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>>> Provinces launch tree planting festivals to support one billion tree programme

According to the MARD, Vietnam planted about 227,000 ha of concentrated forest and 67 million trees each year in the 2016-2020 period. In 2020 alone, the country planted over 230,000 ha of concentrated forest and 80 million trees despite many difficulties arising due to the pandemic.

The national forest coverage rate is currently 42% while the export value of wood and wood products reached US$13.17 billion in 2020, up 16.4% compared to 2019.

In the 2021-2025 period, the forestry sector will continue to maintain the national forest coverage rate at present levels and is aiming at a total of US$20 billion worth of export revenue of forestry products each year.

Addressing the ceremony, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh said that every spring, localities across the country launch tree-plant festivals in response to a call from President Ho Chi Minh in 1960.

She noted that many provinces including Quang Binh are suffering from heavy losses caused by storms, floods and climate change, thus, tree planting and afforestation are of great significance, contributing to sustainable national development.

She also called on all people to participate in planting trees and respond to the initiative of planting one billion new trees in the next five years as launched by the Prime Minister.

On the same day, Thanh Hoa city also launched its tree-planting festival for 2021 with the aim of planting more than 105,000 trees across the city while Thua Thien Hue province launched its tree-planting festival at the Chin Ham historical relic site.

From William Pitt to Winston Churchill, Britain’s finest prime ministers have risen to greatness in the Palace of Westminster, heightening its reputation as one of the world’s most respected parliaments.

But with nine centuries of history come traditions, and a culture that is now under fire for concentrating power in the hands of lawmakers who can make or break the careers of aides, interns and party activists.

The resignation of Britain’s defence minister, who admitted repeatedly touching a radio presenter’s knee in 2002, and a series of accusations against other members of parliament, from alleged extramarital affairs to sexual assaults, have prompted calls for change.

Parliament is an “old and famous” institution, said Brendan Chilton, a Labour activist and general secretary of Labour Leave, a pro-Brexit group.

“However it has in recent years become a den of vice. We should all seek to make parliament the envy of the world again.”

The ornate Palace of Westminster, beside the River Thames in the heart of London, is home to both the upper and lower houses of parliament and is seen by some historians as one of the birthplaces of modern democracy.

But allegations about British politicians, many of them unsubstantiated, have surfaced since sexual abuse claims against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein prompted women and men in British politics to share stories about improper behaviour.

Claims of sexual harassment have prompted some newspapers to refer to parliament as “Pestminster”.

Michael Fallon resigned as defence minister on Wednesday over past behaviour he said had fallen “below the high standards we require of the armed forces”.

Two more ministers are under investigation by the governing Conservative Party into allegations of inappropriate behaviour and the opposition Labour Party and Scottish National Party are looking into similar reports about party members.

Awe-inspiring

The Palace of Westminster’s debating chambers, its lavish tea rooms and its maze of corridors with portraits of long-gone politicians and prime ministers can inspire and confuse in equal measure.

Like a self-contained village, it has it own post office, hairdresser, gym, restaurants and bars. There is little reason to leave and for many workers, days are spent in its offices and evenings are spent in its bars.

“Drinking culture is both fun and a bit depressing,” one parliamentary researcher wrote on the Glassdoor website where employees and former employees anonymously review companies and their management. “You will miss out on networking if this is not something you want to do.”

It is a heady mix, and many relationships have grown in an environment where people work closely together, and often under pressure, for long hours.

But the allegations that have surfaced in recent weeks also depict it as an environment where inappropriate behaviour is widespread and a laddish culture, where what one person sees as a joke is offensive to another, prevails.

The accusations describe parliament as a place where careers of researchers, interns and aides can be decided by the member of parliament or minister they work for – and suggest some fear for their future if they refuse sexual advances.

Many female lawmakers have welcomed the opportunity to share their experiences, some of which they have kept silent about for years for fear of, if not reprisals, criticism from colleagues or officials for bringing parties into disrepute.

“There is obviously a problem, it’s a good thing that it’s been exposed,” Labour lawmaker Harriet Harman told parliament this week. “No one should have to work in the toxic atmosphere of sleazy sexist or homophobic banter.”

Scandals involving members of British politicians are not new. The Profumo Affair, involving sex, a Soviet spy and the secretary of state for war, helped bring down the Conservative government in 1963. Twenty years later, Conservative Cecil Parkinson resigned as trade and industry minister over an affair with his secretary, who became pregnant.

But Fallon told the BBC that what had been “acceptable 15, 10 years ago is clearly not acceptable now”.

The government is introducing measures to tackle sexual harassment, including measures to enforce a code of conduct and to set up an independent grievance procedure. But critics say the power disparity between lawmaker and employee will remain.

Rosa Elena Bonilla was detained at her residence on the outskirts of the capital Tegucigalpa, officials said. Police also arrested her brother-in-law and seized documents pertaining to graft accusations.

Ana Maria Calderon, interim head of the Organization of American States’ (OAS) Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) said Bonilla and others had embezzled 16 million lempiras ($680,000).

“Mrs. Bonilla is accused, along with other former officials, … having created a money laundering network to hide money from the state that was earmarked for social works,” Calderon said.

Late last year, Bonilla denied the corruption allegations after voluntarily testifying before prosecutors in the case. Her lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Calderon said Bonilla used part of the money to pay for family members’ educational fees and personal surgeries.

Corruption scandals have led to a string of arrests in Central America in recent years, thanks to growing pressure from activists and backing from foreign powers.

Bonilla was detained a day after U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley visited Honduras to talk about drug trafficking and corruption.

Among the funds suspected of being embezzled were about $255,000 donated by Taiwan in 2013 for medical equipment, building materials for poor families and job programs, officials said.

Bonilla is also being investigated by prosecutors for suspected anomalies in $330,000 that was designated for the purchase of shoes and uniforms for poor children, officials said.

Earlier this month, the head of an anti-corruption commission backed by the Organization of American States resigned, citing a lack of support from authorities.

Lobo was elected in late 2009 after a military coup ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya, and he served until 2014.

The couple’s son, Fabio Lobo, was sentenced to 24 years in prison by a U.S. court last year after pleading guilty to charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.