Graft

HANOI -- A court in Vietnam on Thursday sentenced a former deputy health minister to four years in prison for his involvement in a trading ring for fake medicines. Truong Quoc Cuong, 59, who had been a deputy health minister since 2016, was accused late last year of helping local firms to import more than VND148 billion ($6.4 million) worth of fake medicines to sell domestically, according to a Ministry of Public Security statement. Vietnam authorities have stepped up an anti-graft drive with a recent series of arrests targeting prominent business people, market regulators and health officials. Dozens of senior health officials have been accused of wrongdoing in medical procurement, including claims they overstated the cost of coronavirus test kits. The Communist Party of Vietnam has also proposed disciplining the Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long for his "involvement in wrongdoing". It was unclear if Cuong pleaded guilty. He was convicted of demonstrating a "lack of … [Read more...] about Vietnam court jails ex-health official amid anti-graft drive

The oldes lychee tree in Hoàng Văn Lượm's garden, a fifth-generation direct descendant of Hoàng Văn Cơm. VNA Photo Mạnh Tú HÀ NỘI – As well as watching the region's best athletes battle it out, visitors to Hải Dương Province for the SEA Games also have the chance to visit the Thanh Hà lychee gardens, where the oldest lychee tree in Việt Nam stands. Located on the Red River Delta, Thanh Hà District has a reputation for the best quality Thiều Thanh Hà lychees. The fruit tree areas in the district lure tourists from near and far. Not to be missed is the “ancestral” 19th-century lychee tree in Thú Lâm town of Thanh Sơn Commune. The tree is recognised by the Việt Nam Book Record as the oldest of its species in Việt Nam. The tree was planted over 150 years ago by Hoàng Văn Cơm (born in 1848) who specialised in fruit trading. In 1870, at a party with the Chinese in the northern Hải Phòng City, he ate delicious lychees, so he brought some seeds to his home and planted them in his … [Read more...] about Hải Dương’s lychees shouldn’t be missed