World

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has ordered localities nationwide to suspend all spring festivals and cancel fireworks shows planned for the Tet holiday over the “complicated” pandemic situation. For traditional festivities, the ministry has only allowed the organization of ceremonial parts, banning entertainment activities that attract crowds. Movie …

Australia will spend an additional A$50 million ($35 million) in the next four years to protect koala habitat and slow the decline of the vulnerable species, the government said on Saturday. The marsupials native to Australia have been decimated by bushfires, disease and vehicles, with estimates of their numbers ranging …

Residents of New York and New England hunkered down on Saturday for a fierce Nor’easter bringing high winds, deep cold and up to two feet (60 cm) of snow, a blizzard predicted to be one of the worst in recent memory. Forecasts of a potentially brutal storm, which moved up …

Hotels and restaurants in China’s big cities are bracing for a rush of guests over the Chinese New Year as people forced by Covid-19 curbs to give up plans to go home for family reunions opt instead to stay put and celebrate in other ways. But local governments are advising …

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment signed a Memorandum of Understanding Friday to bolster Vietnam’s climate change response. USAID’s collaboration with the ministry will focus on air quality management, integrated water resource management and water security, conservation and sustainable use of …

Thousands of monks, nuns and citizens gathered Saturday at the Tu Hieu Pagoda to bid their final respects adieu to Thich Nhat Hanh. The monks, nuns and lay people packed the pagoda from early in the morning to say their final goodbyes before a tea ceremony (cremation) was held at …

U.S. carriers on Friday canceled thousands of flights through the weekend in anticipation of a winter storm forecast to bring high winds and heavy snow across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The National Weather Service said in an advisory that the Nor’easter would result in dangerous blizzards and make travel “nearly …

Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, General Director, and three other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Consular Department have been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes. Lieutenant General To An Xo, Chief of staff and spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security, said Friday that Lan, 48, Do Hoang Tung, …

Da Nang has the highest mobile Internet speed among Vietnam’s most populous cities, eclipsing Hanoi and HCMC, according to a global Internet speed survey. The Speedtest Global Index by U.S.-based web testing and network diagnostic company Ookla revealed Da Nang topped the chart of Vietnam’s most populous cities with the …

Vietnam confirmed 14,892 local Covid-19 cases Friday, bringing the infection tally in the ongoing wave to 2,188,804. The three localities with the highest numbers of patients are Hanoi with 2,885 cases, Bac Ninh with 1,013 cases and Da Nang with 886 cases. Vietnam has recorded 166 infections with the Omicron …