World

A Chinese health official has urged local governments to take “bold” steps to lower the cost of having babies and raising children to reduce the burden on families and boost fertility, a state-backed publication reported on Friday. China’s population fell last year for the first time in six decades, data …

The southern metropolis Ho Chi Minh City enjoyed a low level of PM2.5 on Friday, while the capital Hanoi suffered from PM2.5 levels 7 times than those of WHO standards. U.S. weather forecast service AccuWeather recorded the air quality index (AQI) in Hanoi on Friday at 65, ranking it “poor.” …

24 Vietnamese rescuers and medical workers flew to Turkey on Thursday to help search for victims of devastating earthquakes that killed more than 17,000 in Turkey-Syria. The soldiers and medical workers of the Ministry of Public Security were dispatched from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and all were veteran …

The Transport Department of Ho Chi Minh City has proposed building two more bridges to enhance transport connectivity between the southern economic hub and its neighbor Dong Nai Province. The bridges are Phu My 2 that links the southern part of HCMC with Dong Nai’s Nhon Trach District and Dong …

A man who raped his employer’s daughter on multiple occasions has been sentenced to nine years in prison by a Hanoi court. Following a trial on Thursday, Bui Van Long, 23, got eight years for “raping a person under 16” and one year for “having sex with a person aged …

South Korea plans to resume issuing short-term visas for travelers from China on Saturday after China improved its Covid situation, Seoul officials said on Friday. South Korea suspended issuing short-term visas to Chinese visitors last month after China abruptly ended its stringent “zero-Covid” policy, leading to a wave of infections. …

K-pop stars BTS drink it. It appears in K-dramas. Fans are so dedicated to consuming it year-round they’ve coined a new South Korean proverb: “Even if I freeze to death, iced Americano!” The humble coffee — shots of espresso served over ice, topped up with water — has become South …

Police have detained a 23-year-old woman and her mother-in-law for alleged attempted murder after they set fire to another woman over a perceived romantic tryst. On January 26, social media users shared a video of the incident, which took place in broad daylight on a street in Duy Xuyen District, …

During an “agonising” 10- minute wait, the jackhammers and excavators fell silent, traffic on a four-lane highway next to the pile of rubble came to a standstill with car engines switched off. Rescuers who ordered the eerie hush went into a hole in an apartment block turned into a pile …

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously backed a resolution condemning the incursion of a Chinese spyballoon into U.S. airspace last week as “a brazen violation of United States sovereignty.” The House voted 419-0 for the resolution, five days after the U.S. Air Force shot down the device over …