About 500 students join Hanoi mathematics contestNearly 500 students will compete at the 15th Hanoi Open Mathematics Competition (HOMC) from March 26 to 30, with foreign contestants joining for the first time. Contestants of the Hanoi Open Mathematics Competition in 2017 (Photo: hanoi.edu.vn)Participants will be divided into two groups. The first group comprises of 87 international students from 10 countries and territories including Poland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, and Hungary. Meanwhile, 411 contestants of Group B come from 22 localities across Vietnam and will attend the individual competition only. The official language of the competition is English and exam questions in the individual competition of the two groups will be the same.

Vietnam NA does its best for stronger ties with BulgariaThe National Assembly of Vietnam always supports government-to-government cooperation and will do its best to elevate bilateral ties with Bulgaria to the next level for a productive trade partnership, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has said. She noted that although two-way trade reached nearly 110 million USD in 2017, the figure has yet to match economic cooperation potential between the two countries. Ngan also showed her delight at effective coordination of Vietnam and Bulgaria at international forums and organisations. Vietnam hopes that Bulgaria, as EU President from January 2018, will help Vietnam strengthen ties with the EU and hasten the signing of the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement, she said, pledging that Vietnam is willing to help Bulgaria and the EU strengthen ties with other ASEAN member countries. She affirmed that as the EU President, Bulgaria will work harder to support Vietnam to run for a non-permanent membership of the EU Security Council.

Vietnam actively contributes to UNHRC’s 37th sessionThe Vietnamese delegation has actively contributed ideas to various draft resolutions and co-sponsored six resolutions of the 37th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which wrapped up in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 23 after one month of working. On behalf of ASEAN, he also delivered a speech at a debate on the Universal Periodic Review, affirming that this is an important mechanism that helps boost international dialogue and cooperation in human rights issue. ASEAN is willing to cooperate with partners for the success of the mechanism, he confirmed. During the month-long event, the council discussed issues related to the rights of children, people with disabilities, anti-racial discrimination. It also took a look at the human rights situation in Myanmar, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Syria, South Sudan, and Iran, as well as discussing measures to intensify technical assistance to ensure and promote human rights in Libya.

Warning over dodgy online tradersLe Thi Thu Hang from HCM City’s Go Vap District recently ordered a product displayed on an e-commerce marketplace from a supplier that had no e-commerce website. E-commerce websites play a role in quality control and protect customers’ interests. Many suppliers who trade directly with customers provide low-quality products, an e-commerce expert said. Online trade also helps buyers easily and quickly purchase items that may be unavailable in their local area at cheap prices. However, unreliable online shopping websites exist, sometimes in the form of advertisements.

Ly Son Island garlic brand violated by fraudstersVietNamNet Bridge – Something smells funny on Ly Son Island, as the mass trading of fake garlic has hurt the island’s signature trade. Original brand of Ly Son district brand is offered at shopping centres in Da Nang.Photo courtesy Ly Son seafood companyThe fake products have surfaced in shops in Quang Ngai District’s Quang Ngai City. “We found that some farmers transported garlic planted and harvested in a district in Khanh Hoa to sell on Ly Son Island. Tourists could not recognise what original Ly Son garlic is. Ly Son garlic is priced at VND60,000 (US$2.6) for a fresh kilo, and VND150,000 ($6.6) for a dried kilo, according to the district.

Da Nang plans ‘urban area in the sea’VietNamNet Bridge – The central city of Da Nang has asked the government to plan part of Da Nang Bay as an ‘urban area in the sea’, in an effort to meet the demands of a rising population and to attract tourism investment. A sea expansion project is planned for Da Nang Bay. The central city aims to build an ’urban area in the sea’ for its growing population. He said the urban area project also needs special policies to offer preferential treatment for strategic investors. “We plan to develop part of Da Nang Bay as a sustainable ‘urban area in the sea’ in combination with an ocean economic zone.

Vietnam calls for stronger cooperation to solve migration crisesChairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has emphasised that to solve migration crises, it is necessary to enhance cooperation at global level with the active participation of countries and international organisations. The top Vietnamese legislator said as the world’s biggest inter-parliamentary organisation, the IPU should continue taking the lead in promoting cooperation for development among countries. At international level, Vietnam supports legal migration activities, particularly labour migration and resolutely fights against illegal migration, especially human trafficking and transnational crimes, the ensuring of safe migration and the protection of rights and legitimate interests of migrants during the migration process, she said. The chairwoman called for dialogue and cooperation to prevent violent extremism, terrorism, poverty and social inequality which could lead to migrant crises like in recent years. She also pointed to the need to promote cooperation between nations and regional and international organisations to create resources and support countries affected by illegal migration and to devise sustainable solutions.

Russia fire: Children missing in deadly Kemerovo mall blazeAt least 37 people are confirmed to have died in a fire that tore through a shopping centre in the Siberian coal-mining city of Kemerovo. At least 64 people are missing, including 41 children, and parts of the building are in danger of collapse. The blaze started on an upper floor of the Winter Cherry complex while many of the victims were in cinema halls. Yevgeny Dedyukhin, deputy head of the Kemerovo region emergency department, said the area of the fire was about 1,500 sq m."The shopping centre is a very complex construction," he said. Another source told the agency there was practically no chance of finding survivors.

Uber is selling its South East Asia operations to rival GrabUber is selling its South East Asia ride-share and food delivery businesses to regional rival Grab. Grab is South East Asia's most popular ride-sharing firm with millions of users across eight countries. But it includes the sale of all of Uber's operations in the region, including food delivery service Uber Eats. Uber's chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said this was "a testament to Uber's exceptional growth across South East Asia over the last five years". As a result of the merger, the GrabFood service will expand from two to four South East Asian countries by next quarter, Grab said in statement.

SOE debt weighs heavily on government acting as guarantorVietNamNet Bridge - A State Audit report shows that by December 31, 2016, the government’s foreign debts had reached VND947 trillion, or 39.8 percent of total debts. As the enterprises cannot pay debts, the debt burden is on the government as the guarantor. As the enterprises cannot pay debts, the debt burden is on the government as the guarantor. However, it is very difficult to place the blame on individuals and agencies for ineffective investment projects. Under the current laws, public debt includes the government debt, the debt guaranteed by the government and the debts incurred by local authorities.

Dak Lak teachers have to give bribes to be hiredVietNamNet Bridge - More than 500 teachers in Dak Lak province are in danger of losing their jobs. By 2017, Krong Pak district hired 500 teachers to work under short term labor contractsBy 2017, Krong Pak district in the central province of Dak Lak hired 500 teachers to work under short-term labor contracts. The bribes went to the pockets of high ranking officials, who had the jurisdiction to recruit teachers. S, a primary school teacher in Phuoc An Town, said he understands that it is illegal to pay money to get a job. RELATED NEWSLow salaries for primary school teachers stymie reformLow salary deters talents, males from teaching careerThanh Mai

Fishing village builds fortune from lobstersLobster farming has been practiced for more than 20 years in Song Cau town, the central coastal province of Phu Yen. Being sold at 90USD per kilo, lobsters have brought a facelift to V​inh H​oa fishing village in S​ong C​au town. Le Thanh Long, another lobster farmer from Song Cau town, Phu Yen province, told reporters: "More than 10 years ago, we were stricken by difficulties. Lam Duy Dung, Vice Chairman of Song Cau town People’s Committee, Phu Yen province revealed: "We are working to promote Song Cau lobsters as a national product. In a long-term process, we will establish management boards at district and commune levels in order to keep eyes on the local lobster culture."

Pay-television companies change strategyVietNamNet Bridge - Pay-TV companies are now cooperating with each other, rather than slashing fees in an effort to find more subscribers. The deal, analysts said, shows that confrontation of many years among pay-TV companies has stopped. Meanwhile, other television companies which have copyrighted programs will be able to earn more money from profits shared by their partners. He said that service providers now can focus on upgrading service and content quality. RELATED NEWSStiff competition forces pay-TV service providers to lower feesContent industry will be ‘king’ in OTT gameMai Thanh

Facebook boss apologises in UK and US newspaper adsFacebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has taken out full-page adverts in several UK and US Sunday newspapers to apologise for the firm's recent data privacy scandal. In the advert, Mr Zuckerberg said a quiz developed by a university researcher had "leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014". The ads contained no mention of the political consultancy accused of using the leaked data, Cambridge Analytica, which worked on US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. About 270,000 users' data was collected, but the app also collected some public data from users' friends without their knowledge. Facebook has said Dr Kogan passed this information on to Cambridge Analytica without its knowledge.

NA Chairwoman meets Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker on IPU-138 sidelinesChairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan had a meeting with Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Karu Jayasuriya on the fringes of the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU-138) in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 25 morning (local time). Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (L) and Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Karu JayasuriyaShe told her Ski Lankan counterpart that Vietnam always attaches importance to the time-honoured friendship with Sri Lanka and wishes to advance the relationship on the basis of potential and advantages of each side. She asked the Sri Lankan Parliament to step up delegation exchanges to further promote the two countries’ relations comprehensively and intensively. For his part, Karu Jayasuriya said both the President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka are interested in Vietnam’s development, and wish to enhance cooperation with the country. He described Vietnam as a model of socio-economic development that Sri Lanka wants to learn from.