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By Lê Hương “Hot, hot, hot...!!!” That’s the most common phrase being uttered at the moment in Hà Nội as the heat of mid-summer overwhelms the north. Going out in the middle of the day is a last resort, and fans and air-conditioners are operating at full capacity. People even take their pets to the lake. VNS Photos Trương Vị People are doing anything they can to cool off. Each afternoon, a corner of West Lake has become the ideal destination for people of all ages to just that.  Swimming spots have appeared along the lake near the streets of Thanh Niên, Trích Sài, Nhật Chiêu and Quảng Bá. “I bring my grandchildren here to teach them how to swim and cool off,” retiree Vũ Thanh Bình told Việt Nam News. “It’s so much fun.” West Lake is a fun destination for children during summer.  People use all kinds … [Read more...] about Taking a dip to cool off in the capital

ĐỒNG THÁP — Farmers in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Đồng Tháp have switched to growing short-term crops often in rotation with rice and perennial trees on more than 16,000ha of infertile rice fields since last year. They mostly grow vegetables, corn, sesame, soy bean, sweet potato, lotus, mango, longan, orange, and jackfruit. The short-term crops provide an income of VNĐ10-300 million (US$428-12,850) per hectare more than rice while the perennial trees fetch VNĐ90-500 million ($3,850-21,420) more, according to the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Lê Thị Kim Châu, who now uses her 4,000sq.m of land to grow water spinach for their seeds in Hồng Ngự District’s Thường Phước 1, said she needs less water now than for rice and the crop is easy to grow. Amid climate change and drought, rice yields in her area are not high, and so she decided to … [Read more...] about Đồng Tháp converts rice fields to grow more lucrative crops

HCM CITY — Twenty-two solar-powered bus stops with surveillance cameras have been put into use in HCM City’s District 1. The environmentally-friendly bus stops are located along Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai and Trần Hưng Đạo streets. The bus stops are equipped with LED information boards and speakers to announce bus schedules.   A bus stop with a surveillance camera in HCM City. — Photo tuoitre.vn According to the city’s public transport management centre, the installation of surveillance cameras aims to catch and deter theft and pickpocketing in order to ensure security for passengers. The new bus stops are also accessible for the disabled. Similar bus stops using solar power with cameras were put into operation earlier this month around the areas of Lê Quý Đôn Primary and Secondary School on Lê Quý Đôn Street, District 3 and Minh Đức Secondary School on Nguyễn … [Read more...] about Modern bus stops put into use in HCM City

GENEVA — Women across Switzerland are set to walk off the job and into the streets on Friday to demand wage parity, nearly three decades after staging the country's first nationwide strike for equal pay. Events planned throughout the day range from pram marches, to whistle concerts, to extended lunch breaks and giant picnics, with huge demonstrations planned Friday evening in several cities, including in front of the government in Bern. Unions and rights groups organising the events are hoping to see a sea of purple -- the colour chosen to show solidarity with the cause -- but in a country where work stoppages are extremely rare the turnout remains uncertain. On June 14, 1991 -- 10 years after equality between the sexes was enshrined in the Swiss constitution -- half a million women walked out of their workplaces or homes to protest persistent inequalities. Three decades on, however, the organisers of Friday's events say things have barely improved, insisting women need to demand … [Read more...] about Swiss women to march for equal pay

By Delil Souleiman Gazing over his wheat field in northeastern Syria, farmer Adel Othman expects a bumper crop this year, but two rival authorities squabbling over his harvest have dashed his enthusiasm. After successive droughts and eight years of civil war, both the local Kurdish authorities and the Damascus administration are desperate to buy up his region's produce to feed their people and maintain the peace. In a country where millions depend on bread as a staple food to survive, both want the wheat grown in the country's northeastern breadbasket region of Hasakeh. Farmers in the Kurdish-held region like Othman have been caught up in the middle, with only two potential buyers, neither offering a satisfactory price. Our "livelihood should not be transformed into a political bargaining chip", said the 55-year-old, his sky-blue shirt streaked in places with dry earth. The government is offering a better price, but the Kurds have said no wheat can leave the region under their control. … [Read more...] about Syria’s breadbasket, Kurds and Damascus battle for wheat