Japan using gas to avoid explosion at nuke plant

Workers at Japan's stricken nuclear plant on Thursday pumped nitrogen into a crippled reactor in a bid to prevent a possible explosion and contain the world's worst atomic accident for 25 years.
With the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant approaching the end of its fourth week, operator Tokyo Electric Power said it was concerned a build-up of hydrogen gas at the No. 1 reactor could cause another explosion at the site.
The fresh challenge underscored the fragility of the situation at the stricken plant, after rare progress was seen Wednesday when workers plugged a hole spewing highly radioactive water into the ocean.
TEPCO officials say hydrogen building up in the housing around reactor No. 1 could mix with incoming oxygen, creating an explosion.
Experts say the risk of a detonation could rise as the nuclear fuel rods cool and as the steam inside the containment vessel condenses into water, reducing pressure inside the unit and drawing air in through cracks.
The move came as an assessment by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission dated March 26 emerged, citing persistent and growing threats at the plant, including the risk of gas build up and explosions.
Workers began pumping in nitrogen, an inert gas abundant in the atmosphere, which they hope will displace the oxygen. The process to inject 6,000 cubic metres (210,000 cubic feet) will take around six days, TEPCO said.
"Workers started injecting nitrogen gas at 1:31 am (1631 GMT Wednesday). Since the pressure level went up, they confirmed that the gas was successfully going into the container," said a spokesman with Japan's nuclear safety agency.
TEPCO said it was also planning to inject nitrogen gas into reactors number 2 and 3 as a protective measure.
In the days after the earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant, large explosions resulted from hydrogen accumulation near the reactors, damaging the outer buildings housing them.
A 20-kilometre (13-mile) exclusion zone around the plant has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
The plant has emitted radioactive material into the air, contaminating drinking water and farm produce, with radioactive iodine above legal limits detected in vegetables, dairy products and mushrooms.
Nuclear concerns continue to distract from the March 11 disaster that has left more than 12,000 dead and over 15,000 missing.
Markets reacted positively to the latest efforts to stabilise the plant.
TEPCO shares gained 1.18 percent to 341 by noon Thursday, having hit all-time closing lows this week amid concerns its faces a huge compensation bill with the situation at its stricken nuclear plant still unresolved.
Shares in Japan's biggest utility have lost around 84 percent of their pre-earthquake March 10 closing value. Prime Minister Naoto Kan last week moved to dismiss speculation the firm may be nationalised.
On Wednesday, the government promised compensation for the fishing industry, a day after increasing unease about the contamination led it to impose a legal limit for radioactive iodine in seafood for the first time.
Levels of radioactive iodine-131 and caesium in seawater immediately outside the plant have spiked, stoking fears over marine life in a country whose diet depends heavily on seafood.
TEPCO has also continued a separate operation to release 11,500 tonnes of lower-level radioactive water into the sea to free up urgently needed storage space for water so toxic that it is hampering crucial repair work.
The water dumping has angered the fishing industry and on Wednesday Ikuhiro Hattori, the head of Japan Fisheries Cooperatives, visited the company's headquarters to protest.
The triple crisis has slashed the number of foreigners travelling to Japan's two main airports by two-thirds to a daily average of just over 5,000.
The wider economic impact from the quake, tsunami and nuclear emergency is likely to drive the country into recession in the coming months, many economists now say.

bangkokpost

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Posted in: Society

Afghanistan: Gun battle inside Kandahar police base

Gunmen have attacked a police training centre in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar and are battling security forces inside, officials say.

Reports from the base near Kandahar city say there was an explosion followed by gunfire.
Several attackers are involved in the raid, officials say. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Police training is a key plank in the Afghan security strategy

Tens of thousands of Afghan police and troops are being trained to assume full security control once Nato leaves.
Afghan forces are frequently targeted by the Taliban and their allies who want to oust the Western-backed government of Hamid Karzai in Kabul.
Police say a number of armed men have taken up positions inside the training centre.
"They have been exchanging fire with police for the past hour. We have no report of casualties yet," provincial police chief Khan Mohammad Mujahid told the AFP news agency.
He said the building was also used as a recruitment centre for army and police.
An AFP reporter at the scene says the area has been sealed off and helicopters are flying overhead.
Kandahar has seen some of the worst of the violence in Afghanistan in recent years and is seen as the spiritual homeland of the Taliban.

BBC

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Posted in: Politics

Leptin Restores Fertility, May Improve Bone Health in Lean Women; Treatment Could Help Athletes, Women With Eating Disorders

ScienceDaily — Women with extremely low body fat, including runners and dancers, as well as women with eating disorders, are prone to develop hypothalamic amenorrhea, a condition in which their menstrual periods cease, triggering such serious problems as infertility and osteoporosis

Now, a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) offers the first definitive proof that a lack of leptin contributes to hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) and that treatment with a synthetic form of the hormone can restore fertility and reduce the risk of bone fractures in this group of patients. The findings are reported on-line this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"This condition accounts for over 30 percent of all cases of amenorrhea in women of reproductive age, and is an important problem for which we didn't have a good solution," explains senior author Christos Mantzoros, MD, Dsc, Director of the Human Nutrition Unit at BIDMC and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

"Our findings now prove beyond any doubt that leptin is the missing link in women with significantly diminished body fat, and that this, in turn, results in numerous hormonal abnormalities." Without leptin, he explains, menstrual periods cease, the body becomes chronically energy-deprived and women experience bone loss and an increased risk of bone fractures.

Circulating leptin levels reflect the amount of energy stored in fat cells, as well as acute changes in energy intake. Shortly after leptin was discovered in 1994, the hormone generated widespread attention as a possible way to suppress the appetites of obese individuals. But studies soon found that overweight individuals had plenty of leptin and that adding more was of no benefit.

Mantzoros and his team have been examining the hormone's role from the opposite end of the energy spectrum by studying individuals with extremely low levels of body fat.

"We had known that organisms respond to famine [lack of food availability] by directing their energy into survival and away from reproduction," he explains. "And, in our initial animal studies, in the lab of Jeffrey Flier, we demonstrated that diminishing leptin levels caused by starvation had a critical role in regulating hormonal responses to food deprivation."

Over the years, work in the Mantzoros laboratory continued to bear out these initial observations. After first determining what leptin doses would be of greatest benefit, the scientists subsequently studied the hormone in groups of healthy men and women. From there, they went on to investigate women with anorexia nervosa as well as strenuously exercising women athletes, two groups known to experience multiple neuroendocrine problems including amenorrhea and brittle bones that can lead to stress fractures.

This new research -- a double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, the gold standard in scientific investigation -- expands and extends pilot data from their 2004 proof-of-concept paper in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), which showed that women with HA have chronically low energy and serum leptin levels.

"In this new PNAS study, we investigated 20 women between the ages of 18 and 35 who had developed HA," explains Mantzoros. "These are young, mostly college-age women, mainly runners. They watch their diets, they are slim and appear healthy. But they have abnormal hormone levels, they have ceased menstruating and stopped ovulating and they also have low bone density measures."

Over a period of 36 weeks, the study subjects were given either a synthetic form of leptin (known as metreleptin) or a placebo. (The study was conducted in a blinded randomized fashion, so that whether subjects received metreleptin or a placebo was randomly determined by a computerized algorithm, and it remained unknown to both the subjects and the treating doctors which subjects were receiving which treatment.)

The results showed that daily subcutaneous injections of replacement leptin resulted in significantly elevated levels of the hormone within just a month of treatment. "Seven of 10 women began to menstruate and four of the seven were found to be ovulating," notes Mantzoros. "Compared with the women who received the placebo, the women who received the metreleptin therapy were also found to have an improved hormonal profile and exhibited higher levels of biomarkers indicating new bone formation."

"This is a terrific example of how translational research can successfully move a discovery from the laboratory towards a therapy with tangible benefits to patients," notes Jeffrey S. Flier, MD, Dean of Harvard Medical School and a leader in the field of metabolic research whose laboratory led some of the earliest leptin investigations. "These findings suggest a role for leptin in improving a condition that results from faulty hormone signaling when levels of body fat are extremely low, and holds promise for future clinical applications."

"Helping to resolve infertility problems in these groups of women is a critically important step," says Mantzoros. "Going forward, we will continue to examine whether metreleptin impacts not only bone markers, but also bone density and bone mineral content, key factors in helping to prevent dangerous stress fractures and osteoporosis."

This study was supported, in part, by grants from the National Institutes of Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Leptin was provided by Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Study coauthors include BIDMC investigators Sharon Chou (first author), John Chamberland, Xiaowen Liu, Chuanyun Gao, Rianna Stefanakis, Mary Brinkoetter, Huizhi Gong and Kalliopi Arampatzi, and Giuseppe Matarese of the Universita di Napoli Federico II.

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Posted in: Science

US Agency Urges Action Against Vietnam Over Jailing of Activist

Cu Huy Ha Vu stands between policemen in front of the dock during his trial at a court in Hanoi, April 4, 2011.

A U.S. government agency is urging that Vietnam be returned to a list of counties that are subject to economic sanctions because of their severe suppression of religious rights.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued the call Tuesday in response to the seven-year prison sentence handed this week to Vietnamese legal scholar and human rights defender Cu Huy Ha Vu.

Leonard Leo, chairman of the independent, bipartisan commission, said it is "past time" for the administration of President Barack Obama to return Vietnam to its list of Countries of Particular Concern, which includes the likes of Burma, China and North Korea. Countries on the list can face additional action from the United States, including economic sanctions.

Vu, who has defended various dissidents including Roman Catholics, was convicted on Monday of conducting propaganda against the state and conducting acts considered dangerous to society. The case attracted widespread interest in Vietnam because of Vu's contacts among the ruling Communist Party elite.

Vu's father, a prominent poet, was a member of the first provisional Cabinet established by independence leader Ho Chi Minh in 1946.

Vu angered party leaders by filing lawsuits in 2009 and 2010 against Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, charging that his policies violated environmental laws and the constitution. The courts rejected the cases and Vu was arrested last year during a crackdown  on dissidents ahead of a ruling party congress in January.

Vietnam was removed from the list of Countries of Particular Concern in 2006 amid improving relations with the United States. But Leo said said that placing it back on the list "will advance the United States' strategic interests" while "producing tangible religious freedom improvements on the ground."

The USCIRF is charged with monitoring religious freedom in countries around the world and making recommendations to the U.S. president, the Secretary of State and Congress.

VOA

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Posted in: Politics,Vietnam

Clinton Dismisses Gadhafi Letter, Reaffirms He Must Yield Power

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday brushed aside a personal appeal from Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi for an end to the NATO air campaign in support of Libyan rebels. Clinton, who discussed the Libyan crisis with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Fratini, said Mr. Gadhafi must yield power and leave the country.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini (L) and US Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton speak in Washington April 6, 2011.

Clinton is dismissing an unusual personal appeal from the Libyan leader to President Barack Obama for NATO to halt its air operations, and reaffirming that an end to the conflict requires Mr. Gadhafi’s departure from power.

In the letter, conveyed to the U.S. government Wednesday, Mr. Gadhafi accuses NATO of waging an "unjust" war against Libya, and that the conflict in the country should be left for Libyans to resolve within the framework of the African Union.

In a text of the rambling note made available to reporters, Mr. Gadhafi repeats charges that al-Qaida is behind the rebellion against him.

The Libyan leader refers to Mr. Obama, the first African-American U.S. president, as a son of Africa and says despite the NATO intervention, he hopes Mr. Obama wins another term in office.

Secretary Clinton addressed the Libyan message at a joint press event with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Fratini.

"I think that Mr. Gadhafi knows what he must do. There needs to be a cease-fire. His forces need to withdraw from the cities that they have forcibly taken at great violence and human cost. There needs to be a decision made about his departure from power, and as the foreign minister said, his departure from Libya," she said.
,
Mr. Fratini, whose government has joined France and Qatar in recognizing Libya’s opposition Transitional National Council as the country’s legitimate government, declined under questioning to publicly call on the United States to do the same.

But he welcomed this week’s dispatch of a U.S. diplomat, Chris Stevens, to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, which she suggested will put the Obama administration in a better position to decide the issue of recognition.

"I know perfectly that the United States has to know more about this group in Benghazi. Maybe Italy did so because we know for a longer time, from inside the country, who they (the rebels) are, how the situation is. So it’s absolutely necessary for these people to be a bit (more) well-known to the public opinion of the rest of the world, to offer the opportunities and the elements that are necessary to take a decision like the one Italy has taken," he said.

Amid rebel complaints that the air campaign has lagged since the United States ceded the lead role in operations to NATO partners a week ago, Clinton said the allies have performed well given shifting tactics by pro-Gadhafi forces.

"We do know it is difficult when you have a force such as that employed by Gadhafi that is insinuating itself into cities, using snipers on rooftops, engaging in violent, terrible behavior that puts so many lives at risk, for air power alone to be sufficient to take out those forces. So given the mission that NATO is performing, it is performing admirably," she said.

Clinton said she and Fratini discussed how NATO can accelerate the training of rebel forces, a conversation expected to continue next week when both attend a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Berlin.

Their talks also covered the surge in migration of Tunisians and others to Italy since political unrest began in the region.

Clinton said Italy is "bearing more than its share of responsibilities" on migration flows, while Fratini said it is not just an Italian problem but a "truly European issue" and that Italy wants more burden-sharing.

VOA

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Posted in: Afica,Politics

Truong Sa marks 36th liberation anniversary

The Truong Sa (Spratly) district off the central province of Khanh Hoa on April 5 held a ceremony to mark the 36 th anniversary of its liberation (April 29).
Attending the function was Lieutenant-General Nguyen Thanh Cung, member of the Party Central Committee and Deputy Director of the General Political Department of the People’s Army of Vietnam and representatives from departments and agencies.
Thirty-six years ago, after the glorious victories in Buon Me Thuot, Hue , Da Nang and Khanh Hoa, on the morning of April 14, 1975, the Vietnamese naval commandos landed to liberate the Song Tu Tay island.
This victory was followed by the liberation of the Son Ca island on April 25, the Sinh Ton island on April 28 and the whole Truong Sa islands on April 29.
Speaking at the ceremony, Liet. Gen Cung said cadres, soldiers and residents in Truong Sa, over the past time, brought into full play heroic traditions to surpass all difficulties to protect the national sea and island sovereignty.
The Sate, Party, army and people across the country always thoroughly understand losses of hundreds of families nationwide whose relatives had fallen down for the nation’s sea and island sovereignty, said Cung.
The Lieu. Gen took the occasion to propose Truong Sa Party Committee and local residents to consider economic development in combination with national defence and security in the archipelago the central task, build up and develop Truong Sa strongly and comprehensively in all aspects, preserve peace and stability in the new situation while actively participating in natural disaster prevention and rescue work.
Truong Sa is on the way to develop with more multifunctional establishments meeting demands of not only national defence but also economic development and local people’s spiritual life, he said.
He called on the Truong Sa Party Committee to create favourable conditions for the fishing of central coastal fishermen around the archipelago’s area.
Nguyen Huu Luc, Chairman of the Truong Sa People’s Committee, reviewed the archipelago’s 36-years history, saying Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa archipelagos have constituted a sacred part of the nation.

tuoitrenews

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Posted in: Politics,Vietnam

Tuoi Tre exhibits Trinh Cong Son’s paintings online

Portrait of poet Bui Giang, drawn by Trinh Cong Son

Tuoi Tre Newspaper has opened an online exhibition of paintings drawn by late musician/amateur painter Trinh Cong Son on its Vietnamese website www.tuoitre.vn.


The exhibition offers readers who can not physically come to an exhibition at HCMC Fine Arts Museum on April 9 chances to see paintings by the late legendary composer.
Paintings and portrait sketches drawn by the musician are being showcased on the website’s special section “Paintings Exhibition”.
Son is not only one of the most famous composers in Vietnamese history but also a painter.
His paintings have been displayed along with works by other famous painters like Dinh Cuong, Do Quang Em, Trịnh Cung and Buu Chi at many exhibitions.

Tuoitrenews

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Posted in: Experimental Society,Vietnam

Thief with "good taste" nips $2,300 cognac

The robber took the $2,363.45 bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac

A masked, quick-moving thief smashed a liquor store window in suburban Portland and walked off with a bottle of cognac valued at more than $2,300 (1,416 pounds).
"He has good taste," said Lt. Mike Rouches a spokesman for the Hillsboro police. "He knew exactly what he was after."
The robber took the $2,363.45 bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac, 11 fine -- but cheaper -- bottles of cognac and 12 packs of menthol cigarettes at about 3:15 a.m. local time on Monday, Rouches said.
"I've not seen a theft like this. Usually they grab whatever they can," Rouches said.
The police arrived quickly and the posh pilferer had already disappeared, another indication that he knew what he was after, Rouches said.
Hillsboro police have surveillance tape of the masked thief and are searching for the apparently classy crook.
The suspect could face charges of second-degree burglary, first-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief, Rouches said.

Tuoitrenews

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Posted in: Entertainment

Dramatic rescue in Ivorian city

French forces have snatched the Japanese ambassador to safety from near the besieged presidential residence in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan.

Soldiers exchanged fire with guards at the compound where Laurent Gbagbo is holed up, refusing to stand down as leader, French officials said.
His rival Alassane Ouattara's forces surround the residence, where fighting continued through the night.
Mr Gbagbo refuses to step down despite being beaten in November's election.

Red Cross: "The population in Abidjan has been very hard hit"

He says he won, but the Ivorian election commission said he lost and the UN certified that result.
The ballot had been intended to reunite the former French colony, which split in two following a northern rebellion in 2002.
'A lot of blood' The BBC's Andrew Harding, near Abidjan, says the city was lit up by explosions overnight, with much but by no means all the fighting around the presidential residence.

He says although Mr Gbagbo's senior generals have given up the fight, his armed supporters continue to put up strong resistance in several neighbourhoods.

On Wednesday, pro-Ouattara forces were driven back after launching what they said would be a decisive assault on the presidential compound.
Mr Gbagbo says his rival's troops want to kill him, but they say they have strict orders to capture him alive.
Late on Wednesday, French helicopters moved in to evacuate the Japanese ambassador, Okamura Yoshifumi, after his home near the presidential residence was invaded by unidentified gunmen.
The envoy and his aides were whisked to safety in a French military camp at Port-Bouet, south of Abidjan, the French embassy said.
The French said they had acted after a request from Japan and the UN.
During the operation, French forces exchanged fire with fighters defending Mr Gbagbo's residence.
A number of other diplomatic missions are based in the besieged area.
France has had troops in Ivory Coast alongside UN peacekeepers since the country's civil war almost a decade ago.
Mr Yoshifumi told AFP news agency a group of "mercenaries" had occupied his residence for five hours.
He said the gunmen had launched rockets and fired machine-guns and cannon from the building, while he and others sheltered in a room.
The envoy said he later found four employees, security guards and a gardener, were missing and there was "a lot of blood" in the house.
Civilians under siege Speaking by phone to French radio on Wednesday, Mr Gbagbo denied he was hiding in a bunker.

"I am in the residence - the residence of the president of the republic," he said.

Earlier he rejected claims he was surrendering, saying he was only negotiating a truce.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Mr Gbagbo's "intransigence" had stopped UN-brokered talks to negotiate an orderly departure.
On Monday, UN attack helicopters bombarded Gbagbo arms sites in Abidjan, including inside the presidential compound.
Pro-Gbagbo forces had been accused of firing heavy weaponry at UN peacekeepers and into areas of the city that voted for his opponent.
As the rival presidents' forces continue to fight over the presidency, concern is growing over the humanitarian situation in Ivory Coast.
The battle for Abidjan has now been raging for a week and it is unsafe for many of the city's four million people to go outside.
The main banks have been closed for nearly two months and few people have the funds to stock up on food.
The UN refugee agency reports an increase in the number of Ivorians crossing the border into neighbouring Liberia.

BBC

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Posted in: Afica,Politics

Toyota faces ratings cut on concerns over profit

Toyota's credit rating has been put under review by the ratings agency Moody's, which said it may downgrade the Japanese car giant.

Moody's said the company's profits are likely to be hit by the impact of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

Japanese car manufacturers have been amongst
the businesses hardest hit by the earthquake

Earlier on Wednesday, Toyota said that production at most of its domestic factories will remain suspended until at least next week.
Production at its plants has been halted since the crisis began.
"There will be no resumption of production at most of our domestic factories next week," a Toyota spokeswoman said.
Moody's expects the delays to last even longer.
"Limited production re-commenced at some of the factories at the end of March, but normal production cannot be expected for many months," the agency said in its statement.
It says the company is also likely to hit by the impact of the devastation on Japan's overall economy.
"Toyota's dependence on the Japanese market is still high, at about 27%," the agency said.
"Expected weak consumer sentiment may have a negative impact on domestic demand that ensuing replacement demand may not be able to offset," it added.

"Restoring its dominance in many of the world's major markets will be difficult in light of rising competition" Moody's Investor Service

"Quality problems"

While the suspension of production at its domestic factories is grabbing all the headlines, Moody's said that issues with quality control will also hurt profits.

Toyota has recalled almost 12 million cars worldwide in the past 18 months due to various safety concerns.
The agency said that as the company invests to put in place better safety and testing procedures its margins are likely to squeeze even further.
"Toyota's operating margins are thin in comparison to its peers'," it said.
"The company is trying to recover from the quality problems it suffered last year, so its quality-related expenditures remain high," Moody's added.
The spate of recalls has not only hit the company financially but has also dented its image.
Moody's said the recalls may have affected the perception of Toyota's quality.
It warned that even though Toyota's credentials still remain high, the company will find it tough to get back its lost market share.
"Restoring its dominance in many of the world's major markets will be difficult in light of rising competition,"

BBC

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Posted in: Business

Japan quake: Nitrogen pumped into nuclear reactor

The process of injecting nitrogen could take several days, engineers say

Workers in Japan have begun injecting nitrogen into one of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to prevent more hydrogen blasts.

The gas is being pumped into reactor 1 of the six-unit plant which was damaged by last month's quake and tsunami.
Explosions caused by a build-up of hydrogen gas happened in three reactors in the aftermath of the 11 March quake.
Earlier, workers succeeded in plugging a gap leaking highly radioactive water from the plant into the Pacific Ocean.
The plant's operator, Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Co), said it had injected chemical agents to solidify soil near a cracked pit of reactor 2 that was the source of the leak.
Since the earthquake knocked out cooling systems, workers have been pumping water into reactors to cool fuel rods, but must now deal with waste water pooling in and below damaged reactor buildings.
Radioactive iodine Technicians began injecting nitrogen, an inert gas, at 0131 local time Thursday (1631 GMT Wednesday), said Makoto Watanabe, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear agency.
A Tepco official was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying that it was "necessary to inject nitrogen gas into the containment vessel and eliminate the potential for a hydrogen explosion".
  The process could take several days, officials said.
The prevention of further hydrogen explosions - like those that had ripped through reactors 1 and 3 - is seen as a priority, because blasts could spew more radiation and damage the reactors.
On Wednesday engineers managed to plug the the leak from the pit in reactor 2. It is thought to have been the source of high levels of radiation found in seawater nearby.
In order to stem the leak, Tepco injected ''water glass'', or sodium silicate, and another agent into the pit.
Desperate engineers had also used sawdust, newspapers and concrete in recent days to try to stop the escaping water.
The government's top spokesman said workers could not rule out other leaks at the reactor.
Meanwhile, engineers are continuing to pump some 11,500 tonnes of low-level radioactive seawater into the sea so the more highly contaminated water can be stored in waste buildings.
Officials said this water would not pose a significant threat to human health, but local fishermen have reacted angrily.
In a letter, the largest fisheries group accused the government of an "utterly outrageous" action that threatened livelihoods.
On Tuesday, elevated levels of radioactive iodine - about twice the legal limit for vegetables - were found in small fish caught off Ibaraki prefecture to the south of Fukushima.
The government has promised compensation for the fishing industry and Tepco has already unveiled plans to compensate residents and farmers around the nuclear plant.
The number of people known to have died in the earthquake and tsunami has now reached 12,494, with another 15,107 still missing, according to police.

BBC

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Posted in: Society

Scientists make eye's retina from stem cells

The growing retina can be seen highlighted green

 By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News 

A part of the eye that is essential for vision has been created in the laboratory from animal stem cells, offering hope to the blind and partially sighted.

One day it might be possible to make an eye in a dish, Nature journal reports.
The Japanese team used mouse stem cells - immature cells that have the ability to turn into many types of body tissue.
With the right mix of nutrients, the cells changed and began to grow to make a synthetic retina.
Ultimately, scientists hope they can use this approach to make endless supplies of retinal cells or indeed whole retinas that can be transplanted into patients with visual impairment.
Eventually, it may even be possible to create a whole eye.
A US biotech company has already been granted a license to begin human trials of a stem cell treatment for blindness.
'Landmark discovery' The retina is the name given to a diverse group of cells that line the inside of the back of eye.
Rays of light enter the eye and are focused onto the retina which produces a picture that is then is sent along the optic nerve for the brain to interpret.

"Generation of a synthetic retina from embryonic stem cells is a landmark discovery that will help enormously our understanding of blinding eye disease" Professor James Bainbridge of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The eye and the brain together produce the images that we see.

Retinal diseases can cause severe vision loss or blindness if left untreated.
Retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are the most common causes of blindness in old age, and involve the gradual and normally irreversible destruction of retinal cells.
In the Japanese study, the cultured stem cells spontaneously organised themselves into a complex structure that resembled the developing embryonic eye.
The three-dimensional, layered structure was reminiscent of the optic cup, a two-walled pouch-like structure, which ultimately develops into the inner and outer layers of the retina.
The scientists said they were surprised at how well the cells organised themselves with little intervention from them.
They said: "Self-formation of fully stratified 3D neural retina tissues heralds the next generation of generative medicine in retinal degeneration therapeutics, and opens up new avenues for the transplantation of artificial retinal tissue sheets, rather than simple cell grafting."
Professor James Bainbridge of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: "Generation of a synthetic retina from embryonic stem cells is a landmark discovery that will help enormously our understanding of blinding eye disease.
"It is particularly exciting that this could also provide a source of cells for transplantation."
Barbara McLaughlan of the RNIB charity said: "This piece of research contributes to the ongoing efforts to harness stem cell research to benefit patients with a number of eye diseases.
"We welcome these efforts particularly where they move from early laboratory research in mice to trials in humans that are an essential part of developing safe and effective treatments."

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Posted in: Health

Portugal calls for EU financial bail-out

Jose Socrates: "We have reached the moment
where the country is at too much risk"

Portugal's caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said that he has asked the European Union for financial assistance.

Mr Socrates said the country was "at too much risk that it shouldn't be exposed to".
The government has long resisted asking for aid but last week admitted that it had missed its 2010 budget deficit target.
Portugal follows Greece and the Irish Republic in seeking a bail-out.
"I always said asking for foreign aid would be the final way to go but we have reached the moment," Mr Socrates said.
"Above all, it's in the national interest."
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement that Portugal's request would be processed "in the swiftest possible manner, according to the rules applicable".
He also reaffirmed his "confidence in Portugal's capacity to overcome the present difficulties, with the solidarity of its partners".
Borrowing costs Mr Socrates did not say how much aid Portugal would ask for. Negotiations will now be underway and the BBC's business editor Robert Peston said rescue loans could amount to as much as 80bn euros ($115bn; £70bn).
Mr Socrates was speaking after Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said it was necessary to resort to financial aid from the EU.

Earlier, the government raised about 1bn euros after tapping the financial markets in order to repay loans, but will have to pay a higher interest rate to lenders.

Portugal's cost of borrowing has risen sharply since the minority Socialist government resigned last month after its proposed tougher austerity measures were defeated in parliament.
Since then several rating agencies have downgraded the country's debt.
An informal meeting of European finance ministers had already been scheduled for Thursday in Budapest. Portugal was not originally on the agenda but is expected to be discussed.
The UK Treasury Minister Mark Hoban will attend. A source at the Treasury said that the bilateral loan the UK offered to the Irish Republic was "very much a special case" and a similar offer is "not on the table" for Portugal.
Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at IHS Global Insight, told the BBC that Portugal might organise "some sort of bridging loan" in the short term.
But he added: "The real big loan over several years will require a medium-term plan and I don't think that can be agreed until the new government comes into place."
Elections are likely to take place in a few months' time.

Analysis

Matthew Price Europe correspondent, BBC News

---

First Greece, then Ireland, now Portugal. But unlike the previous two bail-outs, this one does not seem to have provoked panic - either in the corridors of power here, nor on the markets.

The EU's top economic official Olli Rehn called the Portugese decision a "responsible move". The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso - himself Portugese - said the request would be processed as quickly as possible.

A team could be dispatched to Portugal in the coming days.

EU finance ministers hold a scheduled meeting in Hungary at the end of the week. Portugal will be top of the agenda.

The European Commission and the European Central Bank are both expected to be involved in the bail-out funding. The International Monetary Fund says it stands ready to help as well. 

BBC

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Posted in: Business,Society

Businessman arrested for attacking public officials

A policeman reads the arrest warrant to Thanh at his house yesterday

Police in Vung Tau yesterday arrested a businessman for allegedly hiring hoodlums to assault two local land administration officials and make it look like a mugging last January.

They took in Nguyen Van Thanh, 28, and four hoods -- Nguyen Thanh Liem, 42, Bui Thanh Son, 30, Thoang Xuong On, 23, and Duong Quoc Hung.

They are hunting for two others thought to be involved in the case.

Last January Thanh ordered his employee to hire gangsters to assault Pham Kieu Thanh Lan, who is in charge of land in the city’s Ward 10, and Nguyen Ngoc Tuan of the Vung Tau Urban Greenery Development Company to avenge their “interference” in his affairs.

After slashing the two with knives, the hoods also grabbed her handbag and mobile phone.

The officials were seriously injured but recovered after treatment.

Thanh reportedly paid VND30 million (US$1,430) to Son, the boss of the gang.

Earlier, in November, Thanh, the director of Nguyen Thanh Co Ltd and Song Nguyen Tourism Investment Co Ltd, illegally bought a lot of forest land in Ward 10.

He then divided the land into several parts and built houses and foundations to sell them.

Local agencies discovered this and forced him to raze the buildings and restore the land to its original state.

After arresting Thanh, the police searched his house and office and found many documents, with some related to land and housing appearing to show signs of fraud.

The police are investigating further.

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Posted in: Society,Vietnam

Illicit Chinese eggs, MSG seized in border town

Market control authorities in Lao Cai town on the Chinese border yesterday caught a local woman smuggling in 9,800 eggs and 250 kg of seasoning powder from China.  Nguyen Quang Hieu, head of the Market Management Team 7A said the woman, Phan Thi Dinh, did not have invoices for the goods.  The MSG was packed in 20 sacks and the eggs were hidden in 13 cartons containing vegetables and fruits, he said.  Dinh, a resident of the town’s Duyen Hai Ward, said she had traveled to Hekou town in China’s Yunnan Province to buy the goods and had brought them back by bus.  She had planned to take them to neighboring Lai Chau Province for sale.  The team has seized the goods pending an investigation.

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Posted in: Society

Ivory Coast: Embattled Gbagbo denies he seeks surrender

Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo has denied reports he is surrendering after troops loyal to his rival surrounded his residence in Abidjan.

Speaking by phone from his bunker, he said his military were only negotiating a truce and insisted he had won November's presidential election.
Troops loyal to the internationally recognised winner, Alassane Ouattara, swept into Abidjan this week.
The city passed a largely quiet night, apart from shootings blamed on gangs.
But its population of four million remained indoors after days of heavy fighting which saw UN and French helicopters attacking Mr Gbagbo's military.
Hitler comparison Western powers have stepped up pressure on Mr Gbagbo to resign, with US President Barack Obama saying the violence could have been averted if Mr Gbagbo had respected the election result.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday that Mr Gbagbo's departure was "the only thing left to negotiate".
"This stubbornness is absurd, Gbagbo has no prospects left now, everybody has dropped him," he told France Info radio.
The head of France's armed forces, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, said negotiations between Mr Gbagbo and the UN had continued through the night "but unfortunately I see no breakthrough for now".
"Despite that, I believe it is a matter of hours, possibly during the day," he told Europe 1 radio.
"He is locked in the [presidential] residence and it remains in the possession of his supporters."
Adm Guillaud said military strikes could resume at the request of the UN and if Mr Gbagbo continued to refuse to step down.

"My voice is not the voice of a martyr, no, no, no, I'm not looking for death" Laurent GbagboIncumbent president

Mr Gbagbo told French news channel LCI that his army was "currently discussing the conditions of a ceasefire with the other forces on the ground", but "on the political level no decision has yet been taken".

"I won the election and I'm not negotiating my departure," he said.
"I find it absolutely incredible that the entire world is playing this... game of poker."
His remarks contrasted with a statement from his spokesman, Ahoua Don Mello, who told Reuters news agency there were "direct negotiations based on African Union recommendations which said Alassane Ouattara is president".
Mr Gbagbo accused France, the former colonial power, of making war on his country, saying: "I don't understand how an electoral dispute in Ivory Coast has brought about the direct intervention of the French army."

Mr Gbagbo, who sounded tired but resolute, said he was not preparing to die.

"I'm not a kamikaze," he said.
"I love life. My voice is not the voice of a martyr, no, no, no. I'm not looking for death. It's not my aim to die."
The UN mission says Mr Gbagbo's closest advisers have deserted him and he is in the basement bunker of the presidential residence "with a handful of persons".
Scared city Piling the psychological pressure on the discredited leader and his allies, the pro-Ouattara television station TCI played extracts from Downfall, the feature film about the final days of Adolf Hitler in his bunker in Berlin.
UN mission spokesman Hamadoun Toure said fighting had stopped in the city but there was "sporadic shooting by groups of youths" not allied to the two rival leaders.
Civilians told the BBC they were very scared. Small groups have been walking out of the city with their hands raised in the air.
As night fell on Tuesday, a resident in the Cocody area described how the day had looked and sounded like to him: "We don't speak to the neighbours, we close the house.
"We don't know what is going on outside. I'm with my brother and little children. I'm playing a board game with my brother and my cousin because that is all we have to do.
"We have to be careful with food because we don't know how long it is going to last. The water is cut off so we don't have enough water, we try to reserve it but I don't know how long it is going to last. We really don't know."

 Source BBC

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Thai Economy Threatened by Inflation, Says World Bank Official

A World Bank economist in Thailand is warning even if tensions ease in the Middle East, oil prices will remain high due to high demand from China, India and other industrialized countries.
High oil and commodity prices are contributing to inflation, which is now seen as a key concern in Thailand and throughout the region.

In a monitoring report on the Thai economy, the World Bank says global oil prices, now near $110 a barrel, combined with inflation, pose a threat to the global economic recovery.

International oil prices remain close to their highest levels since 2008.  Global oil prices peaked at $147 a barrel in July 2007, before falling below $50 in late 2008.

Fragile recovery

The economies of the United States and the major industrialized countries in Europe are edging forward in what is still a fragile recovery after the 2008 - 2009 financial crisis.  But World Bank country economist for Thailand, Frederico Gil Sander, says further increases in oil prices threaten recovery and spur inflation.

"Inflation has become a key concern for policy markers both in Thailand and overseas," noted Sander.  "And the concerns about inflation are clearly related to the recent spike in oil prices.  [And] we should not expect that oil prices are going to start declining very rapidly even if the situation in the Middle East is resolved.  So the key message here is that we probably should not expect oil prices to decline very much - In fact they are likely to remain at relatively high levels."

Growing demand

Sander said higher fuel prices were also due to growing demand from newly industrializing nations such as India and China.  The rise in oil costs also coincides with higher agricultural commodity prices, although those increases boost economies in countries such as Thailand by lifting farm incomes and wage rates.

Oil prices are also likely to be kept at high levels by increased demand from Japan, where damage from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has led to the shutdown of one nuclear power facility.   Around 30 percent of Japan's energy needs are normally met by nuclear energy.  The quake aftermath is likely to result in increasing demand for oil in Japan in the medium term.

Economist Sander said further gains in oil prices could pose a real risk for the global economy and, by extension, the Thai economy.  European economies, still recovering from the sovereign debt crisis, could have confidence undermined if economic adjustments again became more difficult.   

"If oil prices continue to increase that would have very negative implications for the global economy.  The recovery in advanced economies is still relatively fragile," Sander said. "Things seem to be getting better, but certainly if they are not hit by another very large spoke in oil prices the kind of positive developments in unemployment rates in the U.S. could be reversed."

Rising prices

But the World Bank says Thailand is likely to weather concerns over higher prices for food and fuel during 2011.  Growth is forecast at 3.7 percent, an upward revision due to demand for Thai exports and domestic consumption driven by higher incomes.

But Sander says some foreign investors are staying on the sidelines to await the outcome of Thailand's general election, expected in July, before making a final decision on new Thai-based investments.

source VOA

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Posted in: Business,Society

Japan stops uncontrolled leak from nuclear plant

An accidental leak of highly radioactive water into the ocean from a Japanese nuclear plant was stopped Wednesday, boosting efforts to contain the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

The leak was thought to be a source of spiking radiation levels in the sea, which prompted Japan to announce its first seafood radiation safety standards following the discovery of fish with elevated contamination.

To stop the long-running leak from the Fukushima plant on the Pacific coast, operator TEPCO had injected sodium silicate, a chemical agent known as "water glass", to solidify soil near a cracked pit where the water had been escaping.

The pit, which has a 20-centimetre crack in its wall, is linked to the plant's reactor No. 2, one of several that had their cooling systems disabled by a catastrophic earthquake-tsunami disaster on March 11.

"Workers confirmed at 5:38 am (2038 GMT Tuesday) that the water running out of a pit had stopped," Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Several unsuccessful attempts had been made to try to plug pipes that run to the pit, using a polymer and even newspapers and sawdust, and an effort to seal the crack with cement had also failed to stop the leak.

Leaking water from the Fukushima plant has reached more than 1,000 millisieverts and is thought to be the source of radioactive iodine-131 readings in the sea that have hit more than 4,000 times the legal limit.

Amid increasing unease about water contamination, Japan has imposed a legal limit for radioactive iodine in fish and may widen tests to cover a larger area, after elevated levels were discovered in a fish caught off Ibaraki prefecture, south of the crippled plant.

The stopping of the leak is the first piece of major good news for several days in the battle to control the crisis at the Fukushima plant, where the natural disaster triggered explosions and radiation releases.

The contamination has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people within 20 kilometers (13 miles) of the plant, affected agriculture and fishing, and triggered health scares as far away as Tokyo.

India on Tuesday banned all food imports from Japan, the first country to impose a blanket block. Several countries including China, Singapore and the United States have barred food from some Japanese prefectures.

Fishing has been banned within 20 kilometers of the stricken plant, matching the radius of the evacuation zone on land.

TEPCO continued a separate operation to release lower-level radioactive water into the sea to free up urgently needed storage space for water so toxic that it is hampering crucial repair work.

TEPCO is dumping 11,500 tons, or more than four Olympic pools' worth, of the less radioactive water, raising concerns about marine life in the island nation, where seafood is a key source of protein.

As well as fish, iodine above legal limits has been detected in vegetables, dairy products and mushrooms, triggering shipping bans, but officials had said seafood was less at risk as ocean currents and tides dilute dangerous isotopes.

But the government in Seoul has questioned TEPCO's deliberate water dumping, saying the proximity of the two neighbors made the action "a pressing issue" for South Korea.

Shares in TEPCO - Japan's biggest power utility - tumbled anew Wednesday. They were down 16.85 percent in early trade after plunging to 362 yen Tuesday - their lowest ever close - amid concerns the firm will face huge compensation bills.

Some analysts estimate TEPCO could face claims of more than 10 trillion yen ($120 billion).

The wider economic fallout from Japan's triple calamity - the massive earthquake, giant tsunami and the nuclear crisis - is likely to drive the country into recession in coming months, said a survey of economists.

The disaster, which has left more than 12,000 dead and over 15,000 missing, has also hit exports, business confidence and consumer spending, economists say.

The government is planning a first emergency budget of more than three trillion yen ($35 billion), Kyodo news agency reported, quoting ruling party politicians saying total spending could top 10 trillion yen.

Source: AFP

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Posted in: Health,Society

Wages up; workers scarce

A worker at a garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 8. Many garment firms have raised salaries in order to retain workers.

An increase in orders and higher export prices have helped garment makers offer better salaries and working conditions, but the sector’s labor shortage shows no sign of easing.

Many garment firms have raised salaries, offered more allowances and benefits to try and retain workers, industry insiders say.
Phi Ngoc Trinh, deputy director of garment firm Ho Guom, said the average monthly salary of a worker in his firm now is VND3-3.3 million (US$143-158). The firm also buys health and social insurance for them, and does not ask them to work extra hours, he said.
He said people are usually not interested in working for garment firms, mainly because of low income and poor working conditions. Many firms need more employees but are not able to hire enough workers.
“The most important factor to keep laborers is that the salary must be enough for their needs. This (increasing salary) can only be done by raising prices,” he said.
Some exporters said prices under FOB contracts have jumped an average of 15-20 percent over the past year, while outsourcing prices had risen by 5-10 percent, and that many firms have booked orders through the end of the third quarter of this year.
Like Ho Guom, many other garment companies have increased salaries and benefits for their workers to prevent them from quitting.
Luong Van Thu, vice general director of garment firm Dap Cau, said his company raised the average salary to VND3.2 million from VND2.8 million a year ago. “Our target is to increase the average monthly salary of workers to VND3.5 million. So we are negotiating to get orders with better prices while improving working conditions, increasing productivity and cutting production costs.”
Orders from the main importers of Vietnamese garments, like the US, EU and Japan, have increased. The country shipped garments worth $2.8 billion in the first quarter, up 27.9 percent over the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.
Thu said the salary increase, in fact, the was not remarkable in the context of high inflation. In addition, the hard work has made jobs in garment firms less attractive to laborers. “Although workers can be off on Sunday, they have to work 9-10 hours per day,” he said.
According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, garment workers’ salaries increased 10-15 percent in 2010, but the increase was only enough to offset the inflation rate of 11.75 percent last year. Thus, the life of garment workers was still very difficult.
Meanwhile, the increase in export prices sometimes did not keep up with that of material costs, said Thu. Cotton now costs around $5.20 per kilogram, three times that of early last year.
Thu said 80 percent of Vietnamese garment firms perform outsourcing work for foreign partners, so it is difficult for them to negotiate good prices.
“There is a common pricing standard. The outsourcing price for a jacket is about $5, so it is a success if you can negotiate that to $5.50,” he said. “The highest average salary that garment firms can pay for workers is VND4 million each month.”
Nguyen Ngoc Quang, director of  Yen Phong Garments Co., said his firm could not recruit enough workers to meet all new orders, so he had to refuse some of them. “We are always short of workers. If we could hire enough people, we could open an additional workshop.”

Reported by Bao Van- thanhniennews

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Posted in: Business,Society,Vietnam

Gas stations get wind of price hike, stop sales

Before the Ministry of Finance hiked gasoline retail prices by up to VND2,800 per liter Tuesday, many gas stations had got wind of it and limited sales or even stayed shut, waiting for the hike.
On Monday many gas stations in Dong Thap Province’s Chau Thanh District sold just VND10,000 worth petrol to a customer, pleading a shortage.
In nearby Long An Province, they were limiting it to a more reasonable VND20,000 or VND30,000.
The Long An Market Management Unit No 2 discovered that many filling stations had opened without any salesman, forcing customers to leave empty-handed.
Other gas stations had resorted to demanding a premium -- many demanded VND20,000 per liter (retail price VND19,300), with TB in Tan Hung District even asking for VND21,000.
In border areas in Long An, people had to queue for hours at Petrolimex gas stations.
To resolve the problem, the Long An Province Department of Industry and Trade assigned four supervisory groups to border districts to stop gasoline smuggling to Cambodia where the prices are higher.
Deputy director of the Department, Nguyen Xuan Hong, said many complaints had been received and warned gas stations found to limit or stop operations will have their licenses canceled for good.
By afternoon of Monday the situation seemed to improve, with the Market Management Department not finding any gas station indulging in sharp practices.
Three petrol stations in Moc Hoa District, two each in Thanh Hoa and Tan Hung Districts, and one in Vinh Hung District closed claiming they had run out of stock. Inspectors found their claim to be true.
The Ministry of Finance cited rising gasoline prices due to instability in the Middle East and North Africa for the price hike.
Enough oil and gasoline to meet the market demand

The director general of the Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation, Bui Ngoc Bao, said there is no shortage of fuel and promised to provide enough diesel and gasoline.

Saigon Petrol too said it has adequate stocks. Moreover, every day its retailers have to sell 5 percent of the amount they registered for the month. This is meant to prevent hoarding.

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Posted in: Society,Vietnam

Is good money being thrown after bad?

Despite hundreds of thousands US dollars invested to have its tourism publicity broadcast on CNN, BBC and even in London cabs, Vietnam’s “hidden charm” still remains unrevealed.
Vietnam is becoming keen about spreading the message it is an attractive tourism destination but there are no results yet to show for it.
The government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on commercials that air for just a few seconds on international channels like BBC and CNN.
In just the second half of last year, it forked out VND5.3 billion (US$253,600) to CNN, or 12 percent of the total tourism promotion for the year.
An online survey by the Vietnam Economic Forum of 200 tourists from around the world found that 77 percent had never heard or seen about Vietnam on the media or at tourism fairs.
There was also a six-month ad campaign ran on 27 out of London’s 10,000 taxis, but many locals say they have not seen it.
Vu Huy Vu, deputy chairman of Saigon Tourist, says however that in recent times the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has spent heavily to spread the word about Vietnam to the world and achieved positive results.
Proof of it is the increase in foreign arrivals despite the economic recession, he says.
But he emphasizes the need of establish travel agencies in other countries to consistently spread the word rather than occasionally attending tourism fairs.
“It cannot be done overnight; we must keep at it,” he says.
“Our regional competitors like Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia have a huge budget for tourism development.
“They set up travel agencies in potential markets like Europe and America not two or three years ago but a decade ago.”
Financial and human-resource constraints admittedly hinder Vietnam’s efforts to boost its tourism industry, but an effective and cheap channel – the Internet – has not been adequately used.
Ben Chua, the Singaporean founder and administrator of the website vietnam720.com, uses interactive features like video, audio, and animation to describe Vietnam’s tourist destinations to the world.
“The website provides an interactive tour, which allows visitors to have a view of their desired destination,” he explains.
“Just go to the Singaporean tourism website (yoursingapore.com) and you will find everything about this country. For instance, the keyword ‘art’ will show you every single piece of information related to art in Singapore.”
He also mentions his Twitter account, which he created to collect people’s opinions and comments about Vietnam. There is one new “tweet” every 10 seconds, meaning 36,000 comments or opinions per hour.
It is a goldmine of information but the government has shown no response on it so far.
“How come such a rich source of what foreign tourists like and dislike about Vietnam receives no attention from the government?”
Which image for Vietnam?
In January the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism gave away the first prize to a contestant who suggested “Vietnam – a Different Orient” in a slogan-logo contest.
But two months later it remains unapproved and the tourism industry still cannot start its marketing campaign for this year.
Foreign visitors seemingly continue to see Vietnam as a heroic country which won wars rather than as an appealing destination for travel.
“Vietnam is a friendly and joyful country but the country image that is displayed to the world just fails to show this,” Tim Russell, chairman of the travel agency Come & Go Vietnam, says.
Russell, who has been working for long in Vietnam, also emphasizes the fact that Vietnam does not enjoy a reputation as a “joyful destination” meaning only 5 percent of foreign tourists return to the country after their first visit.
This figure is 50 percent for Thailand.
Vietnam has been able to appeal only to visitors who are keen on culture and discovery, he says, but travel is not just about discovery.
It encompasses a great variety of things like leisure, golfing, beach sports, food, and nightlife, and without these, Vietnam cannot attract true holidaymakers, those who contribute to the development of the country’s tourism, he warns.
Thailand is famous for its lively nightlife, golf clubs, and beaches; while Singapore is renowned for its attractions and shopping places.
“Both of the countries have these featured advertised with their cultural values,” Russell explains.
Vietnam should hire a professional consultant and do more surveys of tourists to have an effective marketing campaign, he adds.
Nguyen Van Tuan, director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, also suggests that the government should allow the hiring of a foreign consultancy and experts.
“Actually, we are now sponsored by some international tourism associations like JATA (Japan) and countries,” he says.
He lists three key points for the promotion campaign in the coming years: making tourism a key sector; intensively developing tourism with a brand name; and boosting tourism along with security and sustainable development.

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Posted in: Business,Tour in Vietnam,Vietnam

Girls strip naked on webcams for monthly cash

“Show you naked body and get money!” is one of the invitations from chat rooms managers to girls via Internet chat tools. Those girls who agree to show their bodies will be paid US$200 or more per month.
The above invitation was sent to me [a Tuoi Tre reporter] a recent night by a man called himself as Pham Hung with his nick “luatsuvui” on Paltalk.
“Your duty every night, from 0 – 4 a.m. is to show your naked body and perform a number of erotic gestures and movements via a webcam to serve Paltalk chatters. You will get an initial salary of US$200 that I will transfer to you from the US.”
Hung said, “It is just a starting salary. I can pay up to $1,000 to any girl with best performance.”
He asked your correspondent to turn on her webcam for him to see her face, “I want to find whether your face is nice or not,” he said via Paltalk.
He then asked me to join Hot Top Girlz, which Hung said was under his management and where I saw sexy performances of many young girls via their webcams.
One girl, who was encouraged by a MC, gradually removed all of her clothes, exposing all her nude body.
On this chat room that night, I found three other girls going naked. Their nicks were “haugiangmat…”:, “anhgattinh…” and “hantrai…”.
Chatting with “haugiangmat…”, I got an appointment with her the following day, when she told me she was 23 and her name was Vy Thuy.
Thuy said Hung paid her US$100 through a young man with nick “Holey…” as soon as she “worked” for him. Hung promised to pay her $200-300 provided that Thuy could make more erotic performances.
But after fully paying Thuy $100 each month in the first 2 months, he said he was cash drained and paid her only $50 per month.
“To date, he owed my nearly $300,” Thuy said.

Come to hotel room for “training”
On another night, I chatted with nick “Holey”, who called himself Nam Khoi, 27, of Dong Nai province.
He said he was the boss of the Hot Top Girlz and wanted to recruit many dancers for his chat room. “Do you agree to go naked via a webcam?” he asked me.
Khoi later called me from number 0985474…, asking me for an appointment. He said, “If you agree, we will meet in a hotel, where I can offer you some training necessary for your future job.”
Khoi also said he was a broker for a man in the US, who paid Khoi $50-100 for a girl Khoi could introduce and was accepted by him.
Meanwhile, Tan, a manager of a room on Paltalk, said, “The more guests join the room, the more money the room’s manager will be paid from the boss. To lure guests, room managers and sexy girls have to coordinate with each other.”
He said the remuneration for a room manager on Paltalk ranges from US$300-500, depending on how many guests he can attract per month.
Thu Nga, 22, wich nick “thunga…” is one of the girl going naked on Paltalk. Meeting me at a café, Nga said she came to Ho Chi Minh City from the southern province of Kien Giang.
At first, she wanted to seek a job as a worker at an industrial park, but she later was encouraged by her friends to join Paltalk and later became a nude girl there.
When Nga began joining the room, a man called himself the room boss asked her to come with him to a hotel room so that he could meet her and “train” her in how to become a hot girl.
After spending a week with him, Nga knew she was deceived by the man.
Ngan, just joining another room, said she divorced her husband when she was 19. She has a 4-year-old boy, but she has not been given the right to take care of him due to her poor financial conditions.”
“I wanted to earn tens of millions of dong and then take my son back for care…,” Nga sadly told me.
Strip to be ‘cool"?
Earlier, it was reported that chat rooms come alive at midnight as young women, often schoolgirls, strip on camera and writhe erotically for as little at VND20,000 per show.
There apparently exists an online sex “paradise” at midnight daily on internet chat rooms all around the country. It involves young women, often schoolgirls, stripping on webcams and wriggling seductively for as long as someone is willing to pay.
The modus operandi is this: Through an online chatting account, enter a chat room at midnight, the so-called rush hour for peepshows.
Pick one from dozens of seductive nicknames that appear on the screen. There will be an immediate response from the chosen girl, who will ask if you would like to watch her on webcam.
If you agree, you have to top her mobile phone account. “For VND50,000 (US$2.4), you can watch me naked for half an hour,” a young woman Tuoi Tre made contact with said.
“And only for 10 minutes for a VND20,000 card.”
The show started immediately after she got the card number. The girl, beautiful and looking like a high-school student, quickly turned her webcam on, revealing an attractive body in tiny underwear, which she began stripping off within seconds.
After becoming completely naked, she started to wriggle and make seductive gestures in front of the webcam like a pornographic actress. The “show” ended exactly at the time she said it would.
Of course, some go further and, if negotiations go well, things end up in a hotel room.
Sex camera shows like this take place every night in chat rooms all over Vietnam, and participants are said to be mostly teenagers. Even male users can have their own cybersex with old single women or teengirls in need.

Why?
Cybersex may be normal in western culture but not in conservative Vietnam. Exposing one’s body in public and discussing sexual matters are generally taboo in Asia.
But why is cybersex becoming popular in this country?
Most of the girls involved in it claim that they do it just to satisfy their curiosity at first or to assert themselves.
Also, as teenagers, there is peer pressure which says cybersex is cool and those who do not do it are bumpkins.
“My friends [do it] every night,” says a school girl, aged 17.
“They laugh at me if I refuse to join them. If they can do it, why can’t I?”
Some say they do it for money. The money they get in their cell phone accounts can be converted into virtual currency for online games, which they can also convert into real money by selling game items.
Then there are those who bitterly say they have no choice since they need the money to pay their tuitions.
There are those who argue that cybersex does not cause much harm since there is no sex involved and is a bit like watching pornography.
However, there are some real dangers involved.
Although the women, especially schoolgirls, claim that no one can ever get them out for real sex, there is always the danger that there are predators out there who will manage to just that.
According to Tuoi Tre's investigation, Ho Chi Minh City now has more than 10 rings that hunt for young girls with low educational levels coming from rural areas to the city to seek jobs.

These rings, based in several districts, including Districts 1, 5 and 11, often try to approach girls at internet shops and then to lure them to join their rings to become erotic girls who will get paid for their sexy performances via webcams. 

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Posted in: Society