Publishers on Nguyen Van Binh Book Street sold 760,000 books last year at VND60 billion (US$2,400), up 15% in revenue against 2022, but its manager said more activities were needed to lure foreign visitors. Le Hoang, director of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street Co. Ltd., said last year, 275 …
Read More »Four jailed for trading over $500,000 counterfeit dollar bills at bank
A court in HCMC handed jail terms to four people bringing US$538,000 in counterfeit money to a bank to exchange, successfully swapping around half of it for Vietnamese notes. Pham Hung Tuan, 34, Néang Sóc Rane, 37, a Khmer woman, Do Van Trung, 47, and Nguyen Bao Duy, 28, were …
Read More »Japan says New Year quake damage could cost $17B
The cost of the damage wreaked by a huge New Year’s Day earthquake that killed at least 236 people in central Japan could reach $17.6 billion, a government official said Friday. The magnitude-7.5 earthquake and its aftershocks devastated parts of Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, toppling buildings, …
Read More »Singapore jails South African for smuggling rhino horns
A Singapore court sentenced a South African man to two years in jail on Friday for smuggling rhino horns, the heaviest sentence ever handed down in the city-state for smuggling wildlife parts. Gumede Sthembiso Joel was arrested at Singapore’s Changi airport in 2022 after authorities found 20 rhino horns weighing …
Read More »Manager wants HCMC book street more attractive to foreigners as earnings rise
Publishers on Nguyen Van Binh Book Street sold 760,000 books last year at VND60 billion, up 15% in revenue against 2022, but its manager said more activities were needed to lure foreign visitors. Le Hoang, director of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street Co. Ltd., said last year, 275 events …
Read More »Men jailed for trading over $500,000 counterfeit dollar bills at bank
A court in HCMC handed jail terms to four men bringing US$538,000 in counterfeit money to a bank to exchange, successfully swapping around half of it for Vietnamese notes. Pham Hung Tuan, 34, Néang Sóc Rane, 37, a Khmer woman, Do Van Trung, 47, and Nguyen Bao Duy, 28, were …
Read More »Japan says New Year quake damage could cost $17 billion
The cost of the damage wreaked by a huge New Year’s Day earthquake that killed at least 236 people in central Japan could reach $17.6 billion, a government official said Friday. The magnitude-7.5 earthquake and its aftershocks devastated parts of Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, toppling buildings, …
Read More »Levi’s to slash its global workforce by up to 15% as part of a 2-year restructuring plan
Denim giant Levi Strauss & Co. said Thursday that it’s slashing its global corporate workforce by 10% to 15% in the first half of the year as part of a two-year restructuring plan that seeks to cut costs and simplify its operations. The company employed about 19,100 people as of …
Read More »Foreign-born Miss Japan sparks debate on what it means to be Japanese
The crowning of Ukrainian-born model Karolina Shiino as the winner of the Miss Japan contest this week has triggered a social media debate on what it means to be, and look, Japanese. The 26-year-old model, who was born in Ukraine and looks Caucasian, has lived in Japan for more than …
Read More »Rabies kills 82 in Vietnam in 2023
Vietnam recorded 82 deaths from rabies last year, 12 more than in 2022, and 500,000 people were vaccinated after exposure to the virus. The most deaths were in Gia Lai (14), Nghe An (7), Binh Phuoc (7), Dien Bien (6), and Ben Tre (5) provinces. In most cases, the reason …
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