Remarkable Daily News (Today: Từ tháng 7: Bắt đầu tổ chức thi TOEFL iBT tại Việt Nam )

Unrest reaches French capital
Riots, arson take new turn, spreads across country
PARIS, France (CNN) -- Protesters in France expanded their arson rampage into the capital city of Paris and along Me***erranean resort communities as the nation''s Interior Ministry predicted the violence would grow by daybreak Sunday.
Police helicopters flew over Paris and other locations in an effort to identify and stop the vandals, French radio said.
The latest violence, sparked by the deaths of two teenagers in suburban Paris, spread west to the Normandy region and south to the Me***erranean. In the resort cities of Cannes and Nice, where arson was reported.
By early Sunday, more than 900 cars had been burned, 193 people detained and several police officers and firefighters injured after a 10th night of rioting across France, according to national police spokesman Patrick Hamon.
Thirteen cars were torched in Paris, including several in the Place de la Republique in the central city.
In the Normandy city of Evreux, five police officers and three firefighters were injured when two schools, a post office, a shopping center and 50 cars were burned, Hamon said. A child care center was burned in Lille in northern France.
Two schools in Grigny, south of Paris, were set ablaze and firefighters responded to 30 reports of arson in Toulouse, in southern France, the Interior Ministry said. Several cars were on fire and several trash cans were burning outside public buildings.
A cultural center in the central city of Nantes was destroyed by fire, and a youth hostel burned in Paris, the ministry said. (Watch French teens explain why they''re angry -- 2:08)
The spreading violence has shocked national leaders and community residents into action as the French prime minister held special meetings Saturday and concerned citizens participated in a demonstration march.
For 10 days police, government and community leaders have been struggling to restore order, and debating how to quell the unrest that began October 27 in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.
Locals blamed police for the electrocution deaths of two teenagers -- both of African descent -- who climbed a fence surrounding a power station while apparently running from police.
Poverty, unemployment, discrimination
The vandalism has spread to around 20 communities with large immigrant and Muslim populations who''ve been plagued by poverty, unemployment and alleged discrimination. In some areas, unemployment is 25 percent.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin met with community leaders and members of his Cabinet Saturday to address the situation.
Mediators and religious leaders are talking to the youths in an effort to stop the violence. More than 2,000 vehicles have been torched in the violence, and hundreds or people arrested. Some police officers, paramedics and journalists have been injured.
The rioting prompted warnings from the U.S. and British governments for visitors to be aware of the situation and avoid the affected areas.
As many as 3,000 people took part in a silent march Saturday morning, speaking out against the rioting and its root causes, state radio reported.
''Quite hard to combat''
Hamon told The Associated Press that arsonists were moving beyond their heavily policed neighborhoods to less protected areas.
"They are very mobile, in cars or scooters. ... It is quite hard to combat," Hamon told AP. "Most are young, very young, we have even seen young minors."
There appeared to be no coordination between separate groups in different areas, Hamon told AP. But within gangs, youths are communicating by cell phones or e-mails. "They organize themselves, arrange meetings, some prepare the Molotov ****tails."
In quiet Acheres, west of Paris, arsonists burned a nursery school, where part of the roof ****d in, and about a dozen cars in four attacks that the mayor said seemed "perfectly organized," AP reported.
Children''s photos clung to the blackened walls, and melted plastic toys littered the floor, AP reported. Mayor Alain Outreman tried to cool tempers and rejected demands that militias be formed or that the army be deployed. "We are not going to start militias," he said. "You would have to be everywhere."
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the government is unanimous in its determination to end the violence and address the problems.
"Once this crisis is overcome and calm is restored, each must also understand that there''s also a certain feeling of injustice in some neighborhoods," Sarkozy said Saturday, according to a translation from Reuters News Agency. "I have thought this for a long time, and said it as well."
There have been calls by the Green Party and the Communist Party for Sarkozy to resign, after he called the rioters "scum" earlier in the week -- language that served only to inflame the vandalism.
Warning for tourists
The U.S. Embassy in Paris has issued a public announcement warning American travelers about the rioting.
"Although the riots have occurred in areas not normally frequented by U.S. tourists, travelers should be aware that train travel from the Charles de Gaulle Airport to the city center may be disrupted at times, as it passes near the affected area," according to the announcement, dated Friday.
"Travelers could rely instead on airport buses or taxis to downtown Paris. Americans should avoid the affected areas."
CNN''s Chris Burns and Hayat Mongodin contributed to this report

Athletes in peak form for SEA Games
HA NOI â?" The countryâ?Ts athletes for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines are in top physical con***ion and peak form, said an official of the Viet Nam Sport Science Institute.
"Vietnamese athletes are in good physical con***ion and form to participate in the SEA Games," said Le Quy Phuong, vice director of the institute. Phuong, also the head of the sub-committee for sports medicine of the national squad at the SEA Games, said the team had received a supplementary fund of VND3 billion (US$189,873) from the Government *****pply medicine for athletes during the games.
Earlier, the sub-committee and sport centres in Ha Noi and HCM City had to provide drugs and foodstuff from their own funds during the training session, which began early this year.
"The Government fund will help us provide necessary care for the athletes and keep them in peak fitness. We are only hoping the athletes will not pick up injuries during training," Phuong said.
During the training session four months before the last SEA Games, two Vietnamese athletes died and one was seriously injured from training overload.
Shortage of doctors, which is marring the preparation of athletes, was another issue faced by the team.
According to Phuong, 25 sports doctors were taking care of 30 teams in training camps being held both in Ha Noi and HCM City from early this year. But because of financial crisis, only 12 would go for the SEA Games with the national team.
The problem would be compounded in the Philippines, where the seven venues are spread across in different islands, Phuong said.
"With the shortage of staff, it will be a major headache for athletes competing in venues hundreds of kilometres from each other. We have four doctors covering the menâ?Ts and womenâ?Ts football teams at the games." Phuong said.
"With over 530 athletes competing in 34 events, we are afraid that all the athletes may not receive the best medical attention," he said.
Nutritional needs
Though the National Sport and Physical Training Committee, which selected athletes for the games, was constrained for funds, the committee increased daily nutritional expenses from VND60,000 (US$3.9) to VND100,000 ($6.3).
But, according to experts, athletes had to be provided with food supplements, required badly for enhancing performance, and for charting specific regimen for athletes at training camps.
According to Dang Ngoc Tuan, Director of the National Sports Centre 1, all teams currently receive nutrients worth VND100,000 that provide an average of 5,000 calories everyday, the minimum required for training. But they need ad***ional nutrients a month ahead of the games, starting this November.
Last month, the National Sports Centre 2 in HCM Cityâ?Ts Thu Duc District asked the sub-committee of sports medicine for a financial assistance of VND500 million ($32,645) for providing nutrients to 80 athletes of the national squad.
Heeding to the call, the sub-committee imported nutrient foods for athletes, which would be included in their regimen next week. However, experts will examine athletes while using drugs and medicines, while training, to prevent them taking banned substances.
At the SEA Games in Viet Nam two years ago, three athletes were stripped off their medals after their urine samples showed presence of banned drugs.
"When we investigated the case, we found that they used restorative substances without consulting doctors. At the SEA Games this year, the sports committee will make sure that the problem does not repeat again." Phuong said. â?" VNS

Bird flu: What you need to know
(CNN) -- Below is a list of key questions and answers regarding the bird flu that is sweeping across Asia.
What is bird flu (avian influenza)?
õ? Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The disease, first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, occurs worldwide.
õ? All birds are thought to be susceptible to the avian influenza, though some species, such as wild ducks, are more resistant than others. Domestic poultry, such as chickens or turkeys, are particularly susceptible.
õ? Infection triggers a wide spectrum of symptoms in birds, ranging from mild illness to a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease resulting in severe epidemics.
õ? In severe cases, the flu is characterized by a sudden onset of severe illness, and rapid death, with a mortality that can approach 100 percent.
Have humans come down with bird flu?
õ? Avian influenza does not normally infect species other than birds and pigs. But humans came down with the bird flu in Hong Kong in 1997, when the H5N1 strain infecting 18 humans, 6 of whom died.
õ? Then, people became infected after coming into close contact with live infected poultry.
õ? Genetic studies showed the virus jumped directly from birds to humans, and caused severe illness with high mortality.
õ? Hong Kong''s entire poultry population, estimated at around 1.5 million birds, was destroyed within three days. This is thought to have averted a pandemic.
õ? The World Health Organization has said the H5N1 bird flu virus is responsible for a number of deaths in Vietnam. They suspect people became ill after coming into contact with chicken feces.
Why is H5N1 of particular concern?
Of the 15 avian influenza virus subtypes, H5N1 is of particular concern because:
õ? It mutates rapidly and seems to acquire genes from viruses infecting other animal species.
õ? It can cause severe disease in humans.
õ? Birds that survive infection excrete virus for at least 10 days, orally and in feces, helping spread the virus at live poultry markets and by migratory birds.
õ? The more birds that come down with bird flu, the greater the opportunity for direct infection of humans.
õ? The more humans get infected, the greater the likelihood people can become infected with both human and bird flu strains.
õ? Humans could then serve as a "mixing vessel" for a new type of virus that could easily be transmitted from person to person. Such an event would mark the start of an influenza pandemic.
What are the symptoms, can it be tested and how do you treat it?
õ? When humans came down with H5N1 bird flu in Hong Kong in 1997, patients developed symptoms of fever, sore throat, cough and, in several of the fatal cases, severe respiratory distress secondary to viral pneumonia.
õ? Previously healthy adults and children, and some with chronic medical con***ions, were affected.
õ? Tests for diagnosing all influenza strains of animals and humans are rapid and reliable.
õ? Antiviral drugs, some of which can be used for both treatment and prevention, are clinically effective against influenza A virus strains in otherwise healthy adults and children, but have some limitations.
õ? At least four months would be needed to produce a new vaccine, in significant quantities, capable of conferring protection against a new virus subtype.

Sales for chickens in Thailand have plunged despite officials denying bird flu has affected farms.

Underground parking lot deal inked
HCM CITY â?" The joint-stock Investment and Development of Underground Space Inc (IUS) signed six memorandums of understanding (MoU) and contracts for developing a huge underground parking lot under Le Van Tam Park in District 1 on Tuesday.
IUS signed the first MoU with the Zublin International Group, making the German company the main contractor and party in charge of arranging project loans of US$18 to US$30 million.
"IUS has secured the participation of leading companies from all over the world as well as arranging capital for the project, said Le Tuan, the president of IUSâ?T management board.
"We have succeeded in mobilising idle capital from domestic sources in order to address the cityâ?Ts urgent traffic problems," said Tuan.
IUS has contracted two British companies, Chesterton Petty (real estate) and Grant Thornton (au***ing) to conduct a feasibility study.
Grant Thornton will also be responsible for financial consulting while Chesterton Petty will handle marketing and property management.
The other MoUs were inked with Sai Gon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Co. (Sabeco) and Bao Minh Insurance, who will contribute a respective VND30 billion ($1.9 million) and VND20 billion ($1.25 million) to the project.
The car park, to be built on 2.8 hectares under Le Van Tam Park, between Vo Thi Sau, Dien Bien Phu and Hai Ba Trung streets, will be able to accommodate 1,255 cars and buses and 1,450 motorbikes.
Le Van Thanh, deputy general director of Bao Minh, said that the money his company was contributing to the underground project would come from its net profit.
"We decided to take part in this project because it aims to address a major problem facing the city," added Sabeco deputy general director Nguyen Quang Minh.
According to figures from the HCM City Department of Transport and Public Works, the number of cars in the city has been increasing by 15 per cent annually. The city is home to 300,000 cars and 2.4 million motorbikes, which require 250 ha of parking space.
But at the moment the city has only 10 public parking lots with a total area of less than eight ha.
The MoU signing ceremony was held in conjunction with Investment Mart 2005, a two-day exposition organised by the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre and the HCM City Department of Planning and Investment. â?" VNS

PM approves Phu Quoc tourism project
HCM CITY â?" Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has approved a plan to develop Phu Quoc Island into an international tourist centre by 2020.
Under the plan, Phu Quoc, off the south-western province of Kien Giang in the Gulf of Thailand, will become an ecological tourist centre of international standard. Ad***ionally, the island and its 26 surrounding islets will be promoted as an ideal site for promoting trade and services with other countries.
By 2020, a total of 3,800ha, or 6.3 per cent of the islandâ?Ts total natural area, will be devoted to tourist facilities.
The island will welcome between 2-3 million visitors a year in 2020. To achieve this end, the local authorities plan to develop ecotourism and scuba diving facilities on the nearby Nam An Thoi Islands and upgrade services on Duong Dong, Sao, Khem, and Truong beaches, known for their white sand.
Duong Dong Town will become the administrative, industrial, trade and tourist centre of the island.
Local authorities also plan to invest in building a new 800-ha international airport able to handle 2.5 million passengers a year, expected to be put into operation by 2010.
The State has also encouraged all economic sectors to participate in creating more public transport facilities, such as high-speed boats from HCM City and Kien Giang Province, as well as a bus line to serve island residents and tourists.
Phu Quoc Island, located 115km from the coastal town of Rach Gia, has a population of 70,000. â?" VNS

Phu Quoc Island expects to welcome between 2-3 million visitors a year in the future. â?" VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu

Conference emphasises need for improving English language skills
HA NOI â?" The English skills of Vietnamese students are the lowest of all countries in ASEAN, according to a recent report issued at the International Conference on Viet Nam Education held by the Institute of Education Strategy and Programmes.
Students presently study basic English in primary school; but they then move on to junior and senior high school, where the curriculum repeats beginning-level English. Such a reiteration is non-pedagogically sound and tends to limit studentsâ?T English skills, said the report.
The Ministry of Education and Training defines English in primary school as an optional subject with two periods a week. Due to this, parents are required to pay an extra fee for their children to be taught the subject. In some schools, English language education attracted support from parents and developed fruitfully. But, in others, parents could not afford *****pport the programme, and English education was neglected.
Meanwhile, many schools at all levels teach English as a normal subject but without reinforcing studentsâ?T learning by requiring the use English as a medium of communication or study of other subject matter.
The skills of teachers in primary schools were also not always adequate for teaching English, the report indicated.
"In some provinces, English teachers are paid only VND110,000 (US$7) a month", said Trinh Quoc Thai, head of the Ministry of Education and Trainingâ?Ts Department of Primary Education.
At present, schools hire teachers from universities and colleges or language centres, but professional quality varies.
"We should start an educational revolution by establishing English as a principal subject in primary schools," said Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Thang Van Phuc in a recent discussion entitled Research and Proposed Solutions for Modernising Vietnamese Education.
"If we do so, we can have a generation ready to integrate with the world in the next 10 years," he said.
As a long-time language teacher, Nguyen Dang Binh of the University of Foreign Studies agreed with Phuc. He affirmed that it is necessary to expose children English at an early age because younger children are more adaptable to picking up new language skills. Children would not be overloaded if educators set a suitable programme for children and effectively organise teaching and learning activities. â?" VNS

DVD for interpreters
As part of a EU-funded project, the Ha Noi University of Foreign Studies along with other partners will release the Interpreting Asia â?" Interpreting Europe DVD, for improving the English language skills and cultural awareness of the teaching staff and students.
Part of the Asialink project, with a total EU grant of 300,000 euros, the programme has the support of the University of Westminster (UK), Dublin City University (Ireland) and Xiamen University (China).
The English-Vietnamese DVD, to be launched tomorrow in Ha Noi, aims to upgrade the skills of university teaching staff, young faculty members and students.
The DVD covers seven key components on interpreting, including the role of the interpreter, public speaking, concentration and memory, coping tactics, cultural awareness and professionalism. The Ha Noi University of Foreign Studies is one of the countryâ?Ts best foreign language training institutes.

APEC leaders gather amid protests
North Korean nuclear ambitions high on the agenda
BUSAN, South Korea (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush and leaders of 20 other countries from around the Pacific Rim have begun their annual economic summit in South Korea, with trade, terrorism, bird flu and how to deal with North Korea''s nuclear ambitions all on the agenda.
As with most gatherings of world leaders these days, the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is drawing thousands of protesters to the coastal city of Busan.
While APEC is designed to be primarily a forum on trade and economic matters, other issues are also on the agenda this year, including global terrorism and the threat of bird flu.
One member nation, Indonesia, has been the subject of a number of bombings, and officials in another, Australia, said a terror strike was recently thwarted.
The leaders are also set to endorse a statement agreed upon earlier this week by APEC ministers that aims to foster progress in World Trade Organization talks set for next month in Hong Kong. (Ministers adopt plan)
That statement acknowledges "considerable divergences" and said "a clear roadmap" must be established if the current so-called Doha round of WTO talks is *****cceed, The Associated Press reports.
In their own statement, the leaders will give their support to free trade and also express strong concern about the threats of terrorism and bird flu, according to a draft of the document seen by The Associated Press.
"Terrorism remains as a menacing threat to our world and we condemned terrorist acts that not only took thousands of lives but have also been aiming to destabilize the security of the region," the draft states.
How to prevent the possible spread of bird flu into a human pandemic will also be a topic of discussion at the summit.
In an opening speech Friday morning, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his nation would unveil a "significant initiative" to help prevent the spread of bird flu.
Howard also urged countries not to let national pride get in the way of combating the threat.
"The last thing that any nations can afford to do ... is to in any way hide or cover up the onset of the size of an outbreak," he said.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 130 people in five APEC countries -- China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia -- have been diagnosed with the H5N1 strain of the avian flu, and at least 67 have died.
The same deadly strain has been found in birds as far away as Europe, prompting fears that the disease could cross species and cause a worldwide public health disaster.
Also up for discussion at the summit is how to deal with North Korea''s nuclear program. While North Korea is not a member of the group, five APEC countries have been involved in talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions -- Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
In September, North Korea promised to end its nuclear program in exchange for aid, diplomatic recognition and security guarantees.
On Thursday, after a meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Bush reiterated the U.S. position that North Korea would not be given a long-sought-after light water nuclear reactor until it had "verifiably" given up its nuclear weapons and programs.
While South Korea has resisted the tough approach to North Korea favored by the United States, Roh said Thursday that the two countries "agreed on the fundamental issues" involved.
The most recent round of six party talks -- involving the U.S., North and South Korea, China, Russia and Japan -- were adjourned last Friday, with little sign of progress.
It is expected the talks will re-start in Beijing next month or in January.
CNN Correspondents Mike Chinoy, Dana Bash and Suzanne Malveaux contributed to this report.

Travellers Notes
(19-11-2005)
Tourist services to be standardised
HCM City authorities have approved a plan to standardise tourism services at shopping centres and restaurants outside luxury hotels. Since late 2004, the Tourism Department has recognised 35 venues as standardised shopping areas for tourists, including tailor shops, department stores, jewelry shops and merchandise shops.
Thai festival held in Binh Quoi Park
More than 600 Thai, Vietnamese and other visitors gathered at Binh Quoi Tourism Park in HCM City?Ts Binh Thanh District on Wednesday to celebrate Loy Krathong, an annual festival which began more than 700 years ago in Thailand. Festival participants placed small banana-leaf cups containing candles, flowers, incence and coins in the lake, as a way of showing their gratitude to the river of life.
Low-cost tour offered in Vung Tau
A low-cost package tour of the southern coastal city of Vung Tau offered by Vung Tau Tourist, Greenlines and Sammy Hotel began earlier this week. The Enjoy a Luxury Holiday tour is aimed at domestic and foreign tourists from HCM City. The director of Vung Tau Tourist, Tran Tuan Viet, said a one-day tour by hydrofoil, including beach-bathing and lunch at the Dolphin Swimming Pool Restaurant in Bien Dong Tourist Centre, costs VND210,000 per person. Book at offices at 301 Pham Ngu Lao Street or 27-29 Ham Nghi Street in HCM City.
City plans gala events for Tet
A show featuring Asian tra***ional costumes will be held in HCM City as part of the city?Ts programme to celebrate the Tet Lunar New Year festival. The show on January 30 and 31 will feature 300 versions of tra***ional dress of people from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam. Other scheduled activities include Tet Flower Market at September 23 Park on January 22?"28, Flower Street on Nguyen Hue Boulevard on January 26?"31 and Spring Flower Festival at Tao Dan Park from January 24 to February 2.
Hoi An to halt illicit street vending
The central beach resort town of Hoi An has completed its first week of market inspections in an effort to control the black market and illegal sidewalk sales. The inspection team has been carrying out its work at famous tourist sites in the town where lottery hawkers, newspaper vendors, and black marketers are not permitted. Violators will face fees and have their goods confiscated.
Get a whiff of first-ever Aroma Fest
The Aroma Festival 2005, a gastronomic celebration of spice, will start in the first week of December at the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi.
The festival will feature three-Michelin-star chef Alain Soliveres of Paris?Ts Taillevent restaurant, French pastry chef Franck Michel, Sofitel Metropole Hanoi?Ts executive chef Didier Corlou, and essential oil researchers and wine experts, who will all join forces in culinary creation. The distinguished panel of experts will help attendees understand how and why certain spices flavour and scent the world. A gala dinner prepared by chef Alain Soliveres will be organised for December 3.
Visa customers get a deal
Hilton International and Visa International have teamed up to offer travellers in Asia three nights for the price of two if paying by Visa from November 15, 2005 to February 28, 2006.
The offer includes 22 Hilton hotels in these nine countries: Viet Nam, China, Guam, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka. Visa conducted an analysis of cardholders spending in Asia-Pacific countries that showed accommodation ranked second behind retail on a list of 12 spending categories, including sports and leisure, transportation, and restaurants and food. ?" VNS
Được dirosemimi sửa chữa / chuyển vào 12:58 ngày 21/11/2005

Urban unemployment down
HA NOI ?" Unemployment among urban workers has fallen by 0.3 per cent to 5.3 per cent compared with July last year.
The figures are the result of the latest survey by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the General Statistics Office.
The result was announced by Deputy Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Minister Le Duy Dong in Ha Noi on Thursday.
Dong also chairs the Central Committee for Labour and Employment Survey.
The figures also show that unemployed among labourers from 15 to 24 years old fell by 5 per cent to 13.4 per cent.
The percentage of working time for rural labourers has also increased by 1.6 per cent to 80.7 per cent.
The ministry?Ts Information Technology Centre director Nguyen Trong Phu said the survey was carried out in the Hong (Red) River Delta, Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) and Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.
Unemployment was highest in the south-east and the Hong (Red) River Delta, at 5.6 per cent. The rate in the north and coastal areas of Central Viet Nam was between 5.1 and 5.5 per cent.
It was under 5 per cent elsewhere, he said.
The survey showed that Viet Nam?Ts work force totalled 44.3 million people, up 2.6 per cent against last July.
Males were 51.3 per cent of the workforce and females 48.7 per cent.
Among the population from 15 years and up, 71 per cent participated in the work force.
Phu said 24.7 million, or 56.8 per cent, worked in agriculture, forestry and aquaculture; 7.8 million (7.9 per cent) in industry and construction, and 11 million people (15.3 per cent) in services.
As many as 10.2 per cent were in State offices, 88.2 per cent, the private sector, and 1.6 per cent work for foreign invested enterprises.
The survey showed that 4 per cent of the work force nationwide was illiterate.
About 24.8 per cent had been trained ?" up 2.2 per cent. More than 32 per cent had graduated from junior high school and 21 per cent from senior high school.
Dong said the figures showed that the work force was quickly increasing by average 2.5 per cent a year.
The number of labourers who have been trained had also increased ?" from 6 million people in 2000 to 11 million people in 2005.
But the figure was still 5.2 per cent lower than the target of 30 per cent set by the Ninth Congress of the Viet Nam Communist Party.
Urban unemployment had been reduced from 6.4 per cent in 2000 to 5.3 per cent in 2005 and met the NinthParty Congress target.
But problems such as the quality and structure of jobs for trained workers did not meet demand.
The gap between urban and rural employment was increasing as was job quality and income.
The deputy minister said the results of the survey would be used to implement government policies and employment solutions. ?" VNS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Unemployment among urban workers has fallen by 0.3 per cent to 5.3 per cent compared with July of last year. ?" VNS Photo Doan Tung
Được dirosemimi sửa chữa / chuyển vào 10:01 ngày 23/11/2005

America''''s ''''First Thanksgiving'''' Story Put to the Test
Americans mark our annual Thanksgiving holiday Thursday, November 24. It often revolves around a lavish dinner for family and friends that begins with a solemn prayer of thanks for our blessings. The Thanksgiving tra***ion is modeled after the harvest-home feasts of many cultures -- especially what''''s been called the First Thanksgiving in colonial Massachusetts.
It''''s the story of a cold, late-fall day in 1621, when about 50 English settlers called Pilgrims -- who had barely survived their first winter in the New World while another 50 perished -- shared a harvest-time feast with neighboring Wampanoag Indians. This pleasant tale, embellished over generations, brings extra warm feelings to a beloved family holiday.
But according to curators at Plimoth Plantation -- a living-history museum in the same settlement where the Pilgrims and Indians marked that harvest more than 300 years ago -- the Thanksgiving story is laced with myth and exaggeration. For one thing, the event likely took place in October, closer to the corn harvest.
Kathleen Curtin, a food historian at Plimoth Plantation, says about 90 native men -- there''''s no record of Wampanoag women coming along -- conferred and ate with the Pilgrims for a full three days. And it''''s unlikely anyone called it Thanksgiving.
For these Puritans who came over, Thanksgiving had a particular and special meaning, Ms. Curtin says. And it was held after there had been a very fortuitous event. Not common, everyday events. So a successful harvest is more in that range of something you expect, you hope for from God. You hold a Thanksgiving when something amazing has happened. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in England -- THAT''''S an occasion for a Thanksgiving.
The Pilgrims were religious separatists, an offshoot of a strict sect called the Puritans, who are pictured as a starchy, pious lot not likely to throw a party.
They were very religious people at a very religious time, Ms. Curtin notes. However, they also came out of merry, old England. And beer- and wine-drinking and feasting and celebrating were also part of their lives. They weren''''t completely without joy and happiness, that''''s for sure.
The skimpy records of the 1621 conclave mention fowl. But Kathleen Curtin says these were likely geese and ducks -- certainly not plump, domesticated turkeys like American families stuff and roast today. And you can forget the First Thanksgiving illustrations of long tables, piled high with breads and pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce.
The English knew of cranberries, she says. The Wampanoag ate them. They didn''''t have enough sugar, though, to turn them into cranberry sauce. Pumpkins were around, but it''''s very unlikely they had pumpkin pie, lacking the wheat flour and the ovens needed to make those pies.
At Plimoth Plantation, Linda Coombs is the associate director of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program. She, too, discounts some of the tall tales from that harvest time in 1621. She says the Wampanoags went off and shot five deer as their contribution to the festivities. But contrary to legend, they brought no popcorn -- a variety of corn that did not then exist in Massachusetts. Nor did they wear resplendent feathered headdresses like those of Plains Indians. Wampanoag attire was spare and practical. And Ms. Coombs lances an even bigger Thanksgiving fantasy.
The whole myth is that the Indians welcomed the English into their land, says Ms. Coombs, and they ate turkey and lived happily ever after -- and that this was THE first Thanksgiving, the first of many, many up until now. The whole underlying concept there is that native people just willingly and gladly accepted colonization. That was not the case. It was not the case then, and is not the case now.
The alliance between Pilgrims and Wampanoags lasted just 50 years before broken treaties led to fighting and bloodshed.
There''''s one more Thanksgiving image that''''s WAY out of step with reality. Perhaps you''''ve seen sketches of men in Pilgrim costumes -- fine coats, shiny shoes, and steeple hats with big buckles above their wide brims. In the 17th century, only the wealthy dressed so formally. The struggling Pilgrims wore beaver hats and deerskin coats. After the year they had had, they were likely thankful to have those clothes, and to be alive.

An American family shares a Thanksgiving dinner prayer at home

A boy in a pilgrim hat and a girl in an Indian feather headband celebrate Thanksgiving at school
P/s: you can also hear the news in voice here:
http://voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2005-11-23-voa5.cfm
Được dirosemimi sửa chữa / chuyển vào 13:38 ngày 24/11/2005