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* China and the United States agree that stronger pledges to fight climate change should be introduced before a new round of international talks at the end of the year, the two countries said in a joint statement on Sunday.

* The United States has ordered its non-essential staff in Chad to leave the African country as rebel fighters approached the capital on Sunday after early election results showed President Idriss Deby on course to extend his three-decade rule.

* Iran has started the process of enriching uranium to 60% fissile purity at an above-ground nuclear plant at Natanz, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Saturday, confirming earlier statements by Iranian officials.

* A new understanding is emerging at talks aimed at salvaging Iran’s nuclear deal with global powers, Tehran’s chief negotiator said on Saturday according to Iranian state media, as China’s delegate also reported progress.

* Israel and Greece have signed their biggest ever defence procurement deal, which Israel said on Sunday would strengthen political and economic ties between the countries.

* Australia’s federal government and the state of South Australia have signed a AUD1.1 billion (US$851 million) deal to finance measures aimed at making energy more affordable and helping to curb carbon emissions.

* Mainland China reported 16 new COVID-19 cases on April 17, up from 15 cases a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Sunday. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 90,499, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636.

* Brazil recorded 67,636 additional confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 2,929 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. Brazil has registered more than 13.9 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 371,678, according to ministry data.

* Mexico’s recorded another 4,157 coronavirus cases and 535 new deaths on Saturday, according to health ministry data, bringing the total number of cases to 2,304,096 and 212,228 deaths.

* Russia reported 8,632 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours on Sunday, including 2,252 in the capital Moscow, taking the national tally to 4,702,101. The country also reported another 389 deaths, raising the official toll to 105,582.

* The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 19,185 to 3,142,262, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 67 to 79,914, the tally showed.

* Syria will hold its presidential election on May 26, the country’s parliament said on Sunday. The door for nominations will be open as of Monday for 10 days. Syrians abroad will vote on May 20.

* The French government has pledged EUR1 billion (US$1.2 billion) of financial aid for farmers who were worst affected by this month’s spring frosts and cold weather, the prime minister’s office said late on Saturday.

* The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units in France has fallen and the number of patients in hospital has also dropped, the health ministry said on Saturday, in a sign that pressure on the medical system is easing.

* More than 600,000 first and second doses of coronavirus vaccine were administered in Britain in the space of 24 hours, according to data released on Saturday.

* Italy reported 310 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 429 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections edged down to 15,370 from 15,943.

* Tunisia on Saturday announced the closure of all schools until April 30, as well as restrictions on movement, to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

* A magnitude 5.9 earthquake on Sunday struck Iran’s southern province of Bushehr, where a nuclear power plant is located, but there were no immediate reports of major damage, state television said.

Bui Huu Thanh in Quang Ninh has one hectare of orchid sapling cultivation area

Lan dot bien, or mutant orchid, has become a hot keyword on online forums as people believe the flowers can help them make a fortune.

In March, two mutant orchid transactions occurred in Hung Yen province, with the value of tens of billion of dong.

In Thuan Hung commune in Khoai Chau district, six Ngoc Son Cuoc mutant orchids were sold for VND34 billion. Meanwhile, Hoi Hoa Lan Pho Hien (Pho Hien Orchid Association) in Hung Yen City reported a record deal where one orchid sold for VND40 billion.

Also in March, B.H.T, the owner of an orchid garden in Hai Phong City, said he sold 5,000 Ngoc Son Cuoc mutant orchid seedlings for VND250 billion.

T said in his 12 hectare orchid garden, there are Ngoc Son Cuoc mutant orchid species valued at VND30 billion per plant.

Prior to that, on July 2, 2020, orchid collectors were talking privately that there was an orchid called ‘Huyen thoai buom dai ngan’ (Legend of a jungle butterfly). The owner of the orchid affirmed that it did not resemble any other orchid flower.

After that, they heard that one kie (the bud arising from a tree knot) from this orchid sold for VND15 billion.

Buying frenzy

The Vietnam Seed Association affirmed that mutant orchids have not been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as an orchid species for official circulation in the market.

Prosperous businesspeople have been willing to spend hundreds of billion of dong to buy mutant orchids, and many households have mortgaged their land, houses and assets to borrow money from banks to trade mutant orchids.

However, they have tasted bitterness because of their dream of getting rich from the charming flowers.

“I was tricked. I spent VND10 billion to buy mutant orchids. But the flowers are violet. Real mutant orchids must have a white jade color,” Nguyen Van Su from Vinh Phuc told Lao Dong newspaper.

The money Su used to buy the orchids came from loans from banks and relatives.

Su tried and failed to contact the gardeners he bought orchids from, including B.N in Chuong My, H.C in Hoai Duc, L.B.D in Dong Nai province, T.V.T and T.V.D in Hoa Binh.

The dozens of orchid plants Su bought were priced between VND70 million and VND1 billion.

On April 12, the community of orchid collectors was stirred up by the news that the owner of a mutant orchid garden in Ung Hoa district in Hanoi had fled with VND200 billion.

T is one of the victims of the gardener. N.H.P, 30, the younger brother of T, told reporters that T had a good business which brought VND3-5 billion a year. However, he later decided to “play big” by cooperating with C, the gardener.

Under the agreement between them, C provided mutant orchids to T for sale. However, T found that the orchids were not mutant. He then had to sell his car and land to pay his debts.

How did this begin?

In September 2020, the Di Linh district Police arrested Bui Van Sy, born in 1986 in Hoa Binh province. He was detained for four months in an investigation over the fraudulent act of selling mutant orchids, appropriating about VND2 billion.

In December 2020, the Tan Son district Police prosecuted and detained Bui Van Diep, 24, Dinh Van Do, 21, and Dinh Van Su, 31, from Hoa BInh province for swindling and appropriating citizens’ assets.

The three men had separated real mutant orchid flowers and attached them to normal orchid plants with glue and sold them as mutant orchids. They had appropriated VND1 billion by the time they were discovered.

More recently, on January 14, the Yen Thuy district Police detained Ta Thi Suoi Van, 29, and prosecuted her for selling counterfeit mutant orchids via social networks.

Van admitted that she had sold orchids that were not really ‘mutant’. Within one month, Van had earned VND4.6 billion from selling counterfeit orchids.

Lt. Gen. Nguyen Hai Trung, Director of Hanoi Police, on April 13 confirmed that the city’s agencies had received many complaints related to the trading of counterfeit mutant orchids.

Meanwhile, State Bank of Vietnam’s Hoa Binh Branch told commercial banks to tighten control over loans related to mutant orchids.

What do scientists say?

The Vietnam Seed Association affirmed that mutant orchids have not been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as an orchid species for official circulation in the market.

Tran Duy Quy, former director of the Institute of Agricultural Genetics, said there are about 35,000 orchid species in the world, including over 1,000 in Vietnam. Mutant orchids are very rare.

He said that the transactions of orchids valued at tens of billion of dong are “abnormal”. He said that people who have deep knowledge about orchids and planting techniques are aware of the difficulties in mutant orchid care and multiplication.

Regarding the value of mutant orchids, Dang Van Dong, deputy director of the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, said there has been no scientific research affirming the medicinal effects or other uses of the plant.

In other words, the inflated prices of mutant orchids is just based on growers’ personal sense of beauty and rarity.

In many cases, the mutant orchids that people see in reality or in images are not genetic variations, but are just genetic recombinations.

La Thanh

Vietnamese military doctors hold up two flags of the United Nations and Viêt Nam at Juba International Airport, South Sudan as they begin to carry out UN peacekeeping missions in the African country. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – As President of the United Nations Security Council in April 2021, Việt Nam will organise a high-level open debate on the role of regional organisations in promoting confidence-building and dialogue in conflict prevention and resolution on April 19 via both in-person and online forms.

The event will be presided over by State President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, marking the first time a high-ranking leader of Việt Nam has chaired an event within the framework of the UN Security Council. This is also the first important multilateral diplomatic event of the Vietnamese President since the 13th National Party Congress.

Building trust and dialogue

Deputy Foreign Minister Đặng Hoàng Giang said that Việt Nam has presided over the making of, and actively consulted to pass the Statement of the UN Security Council President.

The Statement will affirm the importance of cooperation between the United Nations, its Security Council and regional organisations in conflict prevention and settlement through peaceful measures, on the basis of respecting basic principles of international law and the UN Charter, and underlined confidence-building and dialogue measures as essential elements to contribute to conflict prevention and settlement.

The Statement will call for efforts to strengthen cooperation between the UN, its Security Council and regional organisations as well as between regional organisations in conflict prevention and settlement towards the building of sustainable peace, while encouraging the UN and the international community to support the improvement of capacity of regional organisations in conflict prevention and settlement, post-conflict reconstruction, and peace maintenance.

“The role of regional organisations in promoting trust building and dialogue in conflict prevention” is the most important and inclusive theme of the UN Security Council which is the UN’s main body in the prevention of wars and conflicts and maintenance of international peace and security, Giang said, adding that as a member of many important regional mechanisms, especially ASEAN, Vietnam wants regional organisations to further promote their roles, improve their images and share responsibility with the UN in preventing and solving conflicts in the region, for the stability and prosperity of the region and the world.

Đỗ Hùng Việt, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Organisations, emphasised that when building priorities for the working term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, Vietnam determined to promote the role of regional organisations in cooperation with the UN Security Council in particular and the UN in general.

The upcoming high-level open debate will elevate Việt Nam’s initiatives to contribute to maintaining international peace and security. Through this event, Vietnam wants to affirm its commitment and efforts to address global challenges facing the international community, Việt added.

In particular, President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s presiding over the event is the affirmation at the highest level about Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralism, and proactive and active international integration during its new stage of development.

Intensifying ASEAN’s role

According to Việt, as a member of ASEAN, Việt Nam wants ASEAN to have an increasing voice, position and role in matters directly related to the region as well as enhancing the bloc’s presence as a regional organisation at the UN.

Through this event, Việt Nam will contribute to drawing the attention of the international community and the United Nations to cooperation with ASEAN, and strengthening the bloc’s role at international forums and institutions in the coming time.

The open debate will be also an opportunity for leaders of the UN and regional organisations such as ASEAN, the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU), as well as the UN Security Council member states to assert the important role of regional organisations, share experience of each regional organisation in dealing with difficulties and challenges in their respective regions.

Việt Nam expects this to be the start of a longer process at the UN Security Council on issues related to regional organisations and their role in promoting trust building and dialogue in conflict prevention, thus contributing to the UN’s joint efforts to maintain peace, security and development in the world. VNS

It was a weekend morning when anime fan Minh Trang traveled to Ho Chi Chi Minh City from neighboring Binh Duong Province to attend the seventh Japan Vietnam Festival.

“I learned about the festival from a friend,” Trang told Tuoi Tre News .

“I love Japanese culture so I decided to come here.”

Trang was accompanied by her friend, Khang, who freestyled his anime-inspired outfit.

The duo has drawn the attention of the event goers, with several jumping to ask for photos with them.

Besides Trang and Khang, a number of cosplay fans also showed up with their favorite characters’ outfits at the fest jointly held by Japan and the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee.

The festival taking place at 23/9 Park in District 1 on April 17 and 18 gathered around 100 booths, aming to introduce the two countries’ tourism, local specialties, cuisine, culture, education, and technology.

One of the crowded booths was the baseball area where visitors could try playing the sport which is popular in Japan with the instruction from Japanese coaches, as well as buying baseball-inspired souvenirs.

Another highlight of the event was the main stage which showcased performances of Vietnamese and Japanese artists, from traditional folk music to modern pop songs.

The seventh Japan Vietnam Festival in Ho Chi MinH City had been postponed for several times before being able to take place in April due to COVID-19.

Speaking through a livestreamed video, Takebe Tsutomu, representative for the festival’s organizing board from the Japanese side, expressed his gratitude to see the event happen thanks to the constant effort of the Vietnamese and Japanese governments as well as relevant agencies.

He also expressed his hope that the fest would create a better future for the two countries of Vietnam and Japan.

Meanwhile, Vo Van Hoan, vice-chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, took the stage to affirm the strong bond between Japan and Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular, referring to Japan as “one of the close and sustainable partners” of the southern metropolis.

“People in Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular have always cherished Japan,” he stated.

“Following the success of previous festivals, this year’s event will continue to promote Japanese cultural specialties so that Vietnamese and foreigners living in Ho Chi Minh City could experience them as if they were in Japan.”

The first Japan Vietnam festival was organized in Ho Chi Minh City in 2013.

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