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Showing posts with the label March 18

Paris Olympic Village Prepared on Schedule as Confidence Builds

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An inauguration ceremony at the expansive location in northern Paris will feature President Emmanuel Macron as the guest of honor, along with chief organizer Tony Estanguet and a small number of French athletes. Throughout the Olympics, which begin on July 26, roughly 40 low-rise towers will house about 14,000 individuals. Another 9,000 individuals will be accommodated during the Paralympics that follow. The critical Olympic infrastructure has met the March 1 handover deadline, affirming France’s ability to deliver on time, according to an advisor to Macron who spoke anonymously to reporters earlier this week. Despite the complexity of the site, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the deadlines have been met. According to Macron’s office, the village’s budget is only 3.0 percent above budget when inflation is taken into account. This is further evidence that the Paris Games can avoid the pitfalls of past editions, such as wasteful overspending and extravagant...

Vietnam’s Rise in Human Development Index: Climbing Eight Places

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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) congratulated Vietnam on its significant achievements in human development, according to a report by VNA on Friday. The UNDP launched the 2023/24 Human Development Report entitled “Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarized World” at the UN headquarters in New York on March 13, local time. UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner (L) meets with Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang prior to the launch of the 2023/24 Human Development Report in New York on March 13. Photo: VNA At the launch event, Achim Steiner mentioned that the world has slowly recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Human Development Index (HDI) has rebounded and reached its highest level since the report’s inception in 1990. However, Steiner expressed concern over rising uncertainties and conflicts in certain regions, particularly the widening gap in inequality and HDI between developed and developing countries. The UNDP hopes that the ne...

New tourist routes launched between Hanoi and Bac Giang

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The Hanoi Department of Tourism, in cooperation with SGO Travel Co. Ltd, will offer seven attractive tours from Hanoi to Bac Giang Province, with daily departures from Wednesday to Sunday,  for domestic and international travelers.   Bac Giang Province will corporate with neighboring localities, including Hanoi to build more new tours in the locality. Photo: congluan.vn Accordingly, the seven newly launched tours consist of one-day and two-day, and overnight tours, offering travelers exciting experiences in Vietnamese culture, history, and spiritual beliefs. These tours will depart from downtown Hanoi to natural attractions, handicraft villages, and pagodas in Yen The, Viet Yen, Luc Ngan, and Son Dong communes in Bac Giang province. It is said that the local great potential for tourism development has not been properly exploited. With the advantage of its geographical location, only 60 km from Hanoi, Bac Giang has a developed transport infrastructure, so...

Hanoi home to unique street barbers

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local resident gets a haircut at a roadside barber shop set up on a small street in Hanoi. A man takes a nap when waiting for customers. Each cut at a street barber takes 20 to 30 minutes and costs only VND50,000 to VND60,000, equivalent to between US$2.2 and US$2.6. This elderly man has been working as a street barber for more than 10 years. Street barbers can earn a living with only a minimal set of tools. Typically, they set up by hanging a mirror on a tree or a nearby wall. It is an interesting experience to sit on the sidewalk in the morning whilst breathing fresh air and smelling fragrant flowers flowing through the streets and going for a haircut. Several customers drink cups of tea on the pavement as they wait their turn. The post Hanoi home to unique street barbers appeared first on Vietexplorer.com . View more from VietExplorer: Phia Thap incense village...

Hospital doctor departs for Mister Universe Tourism in Indonesia

The local contestant brought with him several pieces of luggage weighing over 70kg, including a 25-kg traditional costume. Hoang Son is currently working as a doctor at the Military Hospital 175 in Ho Chi Minh City. The man is 1.85 metres tall, weighs 80 kg, and has measurements of 105-78-105. The 27-year-old doctor shared prior to his departure that he would promote Vietnam as a dynamic and modern country to international friends at the contest. Mister Universe Tourism is one of the world’s five largest male pageants, alongside Mister World, Mister International, Manhunt International, and Mister Global. The main goal of the annual pageant is to discover fresh talent who is able to promote tourism worldwide. The pageant has been postponed for the past three years due to the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, with this year marking the fourth edition of the contest. Mister Universe Tourism 2023 is getting underway in Bali, Indonesia, from March 12 to 21 with the participat...

Telling the Story of Vietnam to French Audiences

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A series of cultural, culinary, musical, seminar and cinema activities about Vietnam were organized in France under a program named “Vietnam rendezvous on stage”. Recently, the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac museum in Paris, France, a meeting and dialogue between a number of French-Vietnamese artists and the audience took place about efforts to preserve and promote the spirit, Vietnamese identity in works and research. On this occasion, the audience and Vietnamese culture enthusiasts had the opportunity to listen to the life stories, thoughts and professional experiences of speakers such as Eva Nguyen Binh, Ambassador and President of the French Institute; Clément Baloup, comic author; and artist Hom Nguyen, in each work. Attending and speaking at the dialogue were the presence of Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang. The exchange took place on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the st...

Vietnamese writer shares love of homeland in award-winning English-language book

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A dream Mai, originally from Ninh Binh Province in northern Vietnam, wrote “The Mountains Sing” as a way to spread Vietnamese literature and culture by recounting the story of a Vietnamese family’s journey through the twentieth century, including their trials and tribulations during the French Colonial period, the separation of the North and the South, the Vietnam War, and the present day. Her inspiration for the novel was a deep frustration that language barriers were a major obstacle for international readers who wished to access Vietnamese literature.  The books on Vietnam that English-language readers did have access to were primarily about the Vietnam War and written by Western writers who gave their Vietnamese characters little-to-no voice, using them mostly as background characters. Mai also felt that Hollywood movies often depicted Vietnamese women as victims or “blank characters,” without the ability to make their own decisions. For many years, Mai and vari...