the copies presented/produced are a true likeness of the original document/s.

If you’re providing photocopies to the recipient company, you’ll need to ensure that these are like-for-like with the originals. GBS’s lawyer will check up to original documents against the photocopies and certify that each is a true likeness.

Which documents you can get checked?

  • Passport
  • Driving license
  • Bank statements
  • Education certificate
  • Recent utility bills…

How it works?

Get your photocopies certified in easy steps:

  • Decide which documents need checking
  • Bring your original documents and clear and legible photocopies in to the GBS’s office. To find the direction to our office, click here.
  • GBS lawyer will perform a check, and certify that each photocopy is a true likeness of the original.
  • That’s it – the lawyer will give you back all your documents and your form, plus a receipt.

Before you pop in

Double-check this service will be acceptable to the company, organization or person you’re presenting the documents to.
Fee in cash, Credit card or Paypal (sorry, they can’t accept cheques for this service)

Contact: GBS – Global Business Services LLC

Ms. Sophie Dao email: sophie@gbs.com.vn, mobile: +84903189033

You can find more services for foreigners in Vietnam at: https://gbs.com.vn

Vietcombank to sell Vietnam Airlines shares

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The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) has offered to sell more than 2.3 million shares it owns in the national carrier Vietnam Airlines.

The deal will be carried out via order-matching transactions on the stock market between March 12 and April 4 so that the bank is able to review its investment portfolio.

A successful deal will cut the bank’s stake in Vietnam Airlines to 14.8 million shares, or a 1 percent stake, from current 17.1 million shares (1.21 percent stake).

Vietnam Airlines is trading nearly 1.42 billion shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) with code HVN. The company shares plunged 3.6 percent to end March 8 at 40,800 VND (1.75 USD) per share.

Vietcombank also sold 7.6 million shares of Vietnam Airlines a year ago to review its investment portfolio.

Vietcombank is listing more than 3.7 billion shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) with code VCB. The bank shares edged down 0.5 percent to finish March 8 at 62,800 VND per share.

Vietnam Airlines has reportedly filed for listing on HoSE and will terminate its UPCoM listing.

The company expects to move to HoSE in the second quarter of the year and the market switch is predicted to improve the firm’s corporate transparency and governance in order to keep its shares attractive, thus helping the Government increase revenue from selling its stake in Vietnam Airlines.

In 2018, Vietnam Airlines earned 96.8 trillion VND (4.15 billion USD) in total revenue, up 17 percent year on year, and 2.53 trillion VND in post-tax profit, down 5 percent year on year.

According to a report on VNS

Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi crashes, killing 157

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An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet to Nairobi crashed early on Sunday (Mar 10), killing 149 passengers and eight crew, the airline said, the same model that crashed during a Lion Air flight in Indonesia in October.

Sunday’s flight left Bole airport in Addis Ababa at 8.38am (0538 GMT), before losing contact with the control tower just a few minutes later at 8.44am.

“The group CEO who is at the scene right now deeply regrets to confirm there are no survivors,” the airline tweeted alongside a picture of Tewolde GebreMariam in a suit holding a piece of debris inside a large crater.

Passengers from 33 countries were aboard, said Tewolde in a news conference. The dead included Kenyan, Ethiopian, American, Canadian, French, Chinese, Egyptian, Swedish, British and Dutch citizens.

At Nairobi airport, many relatives of passengers were left waiting at the gate for hours, with no information from airport authorities. Some learned of the crash from journalists.

“We’re just waiting for my mum. We’re just hoping she took a different flight or was delayed. She’s not picking up her phone,” said Wendy Otieno, clutching her phone and weeping.

Robert Mutanda, 46, was waiting for his brother-in-law, a Canadian citizen.

“No, we haven’t seen anyone from the airline or the airport,” he told Reuters at 1pm, more than three hours after the flight was lost. “Nobody has told us anything, we are just standing here hoping for the best.”

Kenyan officials did not arrive at the airport until 1.30pm, five hours after the plane went down.

The Ethiopian prime minister’s office sent condolences via Twitter to the families of those lost in the crash.

James Macharia, the cabinet secretary for transport, said he heard about the crash via Twitter.

“UNSTABLE SPEED”

Flight ET 302, registration number ET-AVJ, crashed near the town of Bishoftu, 62 kilometres southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, the airline said.

“The pilot mentioned that he had difficulties and that he wanted to return. He was given the clearance (to return back),” said Tewolde during his news conference.

The flight had unstable vertical speed after take off, said flight tracking website Flightradar24 on its Twitter feed.

The aircraft had shattered into many pieces and was severely burnt, a Reuters reporter at the scene of the crash said.

The airline had earlier incorrectly identified the plane’s model number, but later confirmed it was a 737 MAX 8.

It’s not clear what caused the crash. Boeing sent condolences to the families and said it was ready to help investigate.

“A Boeing technical team is prepared to provide technical assistance at the request and under the direction of the US National Transportation Safety Board,” the company said in a statement.

This is the second recent crash of the relatively new 737 MAX 8, the latest version of Boeing’s workhorse narrowbody jet that first entered service in 2017.

The same model crashed into the Java Sea shortly after take-off from Jakarta on Oct 29, killing all 189 people on board the Lion Air flight.

The cause of that crash is still under investigation. A preliminary report issued in November, before the cockpit voice recorder was recovered, focused on airline maintenance and training and the response of a Boeing anti-stall system to a recently replaced sensor, but did not give a reason for the crash. A final report is due later this year.

The plane is the latest version of the 737, the world’s best selling modern passenger aircraft and one of the industry’s most reliable.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

Under international rules, responsibility for leading the crash investigation lies with Ethiopian authorities, while the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will automatically take part because the Boeing aircraft was designed and built in the United States.

Investigators will seek to secure the crash site and collect evidence starting with black boxes capturing cockpit conversations and data, while compiling records on recent operations of the plane and the crew.

Representatives of Boeing and Cincinnati-based engine-maker CFM, a joint venture between General Electric and General Electric Co and France’s Safran SA will advise the NTSB.

Ethiopian is one of the biggest carriers on the continent by fleet size. It said previously that it expected to carry 10.6 million passengers last year.

New Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been promising to open up the state-owned airline to domestic and international investors.

The crash comes as Ethiopian has been snapping up stakes in small carriers around the continent to pre-empt potential rivals and become the dominant pan-African airline.

Its last major crash was in January 2010, when a flight from Beirut went down shortly after take-off, killing all 90 people onboard. The Lebanese blamed pilot error, which was disputed by the airline.

Ha Giang mother gives birth in forest

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A mother in the remote mountainous province of Ha Giang gave birth to her baby on the edge of a forest on March 9 as she had trouble reaching the hospital in time.

Hoang Thi Sang, 24, is from Dao ethnic group, Na Phia Village. When she was due to give birth to her third child on March 9, she was carried to the hospital on a motorbike by her brother. However, before they could reach Bac Me District General Hospital, Sang’s waters suddenly broke when they were at the edge of a forest.

According to Dr Nguyen Ngoc Chung, director of Bac Me General Hospital, after receiving the call about Sang’s situation, Dr Ly Duc Hung, head of the obstetrics department, and nurse Nguyen Thi Man drove by motorbike to the mother. When they reached the site two kilometres from the hospital, the mother had already gave birth to a baby girl, weighing 3 kilos.

Sang and her daughter were then taken care of and sent to the hospital when the ambulance came.

Hung said at that time, the ambulance was in use so he and the nurse had to use the motorbike.

“Luckily, when we arrived, the baby had just come out. Other people nearby didn’t know what to do and the mother didn’t bring anything with her. After taking care of the mother and child, we called the ambulance,” he said.

In January, Hung was involved in an incident where a mother fell down a slope while travelling to hospital. The doctors were able to reach the site in time and delivered the baby.

Source: Dtinews

Vietnam in good health despite high alcohol, tobacco consumption

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Vietnam 11th healthiest country in the world, according to LetterOne, while other studies paint a picture of excesses.
The Global Wellness Index compiled by Luxembourg-based investment firm LetterOne covered 150 countries and drew on findings by the World Health Organization, the World Happiness Report as well as public health data.

It ranked countries on 10 criteria: blood pressure, blood glucose, obesity, depression, happiness, alcohol use, tobacco use, exercise, healthy life expectancy, and government spending on healthcare.

Countries were ranked on a scale from 0 to 1, with 0 the worst and 1 the best.

Vietnam was ranked 11th with 0.63 points, the same as Cambodia. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam was ranked higher than Myanmar (16th), Malaysia (22nd) and Thailand (25th), but lower than the Philippines (4th), Singapore (7th) and Laos (8th).

Canada leads the ranking while South Africa comes at bottom.

Vietnam’s ratings on blood glucose, blood pressure, obesity, depression, alcohol use, inactivity and life expectancy were all considered “good,” while no data was available on tobacco use, according to the index report.

The report’s findings, however, contradicted other studies highlighting Vietnam’s increasingly sedentary lifestyle and rampant alcohol and tobacco use.

Vietnamese men consume the most alcohol in the world, drinking over five standard drinks a day, meaning 50 grams of alcohol, on average, according to the 2016 Global Burden of Disease Study. The country is also the biggest beer market in Southeast Asia, partly owing to its famous beer drinking culture at gatherings, events and closing business deals.

Vietnam also has one of the highest numbers of smokers in the world, with as many as 15.6 million smokers spending VND31 trillion ($1.36 billion) on cigarettes every year. The country is among the top 15 in the world with the lowest tobacco prices, according to the World Health Organization.

In addition, Vietnamese are among the most sedentary people in the world, accroding to a 2017 survey by Stanford University. On average, Vietnamese people walk around 3,600 steps a day, far less than the global average of 5,000. Diet-related non-communicable diseases such as obesity are also becoming more common among Vietnamese youth, according to the Ministry of Health.

Source: Vnexpress

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