Missing investors’ projects face official terminationThe investors have disappeared at a string of foreign investment projects, prompting authorities to officially terminate the projects in the forthcoming period. Besides Ho Chi Minh City, many localities have started looking for investors whose projects have seen virtually no progress for years now. Czech Brewery once dominated the local press as it was the largest foreign investment project in Hoa Binh province at the time. Then, BTG Holding will begin the construction of a thermal power plant valued at EUR100 million ($118 million) and an auto component manufacturing plant valued at EUR200 million ($236 million). In reality, compared to more than 25,500 on-going FDI projects at present, the number of foreign invested projects where investors have absconded is not large.

40 primary pupils hospitalized due to milk tea poisoningAround 40 pupils of class 3B in Tran Phu Primary School (in the central city of Quang Ngai) were hospitalized in the Maternity – Children Hospital of the city at around 10:00am on May 21, 2018. Each was delivered one box of milk tea, bought by the parental association of the class from a milk tea shop on Ngo Quyen Street of Quang Ngai City. After using the tea, the pupils had signals of abdominal cramps and those who drank much tea vomited and had high fever. Related agencies have collected samples of the supposedly poisonous milk tea from six boxes with the brand ‘U.CC’. Before using this tea, those pupils also ate coconut jelly cubes.

Da Nang: Nursery shut down after child abuse accusationA nursery school in Danang City has been shut down after two video clips showing the children being hit by teachers were uploaded onto the internet. Cong confirmed the abuse accusation and said they were waiting for the parents to calm down to ask for information. The video clips were only posted onto Facebook on May 21 with many photos showing the abuse. Two women took two boys' shirts off and made them lay down on the ground while forcing food down their mouth. It's unclear who took the video, Cong said.

Lotte Mart rejects loss reportsLotte Vietnam Shopping Joint Stock Company (Lotte Mart Vietnam) has written to the Ministries of Information and Communications and Finance and the media dismissing the false reports in some newspapers that it has made losses of VND2.3 trillion (US$100.87 million) in its 11 years in Viet Nam. A Lotte Mart store in HCM City. Viet Nam is the most promising Asian retail market, and therefore it had come to Viet Nam for long-term investment and opened malls around the country, it said. Jeong Seong Won, chief financial officer of Lotte Mart Vietnam, said: “We expect that by 2020 we will start to make a profit. This is the strategic vision and long-term investment commitment of Lotte Group as well as Lotte Mart in Viet Nam.” — VNS

Vietnam’s steel industry faces trade defence measuresAs Vietnam seeks to increase its steel exports amid global overcapacity, the steelmaking industry is expected to face tremendous pressure from trade defence measures deployed by the importing countries. Over the past decade, Vietnam’s steel production capacity has grown substantially from 1.5 million tonnes per year to 21 million in 2016. Vietnam’s current capacity now tops Southeast Asia at more than 30 million tonnes. In 2017, the country’s steel exports were 5.5 million tonnes (up 28.5%), bringing in US$3.6 billion (up 45.4%). Certain types of steel that Vietnam can now produce such, as colour-coated steel, are still imported in high volume.

Newly-discovered cave damaged by quarryingA cave with a huge number of stalactites in Thanh Hoa Province is being destroyed by quarrying activities as local authorities fail to act. The cave contains a huge number of stalactitesAccording to complaints from the locals, the cave was discovered not long ago after a quarry explosion in Ha Tan Commune, Ha Trung District. The cave is located in the quarry of Thanh Dong Company who was granted quarrying licence in May 2016 by Thanh Hoa People's Committee. Both the people's committees of Ha Tan Commune and Ha Trung District said they were unaware of the cave. According to Chau, the newly-discovered cave in the quarry of Thanh Dong Company is 25 metres long, 20 metres wide and about 10 metres high.

An egg a day to keep the doctor away? "One - even two - a day is absolutely fine," says Dr Frankie Phillips, of the British Dietetic Association. In other words, when it comes to cholesterol, eggs are not the problem - saturated fat is. The Lion Mark, found on most commercially available eggs, shows the egg has been laid by a hen vaccinated against salmonella. In terms of how we cook an egg, they are arguably at their most simple and nutritious boiled or poached.

Climate change affects farmers in VN northeastClimate change is damaging production and livestock in the country’s northeast provinces, raising the risks that the poverty rate there could increase in the next few years, according to a new study by scientists of the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences. Up to 30 flashfloods reportedly occurred in Con River and Chay River in Ha Giang Province between 2004 and 2010. Therefore, local farmers should change the types of trees they grow to better adapt to climate change. Scientists also pointed out that climate change contributed to outbreaks of disease among animals and poultry. The impacts of climate change also threaten the cause of poverty reduction in the northern provinces.

Hotel and housekeeping managers to join Industry 4.0Mobile apps, smartphones and robots will change the way hotels and resorts operate, with the aim of bringing tourists convenient experiences and managing housekeeping effectively. Hotel and housekeeping managers should catch up with the development of technology and science in their fields, according to Nguyen Quang, chairman of the Viet Nam Executive Housekeeper Association (VEHA). He spoke at a workshop organised in Hanoi on Sunday with the aim of developing the Vietnamese tourism industry in a professional way. Housekeeping service quality plays an important role in developing the tourism industry.”The workshop gathered representatives from the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, hotels, resorts and tourism experts to share experiences and knowledge on applying achievements of Industry 4.0 to hotel and housekeeping management. Pham Trung Luong, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Tourism Education Association, said the power of technology has a strong impact on the development of the tourism industry in general and hotel management in particular.

120 teams in the fray in HCM City school basketball tournamentThe 2018 HCM City School Festival Basketball Tournament for the Milo Cup began at the Phu Tho Stadium in District 11 on Sunday with 120 teams from primary, secondary and high schools taking part. A match in the HCM City School Festival Basketball Tournament for the Milo Cup being played at the Phu Tho Stadium. In its 13th year since inception, the number of schools has doubled. Milo has gifted 200 basketball backboards to primary schools to enable more children to play the sport. The tournament will go on until June 9.

Activists call for international solidarityInternational solidarity activists met in the central Quang Tri province on Monday to discuss the role of public solidarity in boosting peace, security and sustainable development. The workshop is being held by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung and the Viet Nam Peace and Development Foundation from May 20-22. She also recalled peace and solidarity movements’ significance in the fight for liberty, independence and development of Viet Nam. According to Iraklis Tsavavdaridis, executive secretary of the World Peace Council, growing imperialist aggressiveness in the world was posing a new threat to peace and humanity. “International solidarity for peace is the foundation to ultimately build an equal and civilised world for all,” she said.

French pianist Hélène Jeanney will perform at the HCM City’s International Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) on May 24 to mark 100th death anniversary of great composer Debussy. (Photo:http://vietnamnews.vn)- Internationally acclaimed flutist Nicolas Duchamp and pianist Hélène Jeanney will perform at Ho Chi Minh City’s International Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) on May 24 to mark the 100th death anniversary of French composer Debussy.Jeanney will continue with a solo piano piece L’Isle joyeuse (The Joyful Island) composed by Debussy in 1904.The duo will complete the night with works by three French composers, including Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for Flute and Piano, Gabriel Fauré’s Sonata in A Major, Op 13 for flute and piano, and Olivier Messiaen’s Le Merle Noir (The Blackbird).Duchamp will open the concert with Debussy’s Syrinx, a piece of music for solo flute composed in 1913, and Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) written from 1892-1894, which was inspired by a poem of the same title by French poet Stéphane Mallarmé.Duchamp has served as principal flutist for the National Opera Comique in Paris for many years, and has performed as a soloist with leading French ensembles like the Paris Opera Bastille, Nice Opera and Bordeaux National Opera.He has also held solo recitals at prestigious concert halls, including Spivey Hall in Atlanta and Carnegie Hall in New York in the US, and Olympia Hall in Munich, Germany, and worked with international conductors Seiji Ozawa, Georges Prêtre and Myung-Whun Chung, among others.Duchamp has toured throughout Europe, North America and Japan, and has been featured at numerous international festivals, such as Radio France Broadcast Festival in France, Switzerland’s Crans-Montana Festival, and the American Music Festival.He has been professor of flute at many schools in France and offered master classes at schools in the US, Japan, France and Canada.Jeanney began studying music at the age of five, and graduated from the Paris Conservatory at the age of 17 with a first prize in Piano and Chamber Music.She has performed and given master classes throughout Europe, Australia and the US.She has received several top awards at prestigious competitions such as the Concours International de Piano d’Epinal in France, the Chopin National Competition in Miami and the Concert Artist Guild of the US.Jeanney’s recent collaboration with Duchamp led to a series of concerts in Paris, New York and Japan.They will perform in Hanoi on May 26.-VNA

No tolerance for sexual harassment: UN Resident Coordinator in VietnamThe United Nations (UN)’s message about zero tolerance for sexual harassment was delivered by UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Kamal Malhotra on May 21. The UN in Vietnam reaffirms its full commitment to the UN's zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment. Zero tolerance means that even one case is one too many. It pledged to provide a work environment free from sexual harassment in which every staff is valued and respected. It will ensure that allegations of sexual harassment are responded to swiftly, fairly and effectively.

Polluted waste water causes 2,000 rivers to dieVietNamNet Bridge - More than 2,000 large rivers with 10 kilometers or longer in Vietnam are being threatened by untreated waste water from households, industrial production and craft villages. All of the 50 households farming fish in Nam Tan commune suffered from mass fish deaths with the loss estimated at VND1 billion for each household. And it is not the only locality where polluted rivers kill fish and harm people’s lives. This was attributed to domestic, industrial, agricultural and medical waste water, estimated at 800,000 cubic meters per day. RELATED NEWSQuang Ngai mass fish deaths under investigationDynamite fishing blamed for Quang Tri mass fish deathMai Chi

Dr Do Quoc TuanThe Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) has announced the three winners of the 2018 Ta Quang Buu scientific award. The Ta Quang Buu Award, named after a famous Vietnamese scientist, is held annually to honor scientists who have achieved excellent research achievements in natural science and technology. “Higher dimensional nonlinear massive gravity” published in Physical Review D 93, 104003 helped him receive the 2018 Ta Quang Buu award. MST officially presented the Ta Quang Buu Awards 2018 to three scientists on May 19 for their outstanding works on physics and agricultural biology. RELATED NEWSOutstanding scientists receive Ta Quang Buu awardsLack of transparency in research discourages scientistsTien Phong