Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) defeated defending champions Binh Dinh 4-2 on penalty kicks in the second semifinal game of the Thanh Nien-sponsored National U21 Football Championship on Friday in Danang City.

Following a 2-2 draw during the official 90 minutes of the match, HAGL excelled with a 4-2 victory after penalty kicks.

HAGL took the lead after two early goals by Tang Tuan. Binh Dinh leveled the game 2-2 in the games last minute after shortening the gap to 2-1 in the last minute of the first half.

HAGL will now clash with Tien Giang in the series final game on October 8. Binh Dinh and the other semifinal loser Nam Dinh were given bronze medals and VND30 million (US$1,880) each.

In related news, the Central Committee of Sports and Physical Training on Thursday decided to award a certificate of merit to the Vietnam Youth Union and Thanh Nien newspaper for organizing the youth football competition for the last ten years.

The award ceremony will be held on Sunday in Danangs Chi Lang stadium, just before the final games kickoff.

Reported by Quang Huy, Quang Tuyen Translated by Minh Phat

The Vietnamese Government, along with the business community should give more financial support to its music orchestras, said a Japanese conductor after his successful concert in HCMC.

Yoshikazu Fukumura, who has just marked another successful performance of Vietnam-Japan classical music in Ho Chi Minh City recital, talked to Thanh Niens Quynh Nhu after the concert.

What did you think of the audience tonight?

Yoshikazu Fukumura is one of Japans best-known and most versatile conductors. He was Music Director of the Tokyo Ballet Company and many other orchestras in Japan. Fukumura was conductor of the Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra and is also well known overseas. During the past 20 years, he has recorded in Hong Kong, Beijing, Taiwan, the Philippines,etc. as guest conductor of many major orchestras Born in 1946, Fukumura entered the pretigious Toho School of Music in 1962. In 1968 he gave his dbut as a professional conductor with the Kyoto Municipal Symphony Orchestra. In the 1970s he won many prizes and awards in Europe. In 1995, he was given the La Condecoracion por la Cultura Nacional Award from the government of Cuba and became the main conductor of the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. In 1998, the Vietnamese Government granted him the medal of friendship for achievements in musical development in Vietnam.

They were very wonderful. I love Vietnamese audiences.

According to experts, you were the conductor who introduced Vietnamese symphony orchestra to many other countries and helped improve it a lot. So, what made you so close with Vietnam?

Because I found that Vietnam is a country of well-educated people. I came here for the first time in 1992. From that time on, I witnessed many changes your country has made. Personally, I love Vietnam and its audiences very much.

From your experience of conducting Vietnamese instrumentalists on many occasions, could you tell us your views on them?

They need to improve performance skills by attending recitals more frequently. However, they dont have a lot of chance to do that in Vietnam due to financial difficulties. I think the government should give them more support.

How is the situation in Japan?

In Japan, everything seems different. Because Japan has a 100-hundred year history of classical music, we have many audiences of this kind of music. As you know, profit from tickets and donations from the business community help Japan build a strong foundation for classical music.

As far as I know. There are currently about 20 orchestras in Japan- but only 4 or 5 out of them were sponsored by the government. However, performances are held very frequently thanks to sponsorship from companies.

Do you have anything you would like to pass on to your Vietnamese audience?

I would say I hope that Vietnamese audiences continue to support classical music more to make it developed. In addition, government and companies should give more financial support to orchestras.

Thank you very much, Mr. Yoshikazu Fukumura!

Reported by Quynh Nhu

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the French Development Agency (AFD) have granted almost US$3 million to traffic and reservoir projects in central Quang Nam Province, a provincial source said Sunday.

The agencies have allocated $988,000 to improve the road between the communes of Tam An and Tam Thanh of Phu Ninh District.

A further $2 million will be spent improving Phu Loc Reservoir in Duy Xuyen District.

ADB previously gave $2 million to assist ethnic people who were affected by the Bung 4 River Hydroelectric Plant improve their earning capacity.

Reported by Ho Trong

Traversing the countryside on a bicycle has much more to recommend it than gazing through the window from the confined interior of a tour coach.

Its possibly the best way to see the Mekong Delta, and it just so happens that Saigontourist and Fiditour offer a guided tour of the region tailor-made for cycling enthusiasts.

Starting in Ho Chi Minh City, the cyclists and their bicycles, along with a doctor or two, travel by bus to the center of Tan An, the main town of Long An Province.

Its much safer this way as the traffic on the main road can be hazardous.

Saigontourist Travel Service Co. 49 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1, HCMC Tel: (08) 3 827 9279 Fiditour 129 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, District 1, HCMC Tel: (08) 3 914 1414

The bus drops everyone off at a temple where the tour party can learn about the home-grown Cao Dai faith.

From Tan An, its 25 kilometers of pedaling to get to the town of My Tho in Tien Giang Province, where the party visits a garden and Vinh Trang Pagoda, and takes a boat to Thoi Son Island.

Ben Tre Province to the immediate south comes next. The itinerary here includes visiting coconut gardens, canals, a busy town market and a rice farm.

Day three starts out with a trip to Cai Mon in Ben Tres Cho Lach District, which enjoys nationwide renown for its fruit and ornamental plants.

From Cai Mon, the journey continues along charming country roads, with stops at several orchards along the way, and into Vinh Long Province.

The accommodation in Vinh Long is a pre-arranged homestay, and comes after a busy day of cycling.

Before sleep, the tourists can eat grilled snakehead fish they have just caught, drink rice wine, and watch a traditional music show.

The next day begins with a run to the provinces main town, also called Vinh Long, and ends in Can Tho City.

In between there are markets and villages to see in Long Ho District, and a Khmer village to visit in Ba Can.

Early the next morning, the tour party catches a boat from Ninh Kieu Quay for a trip to the famous floating markets at Cai Rang and Phong Dien.

The days itinerary also includes a bike excursion to Bang Lang Bird Sanctuary about 20 kilometers from Can Tho.

More information is available from Saigontourist or Fiditour.

Reported by Dat Tien

It has taken a little over 200 years, but Washingtonians finally sense that their quirky status as citizens without voting representation in the U.S. Congress might just be coming to an end.

The self-styled “capital of the free world” has been a democratic black spot for the United States — drawing sharp criticism from rights groups and even the United Nations.

Residents of the District of Columbia, which is not legally a state, have had to fight for the limited voting rights they have since Congress relocated here from Philadelphia in 1800.

It took until 1961 to gain the right to vote in presidential elections, and they still have no full-fledged member of Congress — either in the House of Representatives or the Senate — despite having to pay federal taxes like everyone else.

But a determined grass-roots movement, a Democratic-controlled Congress, a weakened Republican president and a compromise involving far-away Utah has raised hopes that D.C. residents eventually might discard the “Taxation Without Representation” protest messages many carry on their car license plates.

“I’ve talked to activists in the city and they haven’t seen a moment like this in a very, very long time,” said Iler Zherka, executive director of DC Vote, a group campaigning for congressional representation for Washington.

Thousands of people, ranging from students to taxi drivers, are expected to join a march to Congress on Monday, the city’s annual Emancipation Day marking Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 signing of the act that ended slavery in the District.

The aim is to press lawmakers into passing a bill this week that, while not making the District a state, would raise the number of seats in the U.S. House by two — one for Washington and one for Utah, which has been demanding more representation because of population changes.

Selling D.C. short?

The bill is to be taken up by the House on Thursday, where approval is likely. But it would still have to pass the narrowly divided Senate and be signed by President George W. Bush, who pointedly had the protest plates removed from presidential limousines and whose aides have advised a veto.

Washington’s heavily black and Democratic population has been seen as the main cause of long-standing Republican opposition to giving the capital a seat, so handing one to Republican-friendly Utah could greatly boost the bill’s chances of success.

Advocates also hope Bush would be reluctant to pick another fight with a resurgent Congress that is already challenging him over the Iraq War and other issues.

But the legislation has disappointed some rights activists, who say it sells Washington short by not giving it Senate representation and by leaving open constitutional questions that could make it vulnerable to legal challenges.

It would require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to make the District a state with full representation by two senators and a representative in the House.

“I think the bill is wholly unworthy of the people of the District of Columbia,” said Timothy Cooper, executive director of advocacy group Worldrights.

“My fear, as well as the fear of others, is that this will completely deflate any move to get U.S. senators,” he said.

The bill is “flagrantly unconstitutional” — ignoring the Founding Fathers’ stipulation that Congress members are elected by “the several states” — and is virtually certain to be struck down by the courts, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at the George Washington University Law School.

Advocates of the bill say it is legitimate because the Constitution gives Congress the power to exercise “exclusive legislation” over the capital.

Source: Reuters

Travel companies in HCMC report lower than expected tour bookings ahead of the extended Southern Liberation Day holiday, according to local agencies.

Lua Viet, Fiditourist and VYC among other travel companies said their sales have not hit the numbers that they had predicted weeks ago.

Many factors have contributed, including what is seen as an unreasonable increase in hotel room charges, said travel agencies.

Many hotels at tourist attractions including Nha Trang, Dalat and Phan Thiet have taken the holiday as a chance to double their room charges as tourism boomed on the holiday in previous years.

Also, locals have reconsidered plans due to overcrowding of sites, common on weekend holidays like the April 30^th Liberation Day as many travel companies have grossly exaggerated tour bookings.

Faced with the declining booking numbers, local travel agencies are likely to lose their deposits at hotels if they cannot receive sufficient tour bookings as predicted.

Hotels in the Central Highland city of Dalat announced full occupancy during the holidays three weeks ago but now rooms are available as many tour organizers have canceled their contracts.

Reported by Cam Nhi amp; Lam Vien – Translated by T.H.

In front of a classic white and pale green mosque in Chau Doc Town of An Giang Province, a group of Cham children play under the blazing sun.

The Mubarak mosque, located along the Hau Giang Riverbank which is home to a group of Cham minority villagers, was recognized as an Artistic Architecture Work by the government in 1989.

For the Cham people, mosques play an important role in their everyday life.

The Mubarak mosque is well known in Vietnam as it is associated with the late Hakim Al-Haji Umar Aly, the first Cham to train in Mecca and the first known Vietnamese expert on Islamic religious law.

The mosques architecture, including a graceful dome and watchtower, is typical of structures in Middle Eastern countries.

Built in 1967, the Mubarak has been renovated five times most recently by an Indian-born architect named Mohamed Amin.

However, the mosques architecture has always followed Islamic style, from outside to inside.

The curved oval top of the two-storey tower rises into the sky with a crescent and a star, representing Islam.

On top of the main building stands four small towers which converge with two other sloped towers.

Five times a day, at dawn, midday, in the afternoon, at dusk and at midnight, a drum-call resounds from the main tower, calling people to come to the religious site and pray.

As Muslim people believe Alah is their only god, no other statue or saint is present inside the mosque.

There is, however, one minbar a pulpit in the mosque where the Imam (leader of prayer) stands to deliver sermons every Friday.

Next to the mosque is a Madrasah where Islamic doctrine and Malaysian language are taught to children.

Yearly, the Mubarak mosque holds three main ceremonies including Roja on December 10, Ramadan from September 1-30, and the birthday of Mohamet on March 12, according to the Muslim calendar.

These events attract large numbers of people from around the country, highlighting the diversity of religious followers throughout Vietnam.

Reported by Phuong Anh

The authorities of the coastal province Ba Ria-Vung Tau ordered two hydrofoil companies to assume responsibility for their passengers stress and losses caused by an accident over a month ago.

Quang Hung Ltd. and Dong Song Xanh Ltd. are required to accept full responsibility for the inconveniences their passengers experienced and to pay these passengers compensation, said the Ba Ria- Vung Tau Department of Transportation.

In early August, the hydrofoil ship Greenline 3 of the Dong Song Xanh Ltd. met with an accident which pierced the ships hold off the coast of Vung Tau. As water rose in the ships hold, the ship staff made no efforts to reassure the terrified passengers or to give them any safety instructions. The panic-stricken passengers were rescued later thanks to a rescue boat which managed to reach the damaged ship in time.

Thanh Nien newspaper later published a letter by Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, a passenger on the Greenline 3, describing the terror that he and other passengers went through.

After Mr. Hungs letter was published, a representative from Quang Hung Ltd. came to Thanh Nien headquarters, saying it was Dong Song Xanh Ltd., not Quang Hung Ltd. that should have claimed responsibility for the mishap.

However, in a follow-up article dated Aug. 13, Thanh Nien newspaper made it clear that passengers purchased their tickets from Quang Hung Ltd., not Dong Song Xanh Ltd.

Quang Hung Ltd. and Dong Song Xanh Ltd. had earlier agreed that passengers who purchased tickets from either company could board either of their ships. However, both companies remained silent on the matter and assumed no responsibility for the trouble they caused to their passengers.

In response to their irresponsibility, Mr. Hung decided to lodge several complaints with the relevant authorities, demanding an official apology and compensation from Quang Hung Ltd., from whom he bought his ticket.

After a working session with all parties involved on Aug. 26, 2004, the Ba Ria Vung Tau Department of Transportation issued a statement requesting both companies to assume full responsibility and offer compensation to the passengers.

The statement also included specific training requirements for crews on passenger ships, such as crowd-management training for emergency evacuations.

Reported by CTBD Translated by Tran Phong.

The Ho Chi Minh City Appeals Court Monday handed out a gentler sentence for a navigator involved in a waterway accident in mid Aug 2004 that left 7 dead and 4 crew critically injured.

Nguyen Quoc Viet, 42, working for a navigation company under the Vietnamese Maritime Department, received three years probation for making a fatal decision while navigating the Panamas Uniforward container departing from HCMC to southern Vung Tau port.

Viet had been originally sentenced to 42 months in prison by the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Peoples Court in late August this year.

The appeals court upheld the fine of VND650 million (US$40,880) given to Taiwanese Ting Rah Cheng, 61, Uniforwards captain.

Panamas Uniforward, with a loading capacity of 18,000 tons, was at the Aval Can Gio area in Ganh Rai Bay in Vung Tau waters when Viet spotted two fishing boats on its left. He then instructed his navigators to veer right, causing the vessel to collide with the Vietnamese SG00994 tugboat of Southern Waterway Construction Co. (Sowaco), which was carrying stakes used for maritime safety.

The bodies of seven sailors on the tugboat were recovered while four others suffered serious injuries after the boat capsized, with the tugboat and its entire cargo vanishing into the sea.

With Uniforward held responsible for the collision, its owner, Taiwans Evergreen Marine Corp, Ltd., agreed to give the now deceased sailors families $15,000 each in compensation.

The Ba Ria-Vung Tau court, however, rejected claims for more compensation for the victims families.

Reported by Le Nga Translated by Ngoc Hanh.

The Thai prime minister fired his agriculture and defense ministers on Oct. 5 following their failures to beat the countrys bird flu crisis and settle the political unrest in the Muslim-dominated south.

This is PM Thaksin Shinawatras 10th reshuffle since he took office in 2001, coming just a few months ahead of a general election expected early next year.

In the latest reshuffle, PM Thaksin appointed General Sumpan Boonyanun as defense minister to replace Chettha Thanajaro, while Deputy Premier Wan Muhammad Nor Matha was named agriculture minister, taking over from Somsak Thepsutin.

In March, Mr. Wan Muhamad, the new agriculture minister, had been moved from a previous post as interior minister during another reshuffle, for his failure to stem the violence in the south.

“These cabinet changes were aimed at tackling both bird flu and unrest in the south and I will personally supervise the security issue,” Mr. Thaksin told the press in Bangkok after the announcement of the shuffle.

Bird flu has so far taken 11 lives in Thailand this year, while violence in three Muslim-majority provinces in southern Thailand has reportedly led to the deaths of at least 300 people.

Source: BBC, Bloomberg Compiled by Hieu Trung.