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Japan says to release contaminated Fukushima water into sea

April 13, 2021 by tuoitrenews.vn

Japan plans to release into the sea more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear station, the government said on Tuesday, a decision that is likely to anger neighbours such as South Korea.

The move, more than a decade after the nuclear disaster, will deal another blow to the fishing industry in Fukushima, which has opposed such a step for years.

The work to release the water will begin in about two years, the government said, and the whole process is expected to take decades.

“On the premise of strict compliance with regulatory standards that have been established, we select oceanic release,” the government said in a statement after relevant ministers formalised the decision.

The water needs to be filtered again to remove harmful isotopes and will be diluted to meet international standards before any release.

An aerial view shows the storage tanks for treated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 13, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Kyodo/via REUTERS

The decision comes about three months ahead of the postponed Olympic Games to be hosted by Tokyo, with some events planned as close as 60 km (35 miles) from the wrecked plant.

The disposal of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, run by Tokyo Electric Power, has proved a thorny problem for Japan as it pursues a decades-long decommissioning project.

Teleconference informs outcomes of 13th CPV Congress to Chinese party

April 12, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Head of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung at the event (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – A teleconference was held on April 12 to inform the results of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) to the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The event was co-chaired by head of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung and head of the CPC’s International Liaison Department Song Tao.

Trung thanked the CPC’s Central Committee, Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders, agencies and organisations for sending congratulations on the success of the Congress and the re-election of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

He briefed on the results of the 13th National CPV Congress and major contents of its documents regarding socio-economic development, Party and political system building, Vietnam’s foreign policy and future orientations.

Hailing the significance of the Congress amid the complicated developments in the world, Trung said it set the goal of developing the country till 2020 with a vision to 2045, with the 100th anniversary of the CPV and the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the country as two major milestones.

About the foreign policy, Trung stressed that Vietnam will continue pursuing its consistent policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations, active and proactive global integration, maintenance of an environment of peace and stability, thus improving Vietnam’s prestige and stature on the international arena.

Teleconference informs outcomes of 13th CPV Congress to Chinese party hinh anh 2

Head of the CPC’s International Liaison Department Song Tao (Photo: VNA)

Song, for his part, once again congratulated the success of the Congress, saying that the CPC Central Committee sent a message of congratulations to the Congress while Chinese Party chief and President Xi also held phone talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Trong following the Congress, reflecting the Chinese Party, State and people’s appreciation for Vietnam – China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

He informed that on the occasion of its 100th founding anniversary, the CPC will hold a series of activities, including study on its history and long-standing friendship between the CPC and the CPV.

Song expressed his belief that under the leadership of the CPV led by Trong, the Vietnamese people will continue reaping greater achievements in national reform and socialism building as well as successfully realise the Resolution adopted by the Congress.

As the year 2021 starts the tenure of the 13th National CPV Congress and marks China’s implementation of the 14th five-year planning and the 100th anniversary of the CPC, both sides affirmed their determination to work closely together to control differences, promote exchanges and cooperation in various areas, thus carrying forward the friendship and cooperation between the two Parties, countries and peoples./.

VNA

Saltwater intrusion in Mekong Delta to be problematic until late April

April 12, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

A subsurface dam in Hoa Tien commune, Vi Thanh city, Hau Giang province (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta will remain an issue between now and late April, an official from the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting has forecast.

The situation will become less severe in May.

Phung Tien Dung, head of the centre’s hydro-meteorological forecasting office for the central, Central Highlands and southern regions, said that from April 12-15, localities should limit watering plants , especially fruit trees with high economic value. rainfall with thunderstorms will hit the upper reaches of the Mekong River and the southern region./.

VNA

An Hao Solar Farm turns new page for local people

April 13, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

An Hao Solar Farm turns new page for local people

By Phuong Nam

Nested at the foot of Cam mountain in An Hao Commune, Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province, amid a vast green area with breathtaking view, An Hao Solar Farm has added colors to and made Bay Nui (seven mountains) more mighty and especially help the life of the local people turn a new page and escape poverty.

Not simply a tourist site, the solar farm has also nurtured and brought cultural values into the landscape and heritage of the mountainous region, significantly increased its investment in developing infrastructure facilities and related services, as well as contributed to the stable social, economic, and political development of the southwestern border region.

An Hao Solar Farm – A new tourist destination at That Son (Seven Mountains).

A couple of years ago, when visiting An Hao, many people would immediately think of it as a poor moutainous commune where there was little land for production, no electricity, no clean water, no paved roads and children could not go to school. The poverty had been haunting the locals all year round, prompting the farmers to abandon their paddy fields, and young people to leave their villages for other places to look for jobs. In the dry season, even weeds withered in deserted fields. Maybe no one at that time could believe that this place now has become a tourist attraction worth thousands of billions of dong.

However, everything has changed when the construction of the Sao Mai solar power plant project began and then the An Hao Solar Farm was developed. Hundreds of local people were employed with stable incomes, while many people who earlier had left their hometown to make a living also returned home.

Talking with Chau Hoang Minh, director of the An Hao Solar Farm, we learned that half of the employees at the solar farm are local residents. Many of them are ethnic minority people and even some have gained trust and were selected to hold high posts at the tourist site.

The joy of labor in the border region.

We had a quick talk with Chau PhuonL, a staff taking care of bonsai trees at the tourist site. The simple-minded man with strong physical appearance said to us blissfully: “I and my older brother came to the tourist site for work since the beginning of the year, when the solar farm project was under construction. Since we started working here, our lives have become more stable. If we stay at home and cultivate one rice season per year, we will still be jobless during the rest of the year. Now, we not only have improved income but also receive meal allowances from the company, thus everyone are pleased and wish to work here for a long time.”

Under the solar panel layers shining radiantly are workers that are laboriously sowing green seeds into a tough land. They, saying nothing to each other, are focusing on their own tasks assiduously and seriously. Also, we can feel the honesty of the mountainous people still remaining intact, the gratefulness toward the company’s kindness for the Khmer people.

From an agriculture-only area, the An Hao people knew how to move from farming works to other jobs and develop various commerce and services such as food stores, restaurants, hotels to meet tourists’ demand, resulting in the locals’ life being improved. Besides this, the awareness of protecting tourism resources and the environment of the locality has been increasingly improved, enabling tourists at home and abroad to fully relish the beauty of the mountainous region.

Employees work assiduously and seriously as they want to express their gratefulness to the solar farm operator.

Aside from bringing about economic benefits to the locals, the tourist site also helped An Hao shed the gloomy look and put on a new coat. Many roads were paved by the investor and hundreds of decent houses were built. Given such convenient traffic conditions, the number of visitors to the locality is on the rise and the distance between rural and urban areas has been steadily shortened.

The light from the solar farm now has spread over the That Son area and the new energy from now on will spread further to turn tough lands into green areas, which will be home to wide paved roads, clean agricultural zones and modern tourism projects. All these things are gradually taking shape, making a magical change for this place, creating an economic breakthrough for the southwestern region, and opening new chapters in the journey encouraging the region to growth stronger.

Sao Mai annually earns VND1 trillion from solar power

Quang Binh caves get surreally real under photographic light

April 12, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

Early last month, HCMC-based Trung joined a group on a two-day tour to explore the two caves that are part of the cave system in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park.

The group took a car from the center of Son Trach C ommune to the 28 km milestone on the Ho Chi Minh West road, then trekked through the Phong Nha – Ke Bang forest.

The first destination in the journey, Nuoc Nut C ave, impressed Trung with stalagmites dripping down from the ceiling and growing from the cave floor.

Inside the cave are sandbanks and stalactites of different shapes. While the cave was first discovered in 2003, an entrance to go in was only found in 2012.

Cave experts have said that based on geological survey results, Nuoc Nut Cave is up to 2.2 km long and about two million years old.

The cave is open to visitors from February to the end of August every year.

After exploring Nuoc Nut Cave, Trung’s group camped for one night near the cave entrance and continued trekking t o Va C ave the next day.

In the photo above are stalactites in Va C ave. The interiors of both caves have a special structure thanks to a water system that connects with the world famous Son Doong C ave, said to be the world’s biggest. The t otal length of Va C ave is 1.6 km.

The underground river in Va Cave has crystal blue water. In the system of more than 300 caves discovered in Phong Nha – Ke Bang, Va is one of the most striking ones.

The lights of headlamps add to the mysterious effect.

“ There is no light in the cave, so it was necessary to have a lot of light shining in to get clear, better-looking photo s ,” Trung said.

Inside Va Cave, the team used padlock belt s and pulley s to move pass the stalactite walls that are over 10 m high.

The exploration requires visitors to be in good physical shape and have basic rock – climbing skills.

Trung said everybody’s tiredness vanished on seeing Thap Non Lake with hundreds of stalactites looking like pink bamboo shoots, each about 2 m high.

Experts say that the stalactites here are rare and unique, not to be found anywhere else.

Scientists have not yet solved the mystery of the conical stalactites seen above. They grew from the lake and were not formed by water drops that drip down from the ceiling , as it typically happens.

At the end of the journey, Trung said the interiors of the Va and Nuoc Noi caves were scenes from paradise.

Quang Binh, a popular tourist attraction in central Vietnam, is often referred to as the “Kingdom of Caves” as it boasts many limestone caves.

HCM City urged to put COVID-19 response measures in place

April 12, 2021 by vov.vn

During a meeting held between municipal authorities and the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on April 12, Phong said that on April 10 alone Cambodia recorded a further 477 positive COVID-19 cases, with the figure rising to 800 in Thailand.

He therefore urged local authorities to take steps to reinforce measures aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic, although there has been no new cases detected within the community over the past two months.

This comes after the border area in Long An province has witnessed many young Chinese nationals illegally enter the country with the aim of moving on to Cambodia in order to find employment.

Furthermore, the number of overseas Vietnamese who have tried to return home from Cambodia has been rising due to concerns about the development of the COVID-19 pandemic in the neighbouring country.

The mayor has therefore called on every ward and commune to closely monitor the number of immigrants, with local policemen being urged to co-ordinate efforts with soldiers in order to ensure safety when receiving and putting illegal immigrants into isolation.

As of April 10, as many as 7,530 medical workers have been vaccinated in the first stage against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with Ho Chi Minh City set to receive 56,000 doses for the second stage of the ongoing vaccination process this week.

Furthermore, over 42,000 medical workers and 10,000 staff working at airports remain among the priority group in the second stage, according to Nguyen Tan Binh, director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Health.

Phong added that although the southern city has received the largest amount of vaccines across the country, it will not be enough to vaccinate all local residents.

Whilst the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak remains significant residents must stay vigilant and local authorities should also prepare for the worst case scenario, he stressed.