New movie magnificent seven

The Group of Seven nations on Sunday pledged to rapidly scale up technologies and policies that accelerate the transition away from unabated coal capacity, including ending new government support for coal power by the end of this year.

The countries, in a communique following their summit in Britain, confirmed pledges to increase climate finance contributions as part of efforts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change and help a move toward cleaner energy, although climate groups said firm cash promises and other details were missing.

“Coal power generation is the single biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions,” the seven nations – the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – said, adding “continued global investment in unabated coal power generation is incompatible with keeping 1.5°C within reach.”

“We stress that international investments in unabated coal must stop now and we commit now to an end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021,” they said.

U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking after the summit, noted a commitment of up to $2 billion “to support developing countries as they transition away from unabated coal-fired power.”

The nations, in their statement, vowed to focus on other technologies, including carbon capture, to help speed up the transition away from coal.

“We will focus on accelerating progress on electrification and batteries, hydrogen, carbon capture, usage and storage, zero emission aviation and shipping, and for those countries that opt to use it, nuclear power,” the communique said.

Liên Bỉnh Phát and Yu Dương perform in Điên Tối (Darkness), a new psychological horror movie by director Jack Carry On. It is available on YouTube. Photo courtesy of the producer

HCM CITY – Điên Tối (Darkness), a new psychological horror movie by young director Jack Carry On, has become a hit on social media since it premiered on YouTube on June 10.

The Viettel Media production earned more than 1.84 million views 15 hours after its premiere.

The 90-minute movie features Thạch, a young director from an orphanage who to make a movie adaptation of a novel by famous author Mạn Châu.

After meeting with Châu at her bookstore, Thạch and Châu begin a mysterious adventure.

Award-winning actor Lương Bỉnh Phát and actress Yu Dương play roles in the film.

Phát rose to fame after performing in Song Lang (The Tap Box), a film about the 100-year history of cải lương (reformed opera), a genre of traditional theatre in southern  Việt Nam.

The film was directed by Vietnamese-American Leon Lê in 2018. Phát played a cải lương performer who falls in love with his male colleague and makes sacrifices to pursue his dream.

Phát won Best Actor at the Golden Kite Awards 2019 organised by the Việt Nam Cinematography Association. He also won the Tokyo Gemstone Award in the Best Newcomer category at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2018.

Yu Dương, whose real name is Nguyễn Thùy Dương, is known for playing the leading role in the 2014 horror movie Lời Nguyền Huyết Ngãi (Blood Curse) directed by Bùi Thạc Chuyên, when she was only 16 years old.

She later took part in movies and TV series such as Cô Dâu Đại Chiến 2 (Bride War 2) and Tốc Độ và Đường Cong (Speed and Curve).

In 2020, she impressed audiences with two thrilling movies Bí Mật Của Gió (Secrets of the Wind) and Thang Máy (Elevator).

Võ Ngọc Anh from Đồng Nai Province said that when she heard of the film and the cast with Phát and Dương, she knew it would be a good production.

“The film is awesome and meaningful. I cried at the ending,” Anh said.

The director said: “Although Điên Tối is covered with darkness, it finally exposes the evil and opens a bright and better world.”

Jack, whose real name is Trịnh Tài Việt, began making movies when he was 14 years old.

The 26-year-old self-taught director is known for his online short films such as Câu Chuyện Pháp Sư (Story of a Shaman) and Bí Mật Phòng Kế (Secret of the Next Room).

In 2020, he introduced his first web series Ảo Tưởng Tuổi 18 (Illusion at 18) consisting of 18 episodes, featuring struggles and challenges that young people face in modern society. The film received a warm welcome from young audiences.

Điên Tối is available on YouTube channel FIM360, with English subtitles. — VNS

Cam Ranh Port in Khánh Hòa Province. Ports across central Việt Nam are planning to upgrade their capacity. – Photo baodautu.vn

QUẢNG NGÃI – Many ports in the central region are improving their capacity or proposing upgrades to meet the rising demand for foreign trade.

Several businesses are investing in upgrading ports in Quảng Ngãi Province’s Dung Quất Port Cluster, a network of eight ports, including three general and five specialised ones meant for private businesses.

Among the ports, one specialised facility is capable of berthing ships of 150,000 – 200,000 tonnes ships, while the remaining seven can only receive vessels of 50,000 – 70,000 tonnes.

The province has over 20 businesses exporting and importing goods using container ships and around 6,500 containers annually, and they currently have to use ports in Đà Nẵng and elsewhere in the central region.

Đặng Văn Minh, chairman of the Quảng Ngãi Province People’s Committee, said the Dung Quất Port Cluster has reached full capacity, and so fresh investment is crucial for the province’s export-import needs.

In Bình Định Province, Quy Nhơn Port is handling 2,500 tonnes of goods per berth metre, more than five times its capacity.

The Quy Nhơn Port Joint Stock Company will begin upgrading one of its piers in August to expand its capacity.

Phú Yên Province is planning to build a deep-water port.

The Cam Ranh Port Joint Stock Company in Khánh Hòa Province is planning on building a new berth in its Cam Ranh Port.

Dr Trần Du Lịch, a member of the Government Advisory Group, said coastal provinces in central Việt Nam had been soliciting investment in ports.

Now the region typically transports goods to ports in Hải Phòng or HCM City for exporting, and investment is spread too thin for many ports to berth large vessels, according to Lịch. – VNS

HCM CITY – Information about Việt Nam’s intangible cultural heritage will be preserved as part of a larger archive of heritage for the Asia-Pacific region.

The director of the Việt Nam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS), Bùi Hoài Sơn, said the institute had been participating in a project to build ichlinks, a platform with information about the intangible cultural heritage of the Asia-Pacific region.

This project is expected to connect and share content with member countries at the website https://www.ichlinks.com.

“ichlinks stores more than 1,000 data, content and information on the intangible cultural heritage of member countries in the Asia-Pacific region via images, videos, and audio and text formats. The site will offer advanced search tools and information management features,” Sơn said.

He said that ichlinks was established by the Korean Cultural Heritage Department and the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP) and supported by UNESCO.

The first group of participating partner countries includes Malaysia, Mongolia, Việt Nam (represented by VICAS), Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

According to the deputy director of the Cultural Heritage Data Centre (under VICAS), Vũ Diệu Trung, information about Vietnamese heritage has been “integrated” into ichlinks.

“ICHCAP has helped us make 10 anthropological films about intangible heritage, and all are online. Seven films about cultural heritage have been registered by UNESCO. ichlinks has collected data from the Cutural Heritage Association and other bases,” she said.

Joining ichlinks, Việt Nam has the opportunity to promote its image and heritage to the world.

“ICHCAP itself is a Tier 2 unit of UNESCO, funded by UNESCO to help member countries build a common digital platform on intangible cultural heritage and promote it. When participating in it, they have the right to promote images of Việt Nam’s intangible cultural heritage abroad. This is the best benefit,” she said.

Another benefit is the opportunity to digitise the system of national heritage information. From 1997 to 2020, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism  built a target programme to preserve the culture of Vietnamese ethnic groups. The ministry will allocate one to two cultural heritage conservation programmes to each province.

VICAS is the main recipient of archival video tapes for the target programme, and has worked with the programme for over 20 years.

“The institute has an archive of nearly 1,000 similar cultural heritage items. With the new project, ichlinks will boost the digitisation process. They have provided equipment to VICAS to digitise the tape system,” Trung said.

In addition to reconstructing old documents or documents of recognised heritage sites, ichlinks helps “rescue” items of cultural heritage that have not been preserved or properly preserved.

“After Mrs. Hà Thị Cầu, the last artist of Xẩm art, passed away, it seemed like the art had been lost, but Xẩm singing clubs are now active in Hải Phòng. ichlinks can help us conduct new research and support the community to redevelop this legacy,” Trung added. – VNS

A vaccination station in Luang Prabang, Laos (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

Hanoi – Laos and Malaysia are working on their COVID-19 vaccination efforts in a bid to curb the spread of the pandemic.

The Lao Ministry of Health on June 12 said there were 712,793 locals or 9.7 percent of the population getting the first shot of COVID-19 vaccines and 385,921 or 5.26 percent fully vaccinated with two shots.

On June 13, the country logged six new infections in three localities, consisting of five domestic and one imported cases.

To date, the national tally has hit 1,996 cases, with 1,862 recoveries and three deaths.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, the government has introduced an initiative dubbed the Public-Private Partnership Industrial COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PIKAS) to cater for the manufacturing sector.

According to the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti), as “Phase Four” of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP), PIKAS will begin on June 16 with on-site vaccination at designated factories and industrial locations.

In a related movement, a call centre has been set up to contact individuals who did not show up for their vaccination appointment. Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the initiative began on June 12 at the vaccination centre in Kampung Ampang Indah Community Hall, Ampang, where seven telephone operators had been trained for the purpose.

The pilot project involved 177 individuals in three categories: those who have received appointment dates in the MySejahtera app but did not provide feedback, those absent for their second dose, and individuals who failed to show up for their first jab.

VNA

Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Neymar (L) is challenged during the French L1 football match between Stade Rennais Football Club and Paris Saint-Germain at the Roazhon Park stadium in Rennes, northwestern France on May 9, 2021.(FRED TANNEAU / AFP)

PSG led at half-time after Neymar converted a controversial penalty award, but they were pegged back in the second half as Serhou Guirassy headed in the equaliser.

Presnel Kimpembe was later sent off for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who could not get back to winning ways on their return to domestic action following their Champions League semi-final exit against Manchester City.

PSG are now three points adrift of Ligue 1 leaders Lille, who know they will be champions for the first time since 2011 by taking four points from their remaining two matches of the season.

The Parisians have won the French title in seven of the last eight years but they have regularly wobbled this season and the decision to replace coach Thomas Tuchel with Pochettino during the winter break looks like it will not have the desired impact.

“We will keep believing until the end, we won’t lose faith, but at Paris Saint-Germain we need to do much better,” captain Marquinhos told broadcaster Canal Plus.

“Lille are a really good side and are winning every match. We have two games left and we need to believe, focus on ourselves and perform better.”

Lille had opened up a provisional four-point lead by winning 3-0 at Lens on Friday, with Burak Yilmaz scoring twice.

It appeared PSG might respond in kind, despite being without the suspended Kylian Mbappe or the injured Marco Verratti in Brittany.

They were given the chance to take the lead in first-half stoppage time when referee Ruddy Buquet surprisingly awarded a penalty after reviewing footage of Rennes defender Nayef Aguerd attempting to block a Layvin Kurzawa shot.

Neymar marked Saturday’s announcement that he had extended his contract until 2025 by stroking home from the spot.

However, Rennes are chasing European qualification and they went looking for the equaliser, getting their reward 20 minutes from time when Guirassy headed in Benjamin Bourigeaud’s corner.

PSG were then reduced to 10 men three minutes from time when Kimpembe’s lunge on Jeremy Doku earned the defender a straight red card.

PSG’s last two games are at home to Reims and away at relegation-threatened Brest, while Lille finish at home to Saint-Etienne and away at Angers.

– Monaco eye Champions League –

Earlier, a first senior goal for Belgian youngster Eliot Matazo gave Monaco a 1-0 win at Reims that kept the principality club on course for a top-three finish and a return to the Champions League.

Teenager Matazo, signed from Anderlecht aged 16 in 2018, struck in the 20th minute and Monaco then saw out the victory to get back on track after losing at home to rivals Lyon last weekend.

The principality side were beaten 3-2 in that game and were then leapfrogged by Lyon after they defeated Lorient 4-1 on Saturday.

However, Sunday’s victory took Niko Kovac’s side back up to third on 74 points, one point better off than Lyon.

“The pressure is not on us but on Lyon because they were not in the Champions League this season and they need to be there,” said Kovac.

“Before the match I told the players to enjoy themselves because they were fourth and they have had a great season.”

Champions and Champions League semi-finalists in 2017, Monaco are also five points adrift of Lille and two points behind PSG.

Only the top three in France qualify for the Champions League, with the top two going straight into the group stage of Europe’s elite club competition and third entering in the third qualifying round.

Fourth will have to settle for the Europa League with fifth set to go into the new Europa Conference League.

Marseille remain fifth, above Lens on goal difference, despite losing 1-0 at Saint-Etienne. Rennes are a point behind them in seventh.

AFP