Construction of the La Son-Tuy Loan expressway started three years ago and hundreds of workers are racing against time to speed up the project scheduled for completion by the end of this year. The 47-mile-long expressway, costing around VND11.5 trillion ($496 million), will run from La Son Town in Thua Thien-Hue Province to Tuy Loan Village in Da Nang, crossing through the Bach Ma National Park, a top trekking destination. Workers are toiling day and night at the construction site. Workers asphalt a section of the road running through the national park. Upon completion, the expressway will connect with the Da Nang-Quang Ngai highway, forming a continuous network of expressways in central Vietnam. The Bach Ma National Park, covering more than 37,000 hectares, was established in 1991. Rich in biodiversity, the park attracts many brave and adventurous trekkers, who walk miles through the forests, past waterfalls and lakes before it reaches it peak 1,450 meters above sea … [Read more...] about Work speeds up on expressway through Vietnamese national park
F 15 eagle top speed
Hundreds of Thai tsunami victims yet to be identified, 15 years on
TAKUA PA, Thailand -- Fifteen years after the Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 230,000 people on Boxing Day, 2004, a cargo container at a police station in southern Thailand bears witness to the hundreds of victims whose remains were never identified. Inside are personal items - wallets, documents, electronics, all bagged and labeled as evidence - that police hope might one day help to give a name and a proper resting place to those buried nearby in graves marked only by numbers. “There are still more relatives of the victims, both near and far, that have hopes of finding their lost loved ones,” said Colonel Khemmarin Hassini, deputy police commander in Takua Pa district, one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami. Triggered by a massive 9.1-magnitude earthquake, the tsunami killed more than 230,000 people as waves as high as 17.4 meters (57 feet) crashed onto the shores of more than a dozen countries, wiping some communities off the map in seconds. In Thailand, where … [Read more...] about Hundreds of Thai tsunami victims yet to be identified, 15 years on
FWD signs exclusive 15-year bancassurance partnership with Nam A Bank
FWD and Nam A Bank sign up for a long-term partnership RELATED CONTENTS: FWD launches a breakthrough product FWD Vietnam opens head office in Ho Chi Minh City FWD appoints new chairman of FWD Vietnam FWD secures regulatory approval to acquire Great Eastern Life Vietnam Nam A Bank to sell 100 million shares With this agreement, FWD will expand its bancassurance distribution network as it aims to become a leading insurer in Vietnam that changes the way people feel about insurance. "FWD has achieved remarkable growth in the last six months, and our bancassuarance distribution channel has been a significant driver of this," said Anantharaman Sridharan, FWD general director. "Our strength in providing innovative and simple products and a unique customer experience supported by leading digital technologies will complement Nam A Bank’s network for the ultimate benefit of their customers and the availability of insurance. This is aligned with our vision to … [Read more...] about FWD signs exclusive 15-year bancassurance partnership with Nam A Bank
Grooming is gateway to child sex trafficking as ‘seducing’ moves online
Instead of lurking in shopping malls and parks, predators who befriend and sell children for sex now hang out on social networks like Facebook and gaming sites, said experts fighting to stay one step ahead of rapidly-evolving criminal gangs. Colombian traffickers used to pose as rich, older men promising a better life; now they pretend to be poor, troubled teenagers just like the children they target, said Sebastian Arevalo, head of anti-trafficking group Pasos Libres Foundation. “Trust is now gained through empathy and emotions,” Bogota-based Arevalo, who has talked to hundreds of students about the dangers they face online, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Recruiters are of similar age (to their victims). They say, ‘I too have problems at school and with my parents’, ‘I’ve also broken up with my partner’.” From the United States to the Philippines, a soaring number of young people are being trafficked online, fuelled by the … [Read more...] about Grooming is gateway to child sex trafficking as ‘seducing’ moves online
Former ministers in the dock over illegal acquisition of private TV firm
The acquisition is said to have caused nearly VND6.6 trillion ($284.4 million) in losses to the state budget. Former Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son is at Hanoi People's Court, December 16, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy. The trial in the Hanoi People's Court will hear the case against 14 defendants, including former executives of state-owned telecom giant MobiFone and private pay TV firm Audio Visual Global (AVG), and is scheduled to continue through the weekend until December 31. Son and Tuan are charged with "violating regulations on the management and use of public capital that led to serious consequences" and "taking bribes." Both were arrested in February and expelled from the Communist Party in October. Son, information minister from 2011 to 2016, was retroactively dismissed from the position in October last year. Tuan, information minister from 2016, was suspended from his position in July last year and dismissed in a secret … [Read more...] about Former ministers in the dock over illegal acquisition of private TV firm