Other causes were “technical problems,” human error, traffic accidents and arson, the ministry said at the conference it organized in collaboration with the ministries of science and technology, industry and trade, and transport.

Major General Tran Anh Dung, deputy chief of the ministry’s general department of social security, said besides the five main causes, there were some “abnormal” cases like fires breaking out when the rider stopped the vehicle and turned it off. In another case, a vehicle suddenly broke down and caught fire when it was restarted.

However, when asked for a better explanation of what the ministry deemed “technical problems,” Nguyen Van Tuoi, deputy chief of the ministry’s Department of Fire and Rescue, said “technical problems” and their possible causes had not been investigated any further.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked related agencies to order vehicle producers to study their designs to see problems on that end were to blame, Tuoi said.

A ministry spokesperson said “traces showed that they [fires] happened due to electrical leakage, but we could not identify the reasons behind the leakage.”

According to ministry statistics, since 2010, 439 vehicle fires have happened across Vietnam, including 115 recorded over the first three months of this year. Most of the burned vehicles were produced by famous brands like Ford, Toyota, BMW, and Honda.

Uncertainty

At the conference, representatives of the four ministries said low-quality and bootleg gasoline mixed with other substances had emerged as the main probable causes of the fires. But they also said their inspections had yet to collect enough evidence to confirm the suspicion.
Tran Van Vinh, deputy chief of the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said all 16 samples of gasoline taken from burned vehicles, and 40 samples taken from the gas stations where the owners had their vehicles refilled, met standards.

“Therefore, there is no evidence showing that gasoline was the direct cause for the recent vehicle fires,” Vinh said.

However, a representative from the Ministry of Science and Technology also said under “certain conditions” they have found that poor-quality gasoline probably indirectly caused the fires.

For example, when gasoline was mixed with excessive additives like methanol or ethanol to increase its combustion rate, rubber fuel pipelines were corroded and therefore could allow fuel to leak and ignite, according to the official.

In fact, the science ministry reported that 21 percent of 150 samples taken from gasoline on the market had irregular octane and methanol contents. More tests at the beginning of this year also found that 11 percent of 541 gasoline samples, and 13 percent of diesel samples, failed to meet regulated criteria.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade also said it had found 818 violations at local gas stations since the beginning of this year.

However, none of these explanations and conclusions satisfy the press.

Many reporters questioned the validity of conclusions based on samples of just 16 out of more than 400 cases.

They also questioned the accuracy of the Ministry of Public Security’s conclusions, considering that it has yet to identify the causes of more than 87 percent of the cases this year, and over 35 percent of those in 2010 and 2011 have yet to be solved.

In response to the questions, Dung said that these were just initial conclusions, and that they will continue their investigations, including the involvement of gasoline.

Unconvincing

Hoang Manh Hung, director of the Center for Consultancy, Civil Assessment, attended the press conference as an expert. He said many people are concerned about the vehicle fires and have great suspicions about gasoline quality, but the latest conclusions were unsatisfactory.

“I feel sad hearing the conclusions. They seem to be so indifferent towards people,” he said.

Asked about an upcoming study on the vehicle fires to be conducted by the Institute of Chemical Technology and the Vietnam Register, Hung said it shouldn’t take one year to complete the study as planned.

“If they focus on the work responsibly, they will reach the results in just a couple of months,” he said. “What matters is whether they are dedicated or not. It is unacceptable to prolong the situation.”

Dinh Ngoc An, dean of the Aeromechanics Department with the Hung Yen University of Technology and Education in the northern province of Hung Yen, agreed, saying that one year is just a “delay.”

An said he didn’t believe in the presented figures, because fuel is a “sensitive” good, given that state-owned companies account for most of the market share. “It seems that people are trying to hide something.”

Meanwhile, Hideaki Ueno, deputy general director of Honda Vietnam, said his company had yet to detect any technical problem in cases related Honda products.
source from: thanhniennews

source from: vietnamnet

During the festival, visitors will have the chance to enjoy the specialities and traditional dishes of 13 Mekong Delta provinces and Ho Chi Minh City.

A cooking contest between artisans and chefs from Can Tho, An Giang, Long An, Tien Giang, Dong Thap, Hau Giang and Ca Mau provinces is the highlight of the festival and is expected to attract a large number of spectators.

Nguyen Thanh Son, head of the organizing board, said the contest aims to introduce the special features of southern gastronomy and cuisine and create a playing field for chefs to share experiences and learn about different food and new culinary techniques.

source from: dtinews

A former Singapore school principal was on Friday jailed for having sex with an underage prostitute, the first of 48 men to be convicted for engaging her services after a massive sting operation.

Lee Lip Hong, 39, was sentenced to nine weeks after pleading guilty to having sex with the girl who was 17 at the time.

“He is not appealing and he commences his sentence today,” his lawyer Melanie Ho told AFP.

Singapore in 2008 enacted a law making it a crime to pay for sex with a girl under 18 years of age. The offence is punishable by up to seven years in jail.

Before his sentencing, Lee had argued in mitigation that he had no reason to suspect the sex worker was underage, as an online advertisement he had seen prior to hiring the girl listed her age as 18, local daily the Straits Times reported on its website.

He then met the girl in a motel where he had sex with her, paying her Sg$500 ($400) for her services, including a Sg$50 tip.

The other men charged with engaging the girl’s services include high-profile business professionals as well as senior police and military officials, with the scandal shaking Singapore’s political and economic elite.

The men were nabbed late last year in the biggest police sting operation since laws against underage prostitution were toughened in 2008.

source from: tuoitrenews

Twelve primary artists and 65 members of the choir will perform the masterpiece L’ Enfant et les Sortileges by Maurice Ravel, which reflects the composer’s sensitivity and love for fairy tales.

Conductor Gael Darchen will also direct around 450 young people aged between 7 and 16, together with the choir of Maitrise de Hauts-de-Seine in special performances for the audience.

L’ Enfant et les Sortileges is an imaginative opera composed by Maurice Ravel between 1919 and 1925 in collaboration with the French author Collete, who later wrote the book “Divertissement pour ma fille.”

This was Ravel’s second and final opera after “The Spanish Hour” he composed in 1907.

source from: dtinews

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) in coordination with the World Bank and UNICEF hosted a seminar on April 9 in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong, to share their experiences in implementing programmes to provide money to poor children.

The seminar attracted representatives from eight provinces that have similar programmes, including Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Tra Vinh, Ha Giang and Lao Cai.

According to the organising board, besides sharing their experiences, reviewing and evaluating the implementation of policies related to funding in Vietnam and in particular provinces, they aim to create effective funding programmes for children, which is the main purpose of the seminar.

Participants at the seminar discussed and recommended measures such as ways of identifying programmes’ subjects, updating and managing lists of children in need, specific methods of assistance and the best way of assisting poor children, particularly those from minority ethnic groups.

MOLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam said that the ministry has applied many social welfare policies to support poor people in the past, however, they have not been effective enough.

He said overlapping policies, plus shortcomings in implementing processes are among the main reasons for the poor results, which need changing dramatically.

Recently, the Prime Minister ratified a cash aid project for children under 16 with ODA funds in the eight aforementioned provinces for 2013-2015, therefore the seminar should help the province to carry out the project more effectively.

source from: dtinews

Jennifer Vaughn needed to get in shape after law school. Emily McCart wanted a break from running.

Punching, jabbing and kicking a heavy boxing bag turned out to be just the workout they were looking for.

For women who crave an intense fitness routine, boxing-based workouts can be efficient and empowering, even if their feet never touch the inside of a ring.

“I became addicted to it,” said Vaughn, a Chicago-based attorney. “It has given me an amazing sense of confidence and poise; a feeling that there is nothing that can’t be accomplished.”

Such was her devotion that Vaughn eventually opened a franchise location of LA Boxing, a national chain that specializes in boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts, in her town.

“It developed from a love of the sport,” she said. “I wanted to train like a fighter, but in a place where you didn’t’ have to get in the ring if you didn’t want to. ”

Her club boasts a regulation-sized ring and some 35 150-pound (68-kilogram) punching bags. Women, who make up 60 percent of her clientele, gravitate to the group fitness classes.

“We get working class people, professional women, students, some senior citizens too,” she said. “We hWOMEave a few pros, but most people are there to work out.”

McCart, a Chicago-based public defender, said the strength she gained from her boxing fitness classes complements her running.

“I’ve learned something about the sport, the technique,” she said. “I never knew I’d like it, but it’s become a part of my life.”

Philip Jacobs, LA Boxing’s Director of Franchise, said his company targets soccer moms and their kids.

“I would say 90 percent of our clients have nothing to do with real fighting,” he said from Santa Ana, California.

He said members divide equally along gender lines, but can foresee a spike in female members this summer when the 2012 Olympics includes women’s boxing for the first time.

“It’s fun. It’s empowering. It’s as much psychological as physical,” he said of the workout, which he said can burn up to 1000 calories. “If you can’t do a six-punch combination, you do a two-punch. Everyone gets their own bag and goes at their own pace.”

He calls the hour-long classes hardcore and quick.

“It’s a testosterone-filled environment for people who seek out an intense workout. Women don’t walk in there with makeup on.”

Pam Opdyke, regional sports manager, Reebok Sports Club/NY and The Sports Club/LA, said women members crave the intensity of the boxing and kickboxing classes those fitness centers offer, just as much as the men do.

“I think our boxing classes have always been predominantly women,” said Opdyke, who is based in New York.

She said boxing workouts are great for toning the upper arms, back and abdominals, areas that women often like to target, while providing a high-intensity cardio session at the same time.

“It’s all intermixed with boxing,” she explained. “Just hitting the bag is cardiovascular, and you’re working on your abdominals and your arms. You’re also twisting, and then there are plyometric (jumping) moves, followed by pushups and sit ups.”

She said boxing is a particular draw for professional women.

“The people who take our classes are Type A,” she said. “They learn to do it well.”

Her clients mainly attack heavy bags, not people. “I don’t think anyone imagines they would hit anybody,” she said. “But just imagining they could is a confidence booster.”

source from: tuoitrenews

A powerful 8.6 magnitude earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks struck off Indonesia on Wednesday, sending people scurrying from buildings as far away as southern India, but there seemed little risk of a disastrous tsunami as in 2004.

Indonesia said it was checking for damage and casualties but remarkably, no such reports had been received for several hours after the quakes, including in Aceh, the closest province and the area decimated by the disaster eight years ago.

However, some areas close to the epicenter are remote so it could take some time to find out if there was any damage.

Many people were frightened of further tremors.

“It’s dark out here but I am scared to go home,” said Mila, a 41-year-old woman taking refuge in the grand mosque in the town of Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.

“I just want to stay alert because I fear there will be more quakes coming. We are human, it is only natural that we have fear, but I really wish we will all be safe.”

Waves of up to one meter (3.3 feet) high were seen near islands off Aceh, but Indonesia cancelled a warning for fresh tsunamis. It said the worst-hit area was the thinly populated island of Simeulue, off Aceh’s southern coast.

The first quake struck at 0838 GMT and an 8.2 magnitude aftershock just over two hours later, at 1043 GMT. Two more strong aftershocks hit later.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also withdrew tsunami warnings for the entire Indian Ocean after keeping them in force for several hours.

“Level readings now indicate that the threat has diminished or is over for most areas,” the agency’s bulletin said.

Thailand and India also withdrew tsunami warnings.

Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India were all badly hit in 2004. At least 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean countries were killed in the Boxing Day disaster that year, including 170,000 in and around Aceh alone.

Last year, an earthquake and tsunami off Japan’s northeastern coast killed at least 23,000 people and triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years after waves battered a nuclear power station.

On Wednesday, people near the coast in six Thai provinces were ordered to move to higher ground. Authorities shut down the international airport in the Thai beach resort province of Phuket.

The quakes were about 300 miles (500 km) southwest of Banda Aceh, on the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, the U.S. Geological survey said. The first was at a depth of 20.5 miles (33 km).

Indonesia’s disaster management agency said power failed in Aceh province and people were gathering on high ground as sirens warned of the danger.

“The electricity is down, there are traffic jams to access higher ground. Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere,” said Sutopo, spokesman for the agency.

“The warning system worked,” Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.

Warning sirens also rang out across the Thai island of Phuket, a tourist hotspot that was one of the worst hit areas in the 2004 tsunami.

“Guests from expensive hotels overlooking Phuket’s beaches were evacuated to the hills behind and local people were driving away in cars and on motorcycles. Everyone seemed quite calm, the warning had been issued well in advance,” freelance journalist Apichai Thonoy told Reuters by telephone.

Out on the streets

Indonesian television showed people gathering in mosques in Banda Aceh. Many others were on the streets, holding crying children.

In the city of Medan, a hospital evacuated patients, who were wheeled out on beds and in wheelchairs.

Wednesday’s quakes were felt as far away as the Thai capital, Bangkok, and in southern India, hundreds of office workers in the city of Bangalore left their buildings while the port of Chennai closed down because of tsunami fears.

The quakes were in roughly in the same area as the 2004 quake, which was at a depth of 18 miles (30 km) along a fault line running under the Indian Ocean, off western Indonesia and up into the Bay of Bengal.

Experts said Wednesday quakes were a “strike-slip” fault, meaning a more horizontal shift of the ground under the sea as opposed to a sudden vertical shift, and less risk of a large displacement of water triggering a tsunami.

“The nature of the sideways rupture and sideways movement is not predisposed to cause a bad tsunami, so almost certainly, the crisis has been avoided,” said David Rothery, an expert at the Open University in the U.K.

The quakes were also felt in Sri Lanka, where office workers in the capital, Colombo, fled their offices.

Mahinda Amaraweera, Sri Lanka’s minister for disaster management, called for calm while advising people near the coast to seek safety.

“I urge the people not to panic. We have time if there is a tsunami going to come. So please evacuate if you are in the coastal area and move to safer places,” Amaraweera told a private television channel.

In Bangladesh, where two tremors were felt, authorities said there appeared to be no threat of a tsunami. Australia also said there was no threat of a tsunami there.

source from: tuoitrenews

Vietnam has more than 60 ethnic minorities, each with its own dialects, costumes, and cultures, living scattered over the country for centuries.

Despite such differences these groups have something in common to share and enjoy. Like many other Asian countries, every year starts with the cultivation of a new crop of wet rice – the main source of food in Vietnam – which is celebrated in the form of religious rituals by ethnic groups to express their gratitude and respect to the gods.

The Dao in Ha Giang province regularly holds a spring festival on Lunar New Year’s Day to pray for good weather and a bumper crop. The Long Tong (Going to the Field) festival of the Thai ethnic minority, which takes place in Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, and Bac Kan provinces, is a unique event to worship the gods and also bring people in the community together to feast and play games.

Other Spring festivals also take place around the capital city of Hanoi, most of them at pagodas or temples and some at villages near the Red River.  Local people in colourful traditional clothes join a procession to the river where they collect water and take it back to their pagoda or temple. This is considered a holy ritual for full blessing of peace, good luck, and prosperity.

There are many places of interest in Hanoi for people to visit before or after the Lunar New Year festival (Tet). The oldest and most sacred pagodas in the city are Quan Thanh, Kim Lien, Bach Ma, and Voi Phuc, known as the Four Guardians of the capital. They are the symbols of Vietnamese Buddhist, history and unique traditional architecture.

Hanoi’s neighbouring provinces have their own distinct attractions. The Lim festival on the 13^th day of the first lunar month in Lim village, Bac Ninh province, only 30 minutes by motorbike from Hanoi, offers a glimpse of “quan ho” folksongs. 50 km from the centre of the capital, the Perfume Pagoda, held every year from the 6^th day of the first to the third lunar months, draws large numbers of pilgrims.

Ethnic minority group in Vietnam proudly boast their distinct cultures. There is one ancient story about a boy and girl who fell in love despite the disapproval of their families and tribes, and the deep streams and high mountains that separated them. Khau Vai, in Ha Giang province, where they were believed to meet has become a special place for young lovers today. On the 26^th and 27^th of the third lunar month, a big market is open in Khau Vai. In the northern town of Sapa, a “Love Market” (chợ tình) is held every weekend, where no one seems to be jealous and spouses are allowed to be with a third person. No one knows for sure how long these customs have existed, but they remain unchanged with the passage of time.

source from: vov

First surgery

When Le Hoang Em was born in a remote area in the Mekong Delta’s Dong Thap province 30 years ago, a small tumour that looked like a birthmark appeared on his right cheek. The family thought the small clump of tissue would soon disappear. Instead, it has grown uncontrollably ever since.

He was the fourth son in a poor family with 5 children. His father, Le Van Cho, 58, and his mother Tran Thi Thu, 57, are hired labourers.

At the age of one, his parents took him to the Oncology Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, where he was treated with radiotherapy but the doctors failed to diagnose his condition.

In 2005, when the tumour covered almost half of his face, Hoang Em and his mother decided to go to the Oncology Hospital again to see if a surgery could be the answer to his problem. However, the hospital refused to admit him because the tumour was too big and the cost of the surgery too high for them to afford.

While at the hospital, they accidentally met Ngo Thi Tuyet Mai, a teacher, who came to the hospital for a medical examination. Feeling the pain and discomfort suffered by the poor young man, the middle-aged teacher convinced them to give her his medical record so that she could send it to those able to treat him.

After the meeting, Mai went around the city, knocking on door after door at several major hospitals, seeking a surgery for him.

“A few weeks after I met them, I contacted some hospitals in HCMC like the Otorhinolaryngology and Odontostomatology, asking them to operate on him, but they refused. Fortunately, I met Dr Luu Ba at Cho Ray Hospital, who said he could treat the case,” Mai recalled.

Dr Luu Ba and his colleagues held a consultation and diagnosed Em with hemangioma, an abnormal buildup of blood vessels in the skin or internal organs. They agreed to perform an operation on him.

In May, 2005, Hoang Em was admitted to Cho Ray Hospital for the surgery.

Three months after the surgery, the scar healed but the tumour still increased in size.

In May 2011, Hoang Em’s mother informed Mai over phone that his son incurred an excessive bleeding from the tumour that it lasted an hour.

“I felt a surge of panic upon hearing that and immediately asked the family to bring him to Ho Chi Minh City for more medical examinations,” Mai said.

Mai took him to Cho Ray hospital to see Dr Luu Ba but unfortunately he had retired. Dr Nguyen Duc Khue, Chief of Thoracic Surgery Department at Cho Ray hospital, said his tumour was inoperable and asked her to transfer him to the Odonto-Stomatology where he was diagnosed with ossifying fibroma, a benign, slow-growing, central bone tumour, usually of the jaws. The doctors told them there was nothing they could do with the case.

Yet, Mai refused to give up hope and tried to contact many of her acquaintances to find ways to help him, including Nguyen Vinh Hanh, a Vietkieu (overseas Vietnamese) who has got involved in many charitable activities in Vietnam.

“Hanh told me he knew a similar case that has been treated successfully in the US. Picking up the information, I sent Em’s medical record and CT scanner to the US and have been anxiously waiting for the result since,” Mai said.

New hope

Hoang Em’s hope for surgery flared up again when his case was put before Sam-Ottawa, who runs a virtual medical miracle network based in Canada. Sam referred the case to Dr McKay McKinnon, the American plastic surgeon who recently performed three major surgeries for three consecutive days to save local tumour patients Nguyen Duy Hai, Thach Thi Sa Ly, and Kieu Thi My Dung.

Not long afterwards, Sam received word from Dr McKinnon that he agreed to consider the case.

“I am certainly willing to review the patient cases you referenced,” Dr McKinnon told Sam via email on February 14.

The strange disease and eating and drinking difficulties do not reduce the young man to defeatism and paralysis. Em has tried to earn some money to support his parents by drying rice grains for his neighbours every time harvest season comes.

Em says his only wish now is that someone could conduct an operation to remove the tumour so he can learn a trade to support his family.

source from: vov