Hanoi’s lakes from flying cameras

From a height of over 200m, Hoan Kiem Lake and West Lake look clean, green and peaceful in the bustling city.

Hoan Kiem Lake viewed from Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square. On the left are Dinh Tien Hoang Street and Le Thai To streets and the Thuy Ta Restaurant in the right corner. Ngoc Khanh Lake in Ngoc Khanh Ward, Ba Dinh District, surrounded by the two streets of Nguyen Chi Thanh and Pham Huy Thong. There are many coffee shops and restaurants that have attracted young people for a dozen years. Inside the park of Nghia Do in Nghia Tan Ward, Cau Giay District is the lake of the same name. Nghia Do Lake is opposite the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. Along with Hoan Kiem Lake, West Lake is Hanoi's most famous lake, having been described in many poems and songs. It is the largest natural lake in the city, covering an area of over 500 hectares, 18km in perimeter. On the lake emerges the beautiful Tran Quoc Pagoda. In the northwest of the West Lake is the West Lake Water Park and amusement sites along the lake. This is the place for the young and couples. Hoang Cau Lake in Dong Da District is surrounded by the streets of Hoang Cau and Mai Anh Tuan. On the lake are the abutments of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated urban railway. Bay Mau Lake in Thong Nhat Park. The lake occupies about 28 hectares, with the two islands of Thong Nhat and Hoa Binh in the middle. The lake is surrounded by the roads of Dai Co Viet and Le Duan. Thien Quang Lake is surrounded by the four streets of Nguyen Du, Tran Trong Binh, and Quang Trung and Tran Nhan Tong. This area is famous for milky flowers in the autumn. Giang Vo Lake in Ba Dinh District. This is a densely populated area. Around the lake are cafes, big restaurants and hotels. Xa Dan Lake is surrounded by Hanoi's old apartment blocks such as Trung Tu and Nam Dong on the roads of Ho Dac Di, Tran Huu Tuoc and Dang Van Ngu. Van Lake on Quoc Tu Giam Street, Dong Da District, is in front of the Temple of Literature. Amid the lake is Kim Chau Hill with the Phan Thuy house. This was the site where scholars declaimed poems in the past. This is part of the Temple of Literature – Vietnam’s first university.

Cemetery for aircraft, military vehicles in Vietnam

Aircraft, tank chains, specialized military vehicles and other iron equipment are piled around the village of Quan Do, in Van Mon Commune, Yen Phong District, Bac Ninh Province.

For nearly 10 years, Quan Do village has become the center of metal waste. Right at the entrance to the village are aircraft bodies. Local people used to buy more than 20 military aircraft from MiG 19 to MiG 21 and IL18 at the same time. They also buy old military vehicles as scrap. A specialized military vehicles is about to be “processed" to collect metals. There are thousands of old motorbikes in the village. Locals buy them at the price of VND500,000 to VND700,000 ($25-30).   Military communication equipment and computer screens.   Electronics boards. These things will be dismantled to collect metals. The switches split from electrical equipment will be sold to sellers of used electronic items at the flea market in Hanoi. Every day, villagers buy tons of scrap. They have to hire workers from other villages to dismantle and classify waste. Across the villager roads are piles of scrap, ranging from cables to copper wires, electrical transformers, motors etc. A pile of tank chains. After being classified, scraps become best-selling items. In the photo, a truck carries plastic covers of electric wires and plastic materials to recycling facilities.

Connecticut school slaying suspect under emergency commitment

A 16-year-old Connecticut high school student suspected in the slashing death of a classmate was under emergency commitment at a medical facility, his lawyer said Saturday.

The classmate, Maren Sanchez, 16, who was described by her family as "a bright light full of hopes and dreams," died Friday after being slashed in a school stairwell, authorities said. She was cut in her neck, chest and face.Though the motive is under investigation, police were looking into rumors the boy was angry because Sanchez had declined to go to the prom with him.The alleged assailant was removed by staff members at Jonathan Law High School in Milford, local police said.He was being held at a local medical facility and a murder charge is pending, officials said.Attorney Richard Meehan said Saturday via e-mail that the suspect was under a 15-day emergency commitment and would not appear at an arraignment scheduled for Monday. Meehan would not elaborate.He'll be arraigned in a juvenile court in New Haven, though police note that courts will decide later whether he will be tried as an adult.The incident began around 7 a.m. in a stairwell at the school, and was witnessed in part by at least one school staff member.

Sanchez, a junior, suffered "multiple lacerations" and investigators "recovered a knife at the crime scene," police said. Morgan obtained the followingThe Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Connecticut concluded Saturday that 16-year-old Maren Sanchez died from "stab wounds to the trunk and neck" and ruled the death as a homicide.School staff members and emergency technicians attempted "life-saving measures," according to Milford Police Chief Keith Mello, but Sanchez was pronounced dead at Bridgeport Hospital at 7:43 a.m.

Addressing reporters on Friday, the police chief didn't provide a motive but said investigators are looking into rumors that the boy was angry because Sanchez had declined to go to the prom with him.

The prom, scheduled for Friday night, was postponed. All students were sent home, and Milford Public Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Feser said counseling services will be available to them throughout the weekend.

On Friday, friends and classmates of Sanchez gathered around her prom dress and released balloons into the air. The balloons were violet, her favorite color.On Instagram, classmates in prom attire posted images of themselves holding her green gown.The slain girl's cousin, Edward Kovac, read a statement from her family lamenting what they called an "unprovoked attack" that ended the life of a young woman who had "her future at her fingertips.""Maren should be celebrating at her prom this evening, with her friends and classmates," the family said, via Kovac. "Instead, we are mourning her death, and we are trying as a community to understand this senseless loss of life." 

The family statement recalled other cases of school violence, saying "we can never forget the lessons ... from this" and other incidents. One of those incidents happened about 22 miles away, in December 2012 in Newtown, when a lone gunman shot his mother to death, then went to Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life.

"We need to ensure that more young children are protected from violent attacks at school," the family said.

First hearing wraps for 23

 

THE trial of 23 people arrested during a garment strike in January was adjourned on Friday until May 6 after a long-awaited first hearing.After hearing from witnesses, Phnom Penh Municipal Judge Keo Mony said that due to the seriousness of the charges, the court needed more time to study the evidence before it could reach a verdict.

“These people [are accused of] having incited people to protest against garment factories and causing serious turmoil in our society,” he said.All suspects were arrested on January 2 and January 3 in Phnom Penh during a nationwide garment strike that ended in government forces shooting dead at least four people.Charges include aggravated intentional violence and aggravated intentional property destruction, which carry a maximum prison sentence of five years. The court has reduced charges against at least three, including Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA) president Vorn Pov, whose charges carry a maximum of two years.

In one courtroom, a judge took nearly two hours after the afternoon lunch break to call roll for witnesses for a second time. When the clock neared 4pm, he said judges needed to end proceedings due to time constraints in getting the defendants back to Prey Sar prison, where they are being held.

In addition to the two trials composing the 23, two men were separately on trial for their alleged participation in a Meanchey district riot that occurred when factory workers on strike from SL Garment were blocked by police during a march on November 12.After the hearing, police in riot gear cleared journalists and rights workers in front of Phnom Penh Municipal Court to the other side of the street, as a van containing the prisoners sped out of the building’s back entrance.

Earlier in the day, police focused their attention on about 400 supporters who waved flags, burned incense and made speeches over loudspeakers.Authorities had blocked the street in front of the courthouse with barricades and police in riot gear before 7am. Demonstrators on one side set up a makeshift shrine with sacrifices of beer and fruit in front of the police roadblock. “Free the 23” was printed on many of their T-shirts and painted on some faces.

At about 9:15, Yorm Bopha and other land rights activists made their way across the barricades on one side, ran toward the courthouse and were stopped and physically carried back by police and Daun Penh security guards – a process that was repeated over the course of two hours.

Some 50 police guarded each side of the blockade, while an additional 50 reinforcements sat at Olympic Stadium, which is located across the street from the court.

Successful surgery for patient with 4.5kg tumor

The patient, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuong, 41, is from the Mang Thit District of the southern province of Vinh Long.After having given birth two months earlier, Phuong felt something heavy in her right chest and had difficulty breathing when walking. Seeing doctors at Cho Ray Hospital, she was diagnosed with a huge tumor in the right breast.Scans showed that this was a neurofibrillary tumor, with great size of 30x70x25cm. The tumor wasweighing down on her entire right lung and other structures in her chest.

On April 17 doctors performed an operation to remove the tumor, which weighed up to 4.5kg.

Doctors say that this was a very difficult procedure because the tumor was stuck to the patient’s diaphragm, pericardium and blood vessels in the chest and the chest wall.

Currently, Phuong is recovering well. She can walk and eat. The surprising thing is that the patient was completely unaware of the giant tumor in her body until after giving birth.

Everest avalanche: Climbers descend amid uncertainty

 

A row over local guides' share of revenue from foreign climbers erupted after last week's deadly accident, prompting some to threaten a boycott.Sherpas also want better rescue and treatment facilities for guides.If others descend, some fear it could effectively end plans to climb the world's highest mountain this year.Ang Tshering Sherpa, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), told BBC Nepali's Surendra Phuyal that was a distinct possibility if the majority of climbers decided to abandon climbing.

But Madhusudan Burlakoti, a tourism ministry official, hoped that some teams might still climb. Sherpas have been in talks over these issues with the Nepalese government.

More than 300 foreigners were preparing to climb Everest this year, but the tense aftermath of the avalanche that killed 13 Sherpas and left 3 missing presumed dead dashed hopes and left many climbers disturbed and shocked, our correspondent reports.