Hospital drama “House” will end in April after eight seasons, producers said on Wednesday, bringing to a close one of the most popular shows on TV.

“House”, starring British actor Hugh Laurie as the cantankerous but brilliant doctor Gregory House, started in 2004 and will have been on air on Fox in the United States for 175 episodes when it comes to an end in April.

“After much deliberation, the producers of ‘House M.D.’ have decided that this season of the show, the 8th, should be the last,” executive producers David Shore, Katie Jacobs and Laurie said in a statement.

They said the decision to end the show was painful but added they “have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature; he should never be the last one to leave the party. How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.”

“House” was among the 10 top-rated TV shows in the United States from 2005-2008 and was seen in some 66 other countries. But U.S. ratings have slipped in the past two years to about half the 20 million viewers who once enjoyed the show.

The program was Emmy-nominated for best drama four times but never won, although Laurie won two Golden Globes and two Screen Actors Guild awards for his role.

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The plan is assigned to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Institute of Social Sciences.

The Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism are responsible to build an underground to connect the site (at 18 Hoang Dieu Street) and the Cultural History Park at the center of the Thang Long Royal Citadel.

The citadel belonged to the Ly, Tran, Early Le, Mac and Restored Le dynasties from the 11th – 18th centuries. This site also belonged to the Royal Dai La Citadel in the 7th–9th centuries and the Royal Hanoi Citadel in the 19th century.

Excavation has uncovered a historical range from the 7th to the 19th century, including the pre-Thang Long and Hanoi period. The vestiges and cultural layers continuously overlap one another through different historical periods and dynasties. Rarely is there a large historical and cultural history that encompasses such a wide range of historical eras. This land has been the capital for most of Vietnam’s history.

The architectural relics consist of the foundation, the base of pillars, sections of brick walls, road sections, brick/gravel tiled floors, a water drainage system, water wells, and traces of lotus lakes. The new discoveries have revealed the magnitude and scale of the Thang Long Citadel that could not be manifested through written documents or ancient maps.

A wide range of the relics in large quantity includes construction materials like bricks, tiles, stone column bases, and ironwood poles. Objects belonging to the royal family include artifacts such as jewelry, Vietnamese ceramics and porcelains, Chinese / Japanese ceramics and porcelains (Hizen ceramics and porcelains (Hizen ceramics), bronze coins from different areas, weapons. Some of the findings are valuable, or never discovered items. These relics demonstrate the highly technical and artistic developments of the Vietnamese people in the past.

In a historical perspective, the new discovery has provided scientific insights into the central location of the Thang Long/Dong Do/Dong Kinh Citadel, laying groundwork for a better understanding of the relationship between the Dai La Citadel with the Thang Long Citadel. This discovery will help us develop a clearer understanding of the citadels from the Ly, Tran and Le dynasties to the Hanoi Citadel during the Nguyen Dynasty.

The relics of the Dai La Citadel were found in the four sections A, B, C, and D of the excavated areas, which means the sections were located inside Dai La citadel. Beyond the vestiges of the Dai La Citadel are relics of the Ly Dynasty. The name of the royal citadel was either called the “Dragon Citadel,” Phoenix Citadel,” or “Dragon Phoenix Citadel” during the Ly and Tran Dynasties.

This changed throughout the Ly, Tran and Le Dynasties, so more research is required to prove that the citadel was situated to the west of the center. In other words, it was part of the western side of the royal citadel. The result of the excavation in combination with ancient maps and documents has provided a better picture of the royal citadel.

The citadel was recognized as a World Cultural Heritage site by the UNESCO in July 2010.

source form: vietnamnet

Big Bang is among the most outstanding representatives of the Korean wave in Asia. The band was formed by YG Entertainment in 2006. The group consists of G-Dragon, Taeyang, T.O.P, Daesung and Seungri.

Big Bang has released several successful singles and EPs. Their first release, the EP Always (2007), spawned the number-one single “Lies”. The follow-up EPs Hot Issue and Stand Up were similarly successful.

After they received the “Artist of the Year” award from the M.net KM Music Festival and the Seoul Gayo Daesang Award, the group expanded their activities into Japan, releasing mini-albums and airplay singles. Their materials did not receive major promotion until the following year with the release of their first physical Japanese single, “My Heaven”. Since then, the group has attained considerable success in the country.

They became the first foreign group in Japan to receive the Japan Cable Broadcasting Award for “Best Newcomer”, and the first from Korea to receive the Japan Records award.

In recent years, the members have branched out to do solo activities: Taeyang and G-Dragon have released solo materials while T.O.P, Daesung and Seungri have started acting (in both dramas and musicals) and participating in variety programs.

Representing Asia-Pacific, Big Bang emerged as the inaugural Best Worldwide Act winner of 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) held at Belfast, Northern Ireland. There, apart from Queen, Big Bang was the only winner not from North America.

Big Bang show in HCM City will be held at the Phu Tho Racecourse, with the participation of some Vietnamese stars.

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Hung was surrounded by reporters right after landing at Noi Bai Airport. Photo by DTiNews

After finishing the 20-minute customs checking at the airport, Hung has followed Vinalines’ employees to Vinalines headquarter for a press briefing on 8:30 pm.

Previously, Hung landed at the Singaporean port of Marine South Pier at 12:15 pm (Singapore time) on the same day. He was then welcomed at the port by Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tran Hai Hau and Vinalines representatives.

Hung told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on the phone that his health was recovering.

Earlier, the Vietnamese Embassy conducted procedures to receive the sailor from British ship London Courage, which saved Hung on December 30 at sea.

The embassy worked with relevant local agencies to complete necessary procedures to help Hung return to his family as quick as possible, Ambassador Hau told the VNA on the phone.

Hung, born in 1980 in northern Nghe An Province, is the only sailor found alive so far after the cargo vessel found to have been sunken. Vinalines is still working with foreign partners to search for 22 missing sailors on the missing vessel.

Vinalines Queen sank on December 25 en route to China from Indonesia, carrying more than 54,000 tons of nickel ores.

Hung landed at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi at 6:20 pm yesterday. Photo by DTiNews

Hung is telling about his days on the sea at the headquarter of Vinalines in Hanoi.

source form: dtinews

Vehicle fires stirs up concern over fuel quality 

Fuel tests

Tran Minh Dung, Chief Inspectorate of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the test results will be announced before Tet holiday.

According to Dung, the investigative agency will expand the testing areas for petroleum and gas products in 2012.

After a Daewoo Lacetti caught fire in Yen Dung District, Bac Giang Province, the district police plan to test gasoline at the petrol station where the car owner bought fuel before the fire.

Nguyen Thi Nhan, wife of the car’s owner, said, “At 11am on December 26, my husband bought petrol at a station only one kilometre far from our house. We often buy gasoline there.”

Senior Lieutenant-Colonel, Nguyen Van Son, head of Yen Dung District police, told DTiNews that the local investigative agency has asked that the Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Criminal Science participate in the investigation into the cause of the fire.

The district police suspect that the cause is substandard, or improperly mixed fuel combined with mechanical problems.

Police in Thanh Hoa City are also cooperating with local authorities to carry out an investigation of another incident where a Mazda caught fire on December 27. Tran Ba Cuong, the vehicle owner, said that he found it difficult to start the engine before the fire.

Dangers of Improperly blended fuel

Dr. Dao Quoc Tuy, Head of the Hanoi University of Technology’s Department of Organic Synthesis and Petrochemical Technology, said, “If gasoline is blended with additives, such as acetone, methanol or methanol in certain proportions it would reduce pollutants from exhaust. However, if the proportions are not right, it may cause damage to an engine.”

Tuy said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality have issued standards for blending gasoline, which stipulate that only a maximum of 5% ethanol can be added to create bio-ethanol or E5. This ethanol must also be 99.5% alcohol.

According to Tuy, a fire may can occur even when a vehicle’s engine is turned off because some of the electrical components remain active. A short circuit could result in a fire.

“In 2006, there was a spate of motorbike malfunctions in Ho Chi Minh City that was apparently a result of of around 10,000 tonnes of improperly blended gasoline hitting the retail market. However, in that case, no fuel-related fires were recorded. In order be certain of the cause of recent vehicle fires, samples of gasoline should be taken and analyzed..”

He noted that if fuel is the the cause for these fires, there would have had to been a large amount of bad fuel sold.

Charred remains of a car

Authorities investigate

Many vehicles fires have no apparent cause

Atila motorbike caught fire on the road

source form: dtinews

China’s satellite broadcasters have cut the number of prime time entertainment shows they air by more than two-thirds, the state Xinhua news agency said, as Beijing seeks to stem Western influences.

The dramatic reduction comes after China’s broadcasting watchdog barred satellite broadcasters from airing “excessive entertainment” and ordered them to show at least two hours of news each evening from January 1.

“Satellite channels have started to broadcast programmes that promote traditional virtues and socialist core values,” Xinhua said Tuesday, citing the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).

The number of entertainment shows airing during prime time every week has plunged to 38 from 126, it said.

The announcement came in the same week President Hu Jintao warned in an essay published in a Communist Party magazine against the growing influence of Western culture in China, and urged efforts to boost the country’s own soft power.

For the past decade Beijing has been encouraging state-run media to be more competitive and less reliant on state subsidies, which has led to more critical reporting and racier programming as outlets compete for readers and viewers.

But the trend towards more free-wheeling reporting, the growth of reality television programmes and the explosion of microblogging sites has undermined official efforts to control public opinion.

China’s most senior Communist Party members agreed at their annual meeting in October to boost the nation’s cultural soft power, a move analysts said was partly to ensure the media served the goal of galvanising patriotic sentiment.

China has more television viewers than any other country in the world, with an estimated 95 percent of its 1.3 billion people having access to the medium.

Xinhua did not specify which shows had been axed, but it said they included dating shows, talent contests, talk shows and stories deemed to be of “low taste.”

It said popular dating show “If You Are the One” would continue to be shown in prime time — despite having raised official eyebrows when a contestant said she would rather “cry in the back of a BMW” than date a man who only had a bicycle.

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A book of poetry which weighs 120 kg and has 300 pages will be presented to Truc Lam Pagoda on Yen Tu Mountain in Quang Ninh Province on January 12.

The book is being produced by a group of intellectuals and artists from all over the country.

According to a member of the group, Nha Trang calligraphy artist Tran Quoc An, the book is 80 cm wide and 16 cm thick. It features 143 poems about Yen Tu Mountain written and published by Hoang Quang Thuan in 1998.

Each of the poems will have two versions, one printed and the other handwritten in Vietnamese calligraphy style by An.

The book’s covers are made of wood.

In 2010, the group created another book called “Hoa Luu thi tap”, which weighs 54 kg, as a present for Hanoi’s 1,000th anniversary.

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It’s time to spy some fresh images of 007.

A new James Bond site, www.007.com, was launched Tuesday in anticipation of the release of “Skyfall,” the franchise’s 23rd movie. The site also celebrates the 50th anniversary of Bond movies. (The first one, “Dr. No,” came out in 1962.)

The site features a brief introductory video with co-producer Michael G. Wilson, who thanks fans for their continued support of the franchise. It also contains some brief glimpses of Bond aiming a huge gun.

The site promises exclusive content, to be rolled out over the course of the year.

“Skyfall,” which is set to debut in the U.S. on November 9, stars Daniel Craig in his third go-’round as James Bond. It also stars Javier Bardem, Albert Finney, Judi Dench, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Ralph Fiennes.

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Traffic police officers in the northern province of Thanh Hoa have been suspected of throwing their baton into the wheels of a motorbike driven by traffic violators.

In a one-min video clip posted in Youtube, dozens of members of the public, some traffic policemen and emergency police of the 113 unit were standing around two motorbikes that fell to the ground. At the scene, a baton suspected of belonging to the traffic officers was seen stuck inside the front wheel of a Wave motorbike lying next to a SH one.

According to the person posting the clip, the incident happened a month ago in the northern province of Thanh Hoa. Two young men were riding a Wave motorbike without wearing helmets and the traffic police threw their baton at the bike’s front wheel, causing them to fall to the ground.

The video clip has caused some debates among the public. Some said it is the right thing to do to stop young men from violating traffic rules while others said it was dangerous and likely to incite public anger.

Tran Van Thuc, chief of staff at Thanh Hoa’s City Police Department, told VnExpress in an interview on Tuesday that they have yet to receive any information about the case, adding the department does not support any policy that tries to subdue traffic violators by throwing a baton into their bikes, because it is very dangerous.

“The method is only appropriate for stopping violent criminals,” he said.

Earlier, Thanh Hoa police had used fishing nets to catch racers and those driving bikes dangerously in an effort to stop illegal racing on the streets. But they have discontinued the method after much criticism and objection from the public and the media.

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A group of 30 members from the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program 2011 (SSEAYP) paid a visit to Ho Chi Minh City-based Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper on Monday.

At the newspaper’s office, the thirty program participants had an interactive session titled “Young People and Social Media” with young Tuoi Tre reporters.

They were also given a general introduction on the paper’s development and publishing process.

This is the second time members of the SEA youth ship have visited Tuoi Tre.

During last year’s visit, they took part in an interactive session on how to save the Earth from pollution.

The Japanese ship Fuji Maru, which hosts the SSEAYP program, anchored at Saigon Port in Ho Chi Minh City on December 4, bringing ashore 329 young people from Southeast Asian nations and Japan.

This is the 11th consecutive year that a vessel under the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program, sponsored by the Japanese Government, has arrived in Vietnam.

SSEAYP is a young leadership training program between Japan and ten ASEAN countries that has been in operation since 1999. Starting in October every year, the ships set sail from Japan and visit Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Thirty youths from SSEAYP 2011 have a look at the publishing process at Tuoi Tre.

Thirty youths from SSEAYP 2011 pose for a photo with Tuoi Tre staff

A Tuoi Tre reporter pins a Tuoi Tre logo on the T-shirt of Apapan Seeherunwong from Thailand.

They looked excited to participate in the quiz session at the Tuoi Tre’s office.

The youths visit Tuoi Tre’s legacy room.

A participant takes photos at Tuoi Tre’s legacy room.  

A representative of Tuoi Tre newspaper presents “A newspaper” that records their memorable visit at Tuoi Tre to thirty youths as souvenir gifts.

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