HÀ NỘI – The General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health has called for proactive measures to detect and prevent the entry of Marburg virus disease, a highly contagious Ebola-like virus, into Việt Nam. International Health Quarantine Centres and CDCs in each city and province must update information on countries or regions currently reporting Marburg cases. The clinical signs of Marburg virus disease are difficult to diagnose as they can be confused with other endemic diseases in the region. Currently, there is no specific vaccine or antiviral medication available to treat Marburg virus disease. Due to its high fatality rate, patients with Marburg virus disease often have a poor prognosis.

The Ministry of Education and Training has introduced guidelines for school safety and decreed measures to reduce child-related traffic accidents. The following day, a 5th-grade student at Đại Thắng Primary School in Hà Nội suffered a serious injury after falling from the second floor of the school building. Dương Khánh Vân, a World Health Organization expert in Việt Nam, emphasised the need for a multi-faceted approach to prevent child drowning in Việt Nam, including safety training and community-based childcare, especially during flood seasons. Director of the Department of Children's Affairs, Đặng Hoa Nam, highlighted the significant impact of child injury prevention programmes, which can reduce child mortality rates by approximately half. He urged local governments to prioritise child safety in their budgets and allocate more resources for child-safety initiatives.

HCM CITY — HCM City has proposed to retain all surplus budget revenue from 2026 to 2030 to fund urban railway projects. Given the significant funding requirements and insufficient local budget resources, the city is exploring various funding mechanisms, including retaining all surplus revenue while still contributing 79 per cent to the central budget. The projected budget revenue is over VNĐ482.85 trillion this year, with VNĐ371.3 trillion collected in the first nine months. Experts have stressed the importance of assessing public debt risks when issuing bonds, as metro revenue will rely heavily on ticket sales. This year, the city’s estimated budget revenue is more than VNĐ482.8 trillion ($19.4 billion).

The event entitled Việt Nam-China Education Conference 2024 was jointly organised by Phenikaa University, Chinese Testing International Company (CTI) and CTI Vietnam International Education Company. About 500 delegates including representatives of Việt Nam’s Ministry of Education and Training, Hà Nội’s Department of Education and Training, Chinese Embassy in Việt Nam, universities and Việt Nam-China educational organisations and a large number of lecturers and students. It was considered a forum to connect educational managers, officials, lecturers and students between two countries; exchange current training trends; and promote educational exchanges. Prof. Dr. Phạm Thành Huy, Phenikaa University principal, mentioned many important aspects of the educational cooperation relationship between Việt Nam and China in his "Việt Nam - China educational cooperation" speech. Huy emphasised that the friendship and cooperation between the two countries was increasingly developing well in all fields, including education.

Sharing at the workshop “Application of AI in English teaching in Vietnam in the current context” on October 15, Associate Professor, Dr. Le Van Canh said that AI will redefine all concepts in learning. To prevent foreign language centers from being wiped out by AIAt the event, the speakers shared about the role of AI in education, the opportunities and challenges that AI brings, as well as the application of AI in management, training organization, testing, curriculum compilation, and online English learning materials. Le Van Canh, what robots cannot do is replace emotions in human-to-human communication, and cannot fully understand the creativity and sophistication of language. Centers that want to survive in an AI society need to transform themselves into more “human” educational institutions – something that AI cannot do.

Ban Gioc - Detian Waterfalls, which straddle the Vietnam - China border, was opened to tourists on Tuesday after over one year of its trial operation. In Vietnam, visitors can tour Ban Gioc Waterfall and the spiritual Phat Tich Truc Lam Pagoda, which is about 500 meters from the cascade. During their talks in Hanoi on Sunday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang announced that Ban Gioc - Detian Waterfalls would officially come on stream on October 15. The September-December period is the best time to visit Ban Gioc Waterfall, which lies in Dam Thuy Commune, Trung Khanh District, Cao Bang Province, northern Vietnam. The Ban Gioc - Detian Waterfalls were opened to tourists on a trial basis on September 15 last year, having served some 950 groups with 12,000 tourists.

Up to 200 European billionaires are scheduled to visit Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam aboard superyachts in January to attend the Art For Climate Festival. Ha Long Bay is a popular destination for international visitors to Vietnam, offering the cruising experience through its stunning waters. In the first nine months of the year, the provincial city of Ha Long welcomed 9.2 million visitors. Currently, Ha Long serves between 4,000 and 6,000 tourists daily, with 90 percent of them being international visitors. The management authority of Ha Long Bay has surveyed untouched islands and pristine beaches to develop unique and high-end tourism products for luxury travelers, amid a growing number of billionaires opting to visit Ha Long.

HCM CITY – MTPop, a talented Vietnamese dancer, has clinched the first wildcard spot at the highly anticipated Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final set to take place on November 9 at DOME, NSCI in Mumbai, India. MTPop is joining top dance talents from 49 other countries for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to battle on the global stage for the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Champion title. MTPop was the first to be named as a wildcard for this edition of the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final. It’s about being versatile and adaptive, and I’m excited for the challenge.”Red Bull Dance Your Style, fueled by Red Bull energy drink, challenges dancers’ creativity and improvisation by blending various music genres. The competition will be live-streamed at the Red Bull Dance Youtube channel.

(Photo: Minh Thu/Vietnam+)On October 15, the Vietnam News Agency Trade Union organized a seminar on women's health care with the theme "Health is beauty" at the NURA High-Tech Screening Center, Ha Noi. This is a meaningful event to celebrate the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Women's Union and Vietnamese Women's Day (October 20). Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Head of the Women's Union of Vietnam News Agency, speaks. Through this meaningful event, the Vietnam News Agency Trade Union hopes that participants will spread useful knowledge to colleagues, union members in the agency as well as family members to improve health care for everyone. Female union members of Vietnam News Agency had the opportunity to learn about advanced medical technologies.

The average IELTS score for Vietnamese test-takers dropped to 6.2 in the 2023-2024 period, falling in the global rankings compared to previous years. The co-organizers of the IELTS exam recently released global data for the 2023-2024 period. For the Academic IELTS exam, Vietnam's average score was 6.2, ranking 29th out of 39 countries and territories surveyed. Among the 39 countries and territories surveyed, Malaysia and Spain led with the highest average IELTS scores of 7.1, followed by Italy with an average score of 7.0. Vietnam’s average score of 6.2 was higher than those of China and Japan, which both averaged 5.9.

Thu VânHÀ NỘI — When the soldiers of Regiment 98, Division 316, arrived at Làng Nủ Village by midday on September 11, they were met with utter devastation. The night before, at 11pm on September 10, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Ngọc Ba, Commander of Regiment 98, received a call. Trần Minh Thảo, a soldier of Regiment 98, said: “The locals were there, weeping and pleading for help. "I have participated in many search and rescue operations, but the tragedy at Làng Nủ Village was the most devastating I have ever witnessed," he said. The Secretary of the Bảo Yên District Party Committee handed them a national flag bearing the inscription "LÀNG NỦ 10-24/9/2024."

At a glanceVietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia and the easternmost country on the Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of 96.2 million, Vietnam was the world’s 15th most populous country in 2019, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. Vietnam shares land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi, located in the north, while the most populous city and commercial hub is Ho Chi Minh City in the south. The official language of the country is Vietnamese, while people also speak ethnic minority languages and English as a foreign language.

HÀ NỘI – The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in coordination with the Office of the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN) in Việt Nam and relevant units, held a ceremony on October 14 to launch the ASEAN Eco-Schools Việt Nam Award 2024. The ASEAN Eco-Schools Award is one of the activities under the framework of the ASOEN assigned to each country to organise. The winning schools will be honoured on the sidelines of the ASOEN Conference or the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment. The first ASEAN Eco-Schools Award was held in Malaysia in July 2012. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Lê Công Thành emphasised that students play an especially important role in environmental protection.

VNA Deputy General Director Nguyen Thi Su (centre) at the 6th World Media Summit (WMS). (Photo: VNA)Beijing (VNA) – A delegation of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) led by Deputy General Director Nguyen Thi Su attended the 6th World Media Summit (WMS), which opened on October 14 in Urumqi, the capital city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Themed "Artificial Intelligence and Media Transformation," the summit gathered over 500 participants from 106 countries and regions, including representatives of 208 mainstream media outlets, government agencies and international organisations. (Photo: VNA)On the sidelines of the summit, Su met with Vice President of Xinhua News Agency Yuan Bingzhong. She appreciated Xinhua for organising the summit, saying its theme is useful for press agencies in the development trend of modern journalism today.

SINGAPORE The Vietnamese Student Association in Singapore held its first-ever “V-Challenge 2024: Intellectual Arena” at Curtin University, drawing a large number of Vietnamese students in the country. Over 40 Vietnamese students from various educational institutions participated in the competition, which consisted of four rounds with diverse questions. The students said they found the event both challenging and rewarding, offering an opportunity to connect with their peers and deepen their understanding of the home land. Alongside the competition, there were entertainment booths, featuring bracelet crafting and knitting, and a lucky draw with prizes from organisers. Earlier, the association launched a week-long fundraising campaign in support of Typhoon Yagi victims at home.