A mother shot and killed her four children before turning a gun on herself in a small town in Florida on Tuesday, authorities said.

The shooting happened at a house in Port St. John, in Brevard County, about 15 miles from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

A spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriff’s office identified the victims as four children aged 12, 13, 15 and 17. They were shot by their 33-year-old mother, Tonya Thomas, who then turned the gun on herself, Tod Goodyear said.

All were shot with what appeared to be a handgun, he said.

Goodyear said a neighbor called police before dawn on Tuesday to report gunfire. When police arrived they found a fatally injured 17-year-old girl in the front yard of the house, which is in a quiet neighborhood of single family residences.

More shots were heard inside the house as a SWAT team arrived and entered through a back entrance, he said.

A neighbor told police that three of the children had banged on his door shortly before 5 a.m., Goodyear said. “One of them may have been shot and was bleeding, so the neighbor got a towel for the child,” he said.

Tonya Thomas then appeared at the neighbor’s door and ordered the children to return home, he said, adding: “They did. They turned around and walked back to the house.”

It was the worst multiple homicide Goodyear could recall in Brevard County since a shooting in 1987 claimed six lives, including those of two police officers.

Goodyear said police had been called to the house on several occasions in the past and the 15-year-old child, a boy, was arrested last month for domestic violence against his mother.

Thomas’s husband, the father of all of the children, moved out of the house a few months ago, he added.

“It’s hard to take in. This is a pretty peaceful place, normally,” he said.

Tuesday’s incident was the second deadly shooting in Port St. John in the past week. Brevard County was the scene of six homicides in 2011, Goodyear said.

source from: tuoitrenews

But behind all the fun, there is an important message to be spread. MTV Exit is a campaign to promote human rights and this concert is to highlight human trafficking. Criminals working in trafficking earn more than US$10 billion a year through buying and selling other human beings. The problem is prolific.

The UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that worldwide about 2.5 million people are victims of trafficking. Over half of these people are in Asia and the Pacific. Victims of trafficking are modern-day slaves, tricked, forced or coerced into various forms of labour or prostitution.

Beyond the initial concert, there will also be youth engagement session days and other grass-root programs to spread awareness. MTV Exit has produced for free distribution celebrity-presented documentaries as well as the short films and promos, plus information on live events they are producing.

Details on how to get FREE tickets to the live show in Hanoi is available on www.mtvexit.org/vietnam

source from: vov

They will compete in the individual men’s and women’s, mixed pairs and trios events.

The three Vietnamese will be up against powerhouses China, Romania and France along with growing Russia and the Republic of Korea.

Two other athletes Truong Khanh Linh and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will also compete in the event.

The championships will serve as a qualifying event for the ninth World Games, to be held in Cali, Colombia, next year, where the aerobic gymnastics is one of the most popular competitions.

The Vietnamese team is expected to be a dark horse at the tournament following their great progress in regional and international competitions recently.

Ha and Dong pocketed a gold medal in the mixed pairs at the Suzuki World Cup, held in Tokyo, Japan in April.

They also managed to win a silver medal in the trio category, performing with Phuong, who won gold at the World Youth Sport Aerobic tournament.

source from: vov

Vietnam is willing to cooperate with New7Wonders in linking the world’s new seven wonders of nature and natural landscapes worldwide, contributing to building a world of peace, cooperation, friendship and development, affirmed Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

At a reception given to President and founder of New7Wonders Bernard Weber in Hanoi on April 27, PM Dung highlighted Bernard Weber’s initiative to launch a global campaign in selecting the world’s new nature relics.

He said he hopes New7Wonders always supports Vietnam in its global campaigns and programmes, especially its tourism promotion programmes to bring visitors to Vietnam .

Bernard Weber, who came to Vietnam for the ceremony to announce Ha Long Bay as one of the world’s seven wonders of nature, affirmed New7Wonders will closely link and advertise the world’s New7Wonders, including Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, which has been recognised twice by UNESCO as World’s Heritage for its landscape and geographical values.

source from: tuoitrenews

Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh (standing) and Minister of Finance
Vuong Dinh Hue.

Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh will prepare an assessment report of the implementation of economic development plan in 2011 and the first months of 2012. The report will be updated with latest economic data.

Another assignment for this ministry is compiling the government’s reports on the comprehensive economic restructuring plan and the list of projects that are funded by capital from government bonds in 2011-2015.

Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue will compile reports on budget spending and revenues in 2011 and in early 2012, the government’s statement on state budget balance in 2010, the draft law on national reserve, the amended law on tax management and the bill on price.

The Government Office is to prepare the report on implementation of social-economic development and state budget in 2011 and in early 2012.

Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong is instructed to prepare the amended lawyer law, the law building program in 2013, and some specialized reports.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang is responsible for preparing the amended law on power while Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will prepare the Law of the Sea.

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Van Binh will present the draft bills on money laundering and deposit insurance.

Besides this, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh, Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan and Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son are assigned to prepare other bills.

source from: vietnamnet

Lars Notto Birkeland will conduct the HBSO Choir for opera
Dido and Aeneas at HCMC Opera House

 

It is an opera in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque composer Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate. The opera recounts the love story of Dido, Queen of Carthage and the Trojan hero Aeneas and her despair at his abandonment of her.

The opera opens with Dido in her court with her attendants. Dido is full of sorrow, saying “Peace and I are strangers grown,” and she is suggested to accept Aeneas’s proposal of marriage. The second act follows a sorceress plotting the destruction of Carthage and its queen, sending her ‘trusted elf’ disguised as Mercury, someone to whom Aeneas will surely listen, to tempt him to leave Dido and sail to Italy. The third act features the Sorceress singing a solo describing her further plans for the destruction of Aeneas on the ocean and the return of Aeneas in the fear of Dido.

The opera and Dido’s life both slowly come to a conclusion, as the Queen of Carthage sings her last aria ‘Dido’s Lament’.

The opera will demonstrate the talents of Norwegian conductor Lars Notto Birkeland, vocal coach Siri Torjesen, chorus master Ly Giai Thoa, Korean soprano Cho Hae Ryong, Vietnamese tenor Pham Trang, harpsichord Christian Kjos and artists of HBSO consisting of Tran Duy Linh, Ho Thi Kim Ngoc, Nguyen Thu Huong, Nguyen Thi Nhu Nhoc, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, Vo Thuy Ngoc Tuyen and Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga.

Tickets are available at the HBSO Office, 3 Phan Van Dat Street or at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square in District 1 and are priced at VND500,000, VND350,000, VND250,000 and VND60,000 for students. Contact (08) 3823 7419 or 0908 977 921 for bookings.

source from: vietnamnet

Writer Bui Ngoc Tan won the grand prize at the French literature festival Livre&Mer (Book&Sea) for his novel Bien va Chim Boi Ca.

The book, which was translated into French by Ha Tay and called La Mer et Le Martin-Pecheur, beat five other books in the final round.

Published by the Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House in 2009, the book documents the life of Vietnamese fishermen working for a State-owned fishing enterprise, where life is a constant struggle to make ends meet.

“With his beautiful poetic prose, Bui Ngoc Tan brings us to where we have never been, and when we close the book, we are changed and for the best,” says the festival’s website.

Born in 1934 in Hai Phong City, Tan began writing for periodicals and newspapers at the age of 20.

The French version of his award-winning book La Mer et le Martin-Pecheur was published by Aube Publishing House last year. This is his second published novel. Une vie de Chien (Unlucky Life) came out in 2007.

The festival Livre&Mer was launched in 1985 by Henri Queffelec (1910-92), considered one of the best maritime novelists of the 20th century writing in French.

The 28th festival awards will be presented on Sunday in Concarneau city, in the west of France. Translator Ha Tay will receive the prize on behalf of Tan.

source from: dtinews

The report also showed that current account balances have significantly narrowed throughout Asia , reflecting a shift in the global balance of payments. Combined current account surpluses in the region have fallen from USD533 billion in 2007, when they were equivalent to 7 percent of GDP, to just 333 billion last year, or 2.5 percent of GDP.

The report blamed the declining surpluses on increased consumption in countries in the region, as well as rising investments into other countries.

Five countries or territories listed in the report had stable account balances, including Hong Kong , Indonesia , Philippines , the Republic of Korea and Vietnam . Meanwhile, statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that Vietnam ‘s imports last month rose by 5 percent while exports surged 23 percent, reducing the trade deficit to around USD150 million.

However, both imports and exports in the first quarter were down against the previous quarter, and the trade deficit, at  USD275 million, was far below the average of USD2 billion in previous quarters.

ANZ predicted the reduced trade deficit will help Vietnam maintain a more stable foreign exchange rate in the near future. It also forecast that Vietnam will see an economic growth rate of 5.5 to 6 percent this year despite a pace of only 4 percent in the first quarter.

The ANZ report also forecast that the State Bank of Vietnam will maintain the prime rate at 14 percent this month following last month’s single-percentage-point reduction. However, ANZ predicted the rate will fall to 10 percent by the first half of 2013.

source from: dtinews

Situated in the Cuu Long River Delta, Ben Tre Province has favourable soil conditions for the growth of coconut trees. The trees here have a lot of fruit which has a higher content of oil than the coconuts grown in other regions of the country.

Compared with other plants, coconut trees in Ben Tre have the highest value. The fruit is used to make everything, from food and drinks to household utensils, fine arts items and to build houses. It has brought prosperity to Ben Tre farmers.

We visited a coconut garden owned by Do Thanh Thuong who is called “The king of Ben Tre coconuts” in Long Hung Commune, Giong Trom District. In 1999, he was awarded the title “The most excellent coconut grower in Vietnam” by the Asia – Pacific Coconut Community (APCC). In 2004 this organization gave him the “Tree of Life” award. While leading us to visit his 2.5ha garden of coconut trees laden with fruit, he said: “In 2011 my family earned a total income of nearly 300 million from coconuts, excluding the fruit left on trees.”

From April 4 – 9, 2012, Ben Tre will host the 3rd Ben Tre Coconut Festival with the theme “Ben Tre on the way of integration and development” to honour and promote the coconut sector. It is expected that many businesses at home and from the member countries of the Asia – Pacific Coconut Community will participate in the festival.

In 2011, Ben Tre Province had over 51,000ha of coconut trees, of which over 41,000ha yielded an output of over 400 million fruit/year. The province has about 70 enterprises and 1,400 facilities with nearly 50,000 workers engaged in producing and processing coconut products. There is a 100% foreign-funded company and a joint venture company with Sri Lanka.
Talking about the benefits of the coconut processing industry, Ho Vinh Sang, Chairman of Ben Tre Coconut Association said: “If we sell a coconut via small trading ways we get only about 11,000 VND, while a coconut processed into a product for export will bring more than 100,000 VND, more than 10 times higher”. This shows that the coconut processing industry can bring great economic efficiency. It also brings jobs for the local people.

Now, Ben Tre has more than 40 categories of products made from coconuts, like dried scraped coconut meat, coconut fibers, coconut candy and coconut jelly. They have been exported to many countries around the world, such as China, Taiwan, India, Cambodia, Laos, the US, France, Canada and Australia. In addition, there are over 100 types of fine art items made from coconut tree, coconut fruit, coconut shells and stems, and they are much sought after by consumers. Every year, coconut products account for about 50% of the province’s export turnover.

Strategy of the coconut region

Defining the coconut tree as a strategic crop in the economic development of the province’s targets from now until 2020, the authorities pay great attention to investing in the coconut processing industry and considers it one of the two key industries to develop the local economy. Over the past years, the leaders of Ben Tre Province and departments have made great efforts to map out a sustainable direction for the development of coconut trees and implemented many solutions to expand the consumption market.

Besides stabilizing the domestic market, the province has expanded the market to 80 countries in the world. Europe is defined as the target market; America is a potential market with North America, mainly the US, Canada and Mexico as a focus; Africa will be a new market because it has great demands for different categories of goods and the requirements on the goods’ quality are suitable to the production capacity of the province.

To be able to supply enough materials for the coconut processing industry, Ben Tre Province is establishing the specialized coconut-growing areas in Cho Lach, Chau Thanh, Mo Cay and Giong Trom Districts and applying the model of household’s cultivation. The province has implemented many support projects, such as improving about 20,000ha of perennial coconut trees, growing alternately coconut trees and cocoa trees, increasing the acreage of high-yield coconut trees and applying the model of growing coconut trees along with raising shrimp.

Great investment has been made for the research, hybridization and selection of coconut varieties. As a result, a lot of new and hybrid coconut varieties have been produced. Some salinity-resistant varieties are being experimentally cultivated to adapt to the climate change which is happening rapidly in the Mekong River Delta.

Ben Tre is striving to increase the coconut area to over 53,000ha by 2020 and reach an output of 500 million coconuts/year. The province is also making efforts to make coconut trees soon to be recognized as a key plant of the nation. With this strategy, it is hoped that in the near future, the coconut processing industry will develop strongly, making an effective contribution to the socio-economic development of the province.

The well-known green coconuts of Ben Tre. 

The peaceful beauty of the coconut forests in Ben Tre. 

Coconuts are one of the main materials used to make many well-known products in Ben Tre. 

Selling coconuts on the Ham Luong River. 

Drying coconut fiber. 

Thanh Long Coconut Candy Factory. 

Making coconut jelly in Minh Chau Workshop.

Packing coconut jelly products in Minh Chau Coconut Jelly Workshop. 

Packaging dried coconut meat. 

Ben Tre is famous for handicraft products made from coconut. 

Ben Tre is famous for handicraft products made from coconut.

Ben Tre is famous for handicraft products made from coconut. 

Ben Tre coconuts are well-known around the country. 

source from: vietnamnet

MOET released the decision after finding out that the thousands of graduate students were exempted from attending the foreign language exam, a compulsory exam subject, which means that the schools violated the Circular No. 10 dated in 2011, which stipulates the regulations on enrolling learners for master training courses.

The schools include many big names such as the Hanoi National University, the Hanoi Economics University, HCM City Economics University and Hanoi Foreign Trade University.

With the decision, the learners who have been following the training courses for master degree may have to stop learning.

Quynh Anh, an officer of the Information Center under the Ministry of Construction, who graduated from the Hanoi Foreign Language Pedagogical University, has become a learner without having to attend the entrance foreign language exam. By the day of attending at the class, she had been working as a teacher at the Foreign Language University, a member of the Hanoi National University.

“I would be ready to attend an additional foreign language exam. This would not be a big challenge for me, because I am a foreign language teacher and I speak foreign language every day. However, it would be unreasonable to abrogate the recognition for matriculation,” Anh said.

She went on to say that in order to become a learner of the training courses for a master degree, candidates had to pass professional entrance exams and they only did not have to attend the foreign language exam. The learners received the notice of admission in August 2011 and began learning in October 2011. As such, they have been following the training for six months.

“Most of us have paid tuition for half of the training course, worth more than 10 million dong. Some of us have paid for the whole course. What should we do now?” Anh questioned.

Hoang Thi Lan Phuong, Deputy Director of the University Training Department under the Ministry of Education and Training, said on Tien phong that foreign language exam is a compulsory exam stipulated in the current valid legal documents. She said that only 15 out of the 130 schools violated the regulations, which show that they deliberately ignore the regulations and they need to be punished.

Meanwhile, representatives of the schools have argued that the regulations are not clear enough, which has led to misunderstanding. An officer of the training division of a southern university said that the circular does not say about the requirements on foreign language skills.

Meanwhile, Phuong of MOET has affirmed that the ministry has every reason to release such a harsh decision. She said that ministry asked the economics school to re-organize the entrance exams right after it discovered problems. However, the school has ignored the ministry’s instruction.

Meanwhile, the other 10 schools complained that they did not receive any warnings from the ministry before they heard about the decision to abrogate the recognition for matriculation.

“We made public the plan to enroll learners for master training courses right at the beginning of the year. MOET also sent inspectors to the school to supervise the exams. The ministry’s officials did not say that we violated the regulations,” the president of a school complained.

Professor Hoang Van Chau from the Hanoi Foreign Trade University said on VTC that according to the circular, the head of the schools set requirements on the foreign language skills of candidates. Therefore, leaders of schools think that they have the right to make decisions on exempting exams for some subjects.

source from: dtinews