Blue and white glazed ceramic vases found from the Cà Mau shipwreck. — VNS Photo Minh Thu Viet Nam News There is a lot of treasure under the sea off Việt Nam. Some of it that has been brought up is on a display in a museum and many people are enjoying seeing it. The sea off Việt Nam was once part of a trading route. Ships used the route on their way between Asia and Europe. By Minh Thu Treasures sinking in the seabed for centuries reveal much information about the civilisations in the past. Archaeologists salvaged them from the shipwrecks and now show the public the important position of Việt Nam in the map of Maritime Silk Road. "The Maritime Secrets Revealed from Ancient Ships" exhibition is showcasing more than 500 objects collected from shipwrecks in Việt Nam’s territorial waters from the 15th–18th centuries. The Việt Nam National Museum of History hosts the five-month exhibition until May 18. Since its opening, the … [Read more...] about Treasure from under the sea
Buried shipping container
Hong Kong customs seize record haul of pangolin scales bound for Vietnam
Officials seized a record quantity of pangolin scales along with more than 1,000 ivory tusks, which equate to around 500 elephants and up to 13,000 pangolins, and value over HK$62 million ($7.90 million). Originating in Nigeria, the shipment was bound for Vietnam, they said. In a separate incident, customs officials in the northern Vietnamese port of Hai Phong discovered another 1.4 tonnes of pangolin scales in a shipping container sent from Nigeria, local media reported on Friday. Last October, Vietnam intercepted more than more than eight metric tons of pangolin scales and ivory, also from Nigeria, in one of the Southeast Asian country’s largest wildlife trafficking cases for years. Hong Kong is a global blackspot for wildlife trafficking. The city is a key transit point, supplying an array of wildlife products including timber, shark’s fin and rhino horn across Asia and particularly mainland China. Customs on January 16 seized about 8,300 kilograms of pangolin scales and … [Read more...] about Hong Kong customs seize record haul of pangolin scales bound for Vietnam
Quake-hit Indonesia asks for help, graves dug for 1,000-plus
This handout picture taken on September 30, 2018 and released by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency shows rescuers retrieving a body from the rubble of a building in Palu, Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi, following the September 28 earthquake and tsunami. — AFP/VNA Photo Viet Nam News PALU, Indonesia — Indonesian volunteers dug mass graves for more than 1,000 bodies on Monday after a quake and tsunami devastated swathes of Sulawesi, as authorities -- struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster -- appealed for international help. Indonesia is no stranger to natural calamities and Jakarta wanted to show that it was able to deal with a catastrophe that has killed at least 832 people so far according to the official toll. But four days on some remote areas have yet to be contacted, medicines are running out and rescuers are struggling with a shortage of heavy equipment to reach desperate victims calling out from the ruins of collapsed … [Read more...] about Quake-hit Indonesia asks for help, graves dug for 1,000-plus
Plastic waste grows as authorities fail to act
Viet Nam News HCM CITY – HCM City is being slowly choked by plastic waste, with 60 tonnes generated every day and only 10 per cent of them recycled. Due to the low quality of the plastic, only a small proportion is treatable, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Overall, the city generates 9,000 tonnes of plastic waste, of which 6,000 tonnes are buried and 3,000 tonnes are treated. Another reason for the low treatment rate in the case of plastic is the failure to classify waste by households and commercial establishments alike. All kinds of wastes are mixed during collection and transportation. According to environmental experts, plastic is non-bio-degradable and remains in the environment for hundreds of years. Besides, there are no regulations to restrict plastic usage. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) slapped an environment tax on the non-bio-degradable plastic of 150 – 200 per cent, but it is not being … [Read more...] about Plastic waste grows as authorities fail to act