The photos taken by English photographer Philip Jones Griffiths (1936-2008) depict AO victims and of their sufferings from the toxic chemical that was sprayed by the US troops during the war in Vietnam .

The exhibition helps visitors learn more about the live of the AO victims and how they survive and strive to take part in the community.

Griffiths arrived in Vietnam in 1966 as a war reporter. He published two books on the Agent Orange and Vietnam in peace, helping the public better understand the post-war heavy aftermaths in the Southeast Asian country.

At the opening ceremony on Nov. 22, his widow Katherine Holden and representatives from the Philip Jones Griffiths foundation handed over all the photo collection to the museum.

The exhibition, which is held on the occasion of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day (November 23), will last till January 10, 2011.-Enditem
 

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Hanoi houses Vietnam’s highest Buddhist tower
 

Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) inaugurated the Bao An (Paying a Debt of Gratitude) tower, the highest ever in Vietnam, at the Bang A–Linh Tien tu pagoda in Hanoi, on Nov. 22.

Venerable Thich Bao Nghiem, Vice Chairman of the VBS’s Executive Council, Head of the Dharma Propagation Section of the VBS Central Committee, and head of the Bang A pagoda, said the project has been recognised as the highest Buddhist tower and the tower having the greatest number of bronze statues in Vietnam.

The tower’s construction was carried out in 6 years as from 2004 at a total cost of 17.5 billion VND (890,000 USD at current exchange rate) contributed by Buddhist followers nationwide.

The octagonal tower has its doors open to four directions: east, west, south and north. Its 45m-deep foundation is built on 9 pillars with 1m diameter each. The tower has 13 storeys and is 55m high, including a nearly-10m top that is made from bronze and weighs 1,300kg. The tower’s total acreage is 1,500sq.m paved with blue stone.

Inside the tower are 104 statues of the Lord Buddha that are between 0.67m-1.55m high and weigh between 100kg-300kg. Eight bronze books, weigh 250kg each, carved with Buddhist stanzas written by Vietnamese eminent monks, are hung up at eight doors in the tower’s first storey.

Right in the inauguration day of the Bao An tower, tens of thousands of Buddhist monks, followers and tourists from localities nationwide visited the Bang A–Linh Tien tu pagoda.-Enditem
 

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Women’s football squad falls three places in FIFA rankings
 

Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese women’s football team fell three places to rank the 34 th in the world and the second in Southeast Asia .

Vietnam placed after Thailand in the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) rankings of 2010.

Japan (the world No. 5) still leads the Asian region followed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) (No. 6) and Australia (No. 12).

The US remains top position in the FIFA rankings. There are no major changes in the top ten except for Canada that jumped four places to enter the group.-Enditem
 

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Women’s football squad falls three places in FIFA rankings
 

Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese women’s football team fell three places to rank the 34 th in the world and the second in Southeast Asia .

Vietnam placed after Thailand in the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) rankings of 2010.

Japan (the world No. 5) still leads the Asian region followed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) (No. 6) and Australia (No. 12).

The US remains top position in the FIFA rankings. There are no major changes in the top ten except for Canada that jumped four places to enter the group.-Enditem
 

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US young congressmen explore HCM City
 

HCM City (VNA) - A delegation of the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) Council have expressed their keen interest in metro, belt road, monorail and other traffic infrastructure development projects in Ho Chi Minh City.
At a reception in HCM City on Nov. 22, Permanent Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, Nguyen Thanh Tai, briefed the young US congressmen from Tennessee , Minnesota , Texas , Arizona , Oklahoma , Washington D.C and Maine States of the city’s socio-economic development.

The delegation’s visit to Hanoi , Hue and HCM City has helped them better understand about Vietnam ’s country, people and culture, they said.-Enditem
 

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At least 347 killed in stampede at Cambodia festival
 

Phnom Penh (VNA) - At least 347 people were killed and 410 others injured in a stampede in early Nov. 23 at an annual water festival in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh.

The accident took place on a 12m-wide bridge connecting the city with the Koh Pich (diamond) island, which has became the centre of celebrations, Hundreds of thousands of people jostled out to flee over the island while a number of them fell over the bridge into the water.

About 4 million of people flocked to Phnom Penh on the last day of the three-day annual Water Festival.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen extended his condolence to all people and victims’ families in a live televised speech early Nov. 23.

He affirmed to set up a committee to investigate the horrific accident and announced Nov. 25 as the national mourning day to commemorate those people killed in the stampede.

The municipal authorities have mobilised boats to go along the Bassac river to save victims and search tolls.

Cambodia 's Water Festival from Nov. 20 to 22 is the largest annual festival in the Southeast Asian nation.-Enditem
 

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Vietnamese athlete wins 100m bronze medal
 

Hanoi (VNA) -- Vu Thi Huong pulled off a season's best performance in the women's 100m sprint on Nov. 22, but it was not enough to satisfy Vietnam 's desire for their first gold medal at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou .

The queen of Southeast Asian sprinting finished third for a bronze medal in a time of 11.43sec.

Vietnam 's fastest woman improved as the competition went on, having run 11.56 in Noc. 21's qualifier and 11.46 in Nov. 22's semi-final. But it was not enough for her to top the podium as Japan 's Chisato Fukushima, the Asian champion, stole the limelight with a time of 11.33.

The 22-year-old beat defending champion Guzel Khubbieva of Uzbekistan by just one hundredth of a second in a photo finish.

"It [11.43] is not my personal best but it is my best for this season," said Huong. "Winning a medal is a good result for me because I have put a lot of effort into it."

Huong's bronze could not make Vietnam 's managers smile but they took comfort in the fact that it was the country's first track and field medal ever at the Asian Games.

Coach Nguyen Dinh Minh said he was satisfied with Huong's performance. "She ran well today despite a slower start compared to her rivals," said Minh.

Duong Duc Thuy, head of the Athletics Department, said the bronze was very important for Vietnamese athletics.

"It is great success and a big step for Vietnam as it's our first bronze in such a major sport at an event where all the athletes aim for the highest target."

There were high hopes for Vietnam ahead of the final, as Huong lined up alongside teammate Le Ngoc Phuong.

Phuong surpassed her coach's expectations this year, by leading home her heat before qualifying for Nov. 22's final with a personal best time of 11.65. The An Giang province-born athlete had not been expected to make it through the heats and was competing at the Games to get an experience of international competition.

However, Phuong failed to repeat her time in the final, finishing last in 11.76. Phuong will pair with Huong and two other athletes in the 4x100m relay today before she participates in the 200m tomorrow.

On the men's side, only Nguyen Dinh Cuong of Vietnam competed on Nov. 22 in the 1,500m. Cuong, who dominated the Southeast Asian Games, could not repeat the feat at the higher continental level, and failed to qualify for the final.

The Ninh Binh province athlete will take part in the 800m on Nov. 24.

In other news, Vietnam 's girls defeated Myanmar 21-9, 23-21 in the sepak takraw's regu event. They will next meet hosts China on Nov. 23.

It was Vietnam 's only win on Nov. 22. Earlier, Vietnam lost 199-226 to Japan in the men's team archery. While Ngo Thi Chung and Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai were sent home after their defeats in the women's boxing. The fencers also suffered a loss of 22-45 to Japan in the women's foil quarter-finals.

Vietnam ended the tenth day of competitions with 11 silver and 12 bronze medals, standing at 25th.-Enditem
 

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Blue chip rally slows share fall
 

Hanoi (VNA) -- A rally of blue-chip shares helped slow the fall of Vietnam 's stock indices on Nov. 22, despite the worries about soaring inflation.

In HCM City , the VN-Index closed down just 0.08 percent to 426.19 points.

Trading volume continued low at 29.8 million shares worth of 680.3 billion VND (32.4 million USD).

Six of the ten most capitalised stocks advanced.

These were insurer Bao Viet Holding (BVH), up 2.44 percent; Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), up 2.35 percent; multi-business Masan Group (MSN), up 1.64 percent; software producer FPT Corp (FPT), up 1.47 percent; steel producer Hoa Phat Group (HPG), up 0.81 percent and Eximbank (EIB), up 0.75 percent.

The major stocks Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and Sacombank (STB) closed unchanged. STB led the market in volume traded - 1.7 million shares.

Foreign investors were net-buyers in the day.

They picked up 715,750 shares worth 62.4 billion VND (3 million USD) from both stock exchanges - triple the volume of last week.

In Hanoi , the HNX-Index fell 1.25 percent to 97.86 points, in comparison to a fall of 1.48 percent last week.

Declines totalled 239 and advances 47.

Volume was still modest with 27.8 million shares for a value of 495.7 billion VND (23.6 million USD). PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) was the most active stock at 2.5 million shares.-Enditem