Saigon times daily

Sam Van Dung, 43, and Tran Quy Vinh, 47, will be investigated for "property appropriation" by the municipal police department, police said Friday. The two visitors from the Philippines, Melannie Sabellano Carna, 35, and Marina Monina Surban Flores, 41, were taking a tour of District 1 in the afternoon of Monday when the incident happened. The two women called two cyclos to take them from the Independence Palace in District 1 to some nearby touristic locations. A deal was reached for the tourists to pay the drivers VND150,000 ($6.5) each. When the tour ended at the War Remnants Museum in District 3, Dung demanded that Flores to pay more, and she agreed to give him VND200,000. Carna was asked for 10 times the agreed amount, and she refused to pay. Vinh then snatched her purse to take the money himself, but his attempt failed. Yet Vinh did not give up. He yelled at her and threatened her. Eventually, she had to give him the VND1.5 million ($65) he demanded. The two women then reported the … [Read more...] about Cyclo drivers fleece Filipino tourists in Saigon

The Department of Population and Family Planning has proposed subsidizing or waiving hospital fees for the delivery of the second child and offering families having two children soft loans to buy or rent houses. These are meant only for official residents of the city and not migrants, the department said in the proposal, which will be submitted to the administration for drafting the population policy for 2021-25. Other recommendations include extending maternity leave from six months to one year for having the second child and giving the father a month off, increasing the number of days of annual paid leave from 12 for employees having kids under five, and subsidizing kindergarten fees at public facilities for families with two kids. In the last two decades the city's fertility rate has fallen from 1.76 children per woman to just 1.33 against the current national average of 2.1. The rate is "seriously low", and would keep falling without timely intervention, Le Van Thanh, former head … [Read more...] about Saigon couples might get incentives to have second kid

The Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) on Thursday began using the area navigation RNAV, or Area Navigation, which permits the operation of an aircraft on any desired flight path and its position to be continuously determined wherever it is rather than only along tracks between individual ground navigation aids. RNAV is enabled through the use of a navigation computer. Waypoints are loaded into the computer either manually or automatically with an integrated database. The flight crew then creates a route as a series of waypoints in accordance with the flight plan. The computer estimates the aircraft position using the fitted navigation sensors and compares the estimation to the defined route. Deviation between the estimated position and the defined path creates guidance information. The move allows the airport's air traffic control to control more flights at a time. "This is an important method to allow Tan Son Nhat to handle the traffic jam both on the ground and in the … [Read more...] about Saigon airport’s new navigation method allows more flights per hour

It’s 5:30 p.m. and Bui Thanh Truc uses her smartphone to book a 5-km Go-Viet ride from District 5 to an English center in District 3 where she works at night. Truc used to be a loyal bus passenger at university but, at 25 switched to using ride-hailing apps for short trips. "I used to get in trouble arriving late for class, busses being so slow, especially during rush hour," Truc explained. "It felt like a nightmare. The bus inching forward, horn blowing continually while the assistant screamed at passing motorcyclists." Using Go-Viet, it takes Truc two minutes to book a trip and five to be picked up. The journey from Truc’s house to her work takes a mere 15 minutes, costing VND12,000 ($0.5). Truc is one of many Saigonese who’ve turned ride-hailing apps for their convenience, prices only slightly higher than a bus ticket. A Go-Viet driver is seen in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/StreetVJ. In 2016, the ride-hailing sector lured 20.8 million users, the … [Read more...] about Booming ride-hailing apps outpace the die-hard Saigon bus

Geordie Greig is to be the new editor of the Daily Mail, putting a staunch remainer in charge of one of the most pro-Brexit newspapers in the country. The current Mail on Sunday boss will replace Paul Dacre, 69, who is stepping down in November. Lord Rothermere, who controls the two papers, said: “Geordie has been an outstanding editor of the Mail on Sunday, and I am delighted that he will continue the high-quality journalism that Paul has made a hallmark of the Daily Mail for more than 25 years.” A source with knowledge of the discussions told the Guardian that Greig’s appointment was part of a process of “detoxifying the Daily Mail” after Dacre’s editorship. Any change to the Daily Mail’s editorial line on Brexit could have substantial implications for the government. Under Dacre’s leadership, the paper has launched ferocious front-page attacks on public figures who it deems to have challenged the decision to leave the EU. One … [Read more...] about New Daily Mail editor to be Geordie Greig