The delegation of Hanoi students ranked second at the 6th International Olympiad of Metropolises that took place in Moscow from December 6-13. (Photo: VNA)
VNA reported that the municipal Department of Education and Training said the students brought home one gold and six silver medals. This is the third time Vietnam has sent a team to the Olympiad.
The eight students, from the Hanoi– Amsterdam High School, competed in the subjects of mathematics, physics, chemistry and informatics.
The Olympiad of Metropolises is an international team competition, which is held in Moscow every year at the initiative of the Mayor of Russia’s capital city. Its participants are 14-18 year old students, who live in the biggest metropolises of the world.
The first Olympiad took place in 2016, drawing the participation of 173 students from 22 cities.
UNESCO to consider nomination of Xoe Thai as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Nomination of the art of Xoe dance of Thai ethnic minority people of Vietnam as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will be discussed at the 16th session of the UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage that is taking place from December 13-18, reported VNA.
A Xoe Thai performance (Photo: baoquocte.vn)
As scheduled, the dossiers of the art of Xoe Thai will be put under discussion on December 15.
During the session, members of the committee will consider 48 nominations to the Representative List, 6 nominations to the Urgent Safeguarding List, and 5 proposals to the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.
The Vietnamese delegation attending the meeting online (Photo: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)
Xoe Thai is a unique type of traditional dance that is associated with and plays a significant role in the daily life of Thai ethnic communities in the northwest of Vietnam, especially in the provinces of Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La and Yen Bai.
It is performed in various community activities from festivals to funeral rituals.
There are about 30 Xoe dances, which have been developed, protected and handed down through generations intact over hundreds of years, including xoe quat (xoe dance with a fan), xoe khan (xoe dance with a scarf), xoe non (xoe dance with a conical hat) and many others with contents reflecting community activities and expressing the Thai people’s emotion.
With gentle and alluring rhythms, dancers usually form a circle around a festive flame and move to the sound of melodic traditional music.
Germany donates over 2.5 million Moderna doses to Vietnam
The German Government has supported Vietnam with a further 2,558,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as part of its contribution to the country’s ongoing vaccination drive, reported VOV.
The shipment of 2,558,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrives in Hanoi
The vaccine donation has been made through the COVAX Facility in close co-ordination with both UNICEF and WHO Vietnam.
In line with this, the shipment of 2,558,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived in Hanoi on December 10.
German Ambassador to Vietnam Dr. Guido Hildner said "Germany has already supplied Vietnam with vaccines and medical equipment this year. With this new delivery of over 2.5 million doses of vaccine through COVAX, Germany reaffirms its solidarity with Vietnam in combating and overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Current developments show that the pandemic is far from being defeated. Germany will provide further vaccines to Vietnam through the international vaccine platform COVAX. We can only defeat the pandemic if it is brought under control everywhere. Therefore, Germany and the EU support the COVAX vaccination campaign for fair and transparent access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide," he added.
Representatives from relevant agencies at the handover ceremony
"On behalf of the UN family, we thank the Government and people of Germany for sharing these life-saving vaccine doses with the Vietnamese people. We seek to ensure vaccines reach to every corner of this country and the world, equitably. The Governments who have supported and continue to support COVAX, including through financial support and donations of vaccine are the change makers in the fight against the spread of this pandemic,” stressed Rana Flowers, UN Coordinator and representative of UNICEF in Vietnam.
Moving forward, Germany is expected to grant additional vaccine doses to the Vietnamese side, bringing the total donations given by the European country up to over 10 million doses.
Following the latest delivery of vaccines donated by the German Government, Vietnam has now received a total of 45,197,910 of COVID-19 vaccine doses through the COVAX international vaccine platform.