AFC Women’s Asian Cup: Vietnam suffers 0-8 defeat to AustraliaVietnam were defeated 0-8 by Australia on April 10 in the team’s second match in the final round of the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup held in Amman, Jordan. Kyah Simon scored the first goal for Australia in the eighth minute from a favourable pass of May Kerr. Vietnam managed to maintain the score with their solid defence in the last minutes of the match. In an earlier match of Group B, defending champion Japan had a 0-0 draw with the Republic of Korea (RoK). Vietnam is scheduled to face the RoK in their last match in Group B on April 12 afternoon (local time).

Central province cracks down on overfishingA patrol boat of Quảng Bình Province (left) inspects a fishing vessel suspected of violating seafood harvesting in May 2017. According to local authorities, most of these juvenile prawns were imported from other provinces as home-grown production failed to meet demand. In the evening of March 6 alone, six trucks were found transporting 10 million juvenile prawns with such lack of documentation. They accounted for 50 per cent of juvenile prawns sold in the market. Likewise, the number of home-grown juvenile prawns only accounts for 60 per cent of the demand in Bạc Liêu.

Made-in-China smartphones becoming more popular in VietnamVietNamNet Bridge - Despite their reservations about the quality of made-in-China products, Vietnamese are still spending money on Chinese smartphones which have low selling prices and strong features. The Vietnamese market in the last two years has seen a huge influx of Chinese smartphone brands. An analyst estimated that there are tens of Chinese smartphone brands in Vietnam, putting pressure on brands such as HTC, LG and Blackberry. With strong sales, Vietnam is seen by Chinese smartphone manufacturers as a key market in their international expansion strategy. The Chinese brands outstripped giants like Sony and ousted Asus and HTC.

Japan treasures ties with Vietnam: Prime Minister AbeJapan attaches much importance to its relations with Vietnam and wants to bolster the extensive strategic partnership between the two countries, said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. For his part, General Ngo Xuan Lich stressed that Vietnam and Japan boast a long-standing friendship and share similarities in culture and customs. “Vietnamese Government and people always treasure the development of comprehensive relations with Japan,” he said, adding that 2017 was a significant year for Vietnam-Japan ties when both sides saw the visits of the Japanese Emperor and Empress and Prime Minister to Vietnam and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Japan. Briefing the Japanese Prime Minister of the outcomes of his talks with Defence Minister Onodera Itsunori, he expressed his wish that Abe will continue support for the cooperation between the two ministries. Vietnam, Japan step up audit cooperationAuditor General of the State Audit Office (SAV) of Vietnam Ho Duc Phoc (R) and President of the Audit Commission of Japan Teruhiko Kawato.

Go-Jek and Didi Chuxing eye Vietnam's ride-hailing marketsChinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has submitted its request for market entry to the Ministry of Transport (MoT). Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has submitted its request for market entry to the MoT. "Indonesian Go-Jek is exploring the opportunity in Vietnam market, Chinese Didi Chuxing also has similar move." Consequently, Didi Chuxing has not been given permission to operate in Vietnam. Customers are more and more demanding, so we have to improve ourselves, instead of waiting for others to push us out of the market," Hien concluded.

Vietnam, India hold 10th political consultation, 7th strategic dialogueThe 10th political consultation and 7th strategic dialogue at the deputy foreign ministerial level between Vietnam and India took place in New Delhi on April 9-10. They highlighted the fruitful development of the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in many fields, especially politics, defence-security, and economy-trade. Deputy FM Quy applauded India for successfully organising the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. Quy suggested the Indian side restrict trade barriers to Vietnam’s exports. Both sides agreed to organise the next political consultation and strategic dialogue in Vietnam in 2019.

Cold supply chain: burning issue for Vietnam’s farm productsVietNamNet Bridge - Farmers in Hanoi have had to throw away hundreds of tons of radishes because of slow sales, reflecting the weakness in Vietnam’s cold supply chain. A cold supply chain would allow harvested farm produce to be kept in cold storage for consumption. Dao The Anh, deputy director of the Vietnam Agriculture Science Institute, said cold supply market is underdeveloped with small cold storehouses run by households and cooperatives. Among cold supply chains, foreign investors, such as FM Logistics, CLK Cold Storage and Emergent Cold, own cold storehouses. RELATED NEWSValuable farm produce sold at low pricesFood exporters removed from US list as new regulations take effectMai Thanh

Uncontrolled development spoils environment at tourist attractionsVietNamNet Bridge - The dark sides of massive tourism development include damage to natural landscapes and local culture. The dark sides of massive tourism development include damage to natural landscapes and local culture. The further they went into the central area, the more terrible was the noise. A big café in the central area marred the landscape. On their hotel balconies enjoying Tam Dao’s mountainous landscapes, the reporters could see only dusty construction sites and houses close together.

Vietnamese parents more willing to talk to kids about sex, gender issuesVietNamNet Bridge - Instead of avoiding talking about sex and gender, Vietnamese parents are increasingly providing knowledge on these issues to their children. As a ‘friend’, the kids can ask for advice about issues in their lives, including sex and gender. According to Minh, the most important thing in conservations with children is not information, but parents’ attitudes towards the issues. Le Quynh Hoa, a parent in Cau Giay district in Hanoi, thinks it is better to have straight talk with children about sensitive issues. RELATED NEWSNew education program calls for reform in sex educationWhen should sex education be offered to Vietnamese children?

Artist runs free flute classes in HanoiAn artist in Hanoi has been operating a free flute class for seven years. Artist Le Thai SonArtist Le Thai Son, 69, was born in Thanh Oai District, now in Hanoi. Son's free flute classThe classes, which have run for seven years has attracted more than 300 learners. Son plans to open another free flute class in Nha Trang in the near future. His dream is how to open as many as free flute classes nationwide to help preserve traditional music instruments.

Earth's magnetic ocean tides mapped from spaceThis is the European Space Agency's spectacular new view of ocean tides as they sweep around the Earth. As the Moon pulls the salty seas through our planet's global magnetic field, electric currents are generated. The mission was sent into orbit in 2013 to bring fresh insight on Earth's magnetic behaviour. But there is one observation that will certainly have more general interest - that of the position of the north magnetic pole. The drift of the magnetic north pole is towards Russia -- Photo: ESAMost people know that it is not aligned with the geographic north pole and instead drifts around.

No photo, no phone: Customers may lose serviceVietNamNet Bridge – Mobile subscribers may have their SIM cards deactivated if they fail to submit profile photos following a new regulation. If they fail to register, the providers will block incoming calls after 15 days and stop providing services in the next 15 days. Viettel said that their only strategy for encouraging customers to comply with the regulation was providing sufficient information. Weighty responsibilitiesBy the end of March, there were 118.7 million mobile subscriptions in Vietnam, according to the General Statistics Office. Vo Do Thang, a cyber security expert, emphasised that besides tightening the management on mobile subscriptions, policies to protect customers against information leaks needed to be adopted.

VN-Index slightly down on southern bourseThe benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) decreased 6.21 points to close at 1,198.11 points on April 10. Nearly 286 million shares worth over 9.2 trillion VND (404.8 million USD) were traded on the southern bourse on the day. The VN30-Inex dropped 9.62 points to 1,168.06 points, with 78 million units valued at 4.3 trillion VND (189.2 million USD) changed hands. The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) decreased slightly 0.03 percent to settle at 60.42 points. Nearly 27 million units were sold at 746 billion VND (32.74 million USD).-VNA

Huge opportunities for expanded Vietnam-France relations: expertsVietnam and France see new opportunities to further strengthen their relationship, which witnessed strong development over the last 45 years, heard a conference held by the Asia Centre in Paris on April 9. According to Duong Van Quang, former Vietnamese Ambassador to France, the geopolitical factor has a great impact on bilateral relations. He stressed that the recent official visit to France by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong was a history trip that opens up new opportunities for the bilateral relations. Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Thiep said France was among the first western countries to set up relations with Vietnam, and forgive debts for the war-torn country. However, participants said the economic ties between the two countries are not to match their good political relations.

Vietnamese, Japanese defence ministers hold talksVietnamese Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich and his Japanese counterpart Onodera Itsunori reiterated the importance of building a stable, free and open order in line with law in the Indo-Pacific region during their talks in Tokyo on April 10. He said the maintenance of peace and stability, maritime and overflight freedom in line with law in the region is of significance. The two ministers spoke highly of thriving Vietnam – Japan ties in diverse areas, especially between the armies. The Vietnamese minister suggested promoting army medical cooperation, including scientific training and research, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and maritime security. At the talks, host and guest signed a Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam – Japan Defence Relationship towards the next decade.