Vietnam Taco Fest 2026 will be held on April 18 at Naco 100 Garden on Au Co Street in Hanoi, with about 1,000 participants expected, showcasing Mexican street cuisine in the capital.
Centered on tacos, the festival aims to introduce Mexican street food culture through a curated culinary experience.
Mexican Ambassador to Vietnam Alejandro Negrín said the rising popularity of Mexican cuisine reflects closer cultural ties between the two countries and creates opportunities in hospitality and tourism, Vietnamplus reported.
Mexican cuisine, recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, reflects deep historical roots, indigenous knowledge, biodiversity, and community traditions.
As interest in Mexican cuisine grows, Vietnam Taco Fest aims to broaden public understanding while creating opportunities in the food service sector.
Thirty years of donating blood
A student-led blood donation club in Can Tho City has supported hospitals through voluntary blood drives for almost thirty years, the Thanh Nien news site reported.
Founded in 1997 at Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the club has expanded from a small group to over 200 core members and hundreds of volunteers, most of whom are health science students.
Club head Nguyen Duc Toan, a physiology lecturer at the university, said the group gathers around 1,000 units of blood annually. Besides regular drives every three months, members stay on call for urgent hospital needs.
Each drive collects over 300 units of blood for storage and emergency use at Can Tho Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital. The club also maintains a registry of donors with rare blood types to respond quickly in emergencies.
Overnight surgery saves woman with rare abdominal pregnancy
Doctors at Tu Du and Cho Ray hospitals saved a 36-year-old woman after performing overnight surgery to treat a rare abdominal pregnancy near the aorta, Tuoi Tre reported.
The patient, from Dong Nai Province, was diagnosed with a 10-11 week pregnancy developing outside the uterus in the retroperitoneal space, with the mass appearing partially attached to the aortic wall, which posed a high risk of severe bleeding. She was transferred from Long Khanh Hospital to Tu Du Hospital on March 26 after reporting worsening abdominal pain. Doctors said the condition is among the rarest forms of ectopic pregnancy and can be fatal without prompt treatment.
Due to the high risk, a vascular surgery team from Cho Ray Hospital was called in. The three-hour operation was successfully completed without blood transfusion, and the patient was discharged two days later after a good recovery.
Recycled plastic bottle temple draws attention in central Vietnam
A temple built from 70,000 recycled plastic bottles has drawn attention in the central province of Quang Ngai, highlighting community efforts to reduce waste and promote environmental awareness, according to the Thanh Nien news site.
Located at Duc Lam Pagoda in Long Phung Commune, the structure was finished in 2020 after more than six months of collecting and preparing materials. The bottles, gathered from household waste and coastal areas, were filled with sand and held together with cement to form a solid structure.
The hexagonal temple spans about 60 square meters, with walls, pillars, and foundation all made from plastic bottles. Despite two major storms in 2020 and another in 2025, the structure remains mostly intact.
Using plastic bottles for construction not only reduces waste but also provides strong educational value. Visitors can see that, when used properly, waste can be turned into something useful in daily life.
