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SummaryRhododendron leptocladon Dop is illustrated. Further information on this little‐known species is given, and its status within section Rhododendron Subsection Maddenia is discussed.

SummaryRhododendron starlingii Rushforth & Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, from Fan Si Pan, Vietnam's highest mountain, is described as a new species and illustrated. It is related to R. crenulatum from Pu Bia, Laos' highest mountain, but differs in several characters.

SummaryA new species of Rhododendron, R. suoilenhense D.F. Chamberlain, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong & Rushforth, is described from northern Vietnam and illustrated. Its discovery and distribution are noted. Suggestions for its cultivation are given.

Abstract
The pollution on the Thi Vai River has been spreading out rapidly over the two lasted decades caused by the wastewater from the industrial parks in the left bank of Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries. The evaluation of the benthic macroinvertebrate changes was very necessary to identify the consequences of the industrial wastewater on water quality and aquatic ecosystem of Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries. In this study, the variables of benthic macroinvertebrates and water quality were investigated in Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries, Southern Vietnam. The monitoring data of benthic macroinvertebrates and water quality parameters covered the period from 1989 to 2015 at 6 sampling sites in Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries. The basic water quality parameters were also tested including pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. The biodiversity indices of benthic macroinvertebrates were applied for water quality assessment. The results showed that pH ranged from 6.4 – 7.6 during the monitoring. The DO concentrations were in between 0.20 - 6.70 mg/L. The concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorous ranged from 0.03 - 5.70 mg/L 0.024 - 1.380 mg/L respectively. Macroinvertebrate community in the study area consisted of 36 species of polychaeta, gastropoda, bivalvia, and crustacea, of which, species of polychaeta were dominant in species number. The benthic macroinvertebartes density ranged from 0 - 2.746 individuals/m−1 with the main dominant species of Neanthes caudata, Prionospio malmgreni, Paraprionospio pinnata, Trichochaeta carica, Maldane sarsi, Capitella capitata, Terebellides stroemi, Euditylia polymorpha, Grandidierella lignorum, Apseudes vietnamensis. The biodiversity index values during the monitoring characterized for aquatic environmental conditions of mesotrophic to polytrophic. Besides, species richness positively correlated with DO, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. The results confirmed the advantage of using benthic macroinvertebrates and their indices for water quality assessment.

This report compares and contrasts how disaster risk management is being conceptualised in relation to emerging climate change adaptation efforts and how these two agendas are influenced by different governance systems, accountabilities and social contracts in Zambia, Uganda, Viet Nam and Nepal. Particular attention is paid to how this relates to different forms of state legitimacy and the changing role of local government in connection with a range of decentralisation processes, increasing political attention and the lure of new but little understood climate change funding. Findings highlight how concerns about disaster risk are influencing how new and uncertain forms of combined disaster/climate governance are perceived and implemented. Increasing attention from the media is also noted as a key factor determining which aspects of disaster risk management gain prominence, and which are ignored in public demands and in responses by politicians and local government.

BACKGROUND: Second-hand smoking (SHS) is associated with many health problems. However, its prevalence in the community population aged 15 years and older in Vietnam is unknown. OBJECTIVES: To quantify the prevalence of SHS in Vietnamese communities aged 15 and above. METHODS: This is a meta-analysis that reviewed studies of the prevalence of SHS in Vietnam published in MEDLINE, Scopus, Pubmed and the WHO library database between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2019. MedCalc was used to perform all the analyses, and publication bias was determined using funnel plots and Egger regression asymmetry tests. Q-test and I(2) statistic were used to identify heterogeneity across studies. RESULTS: There were 7 articles that met our inclusion criteria 2 surveys at the national level, 3 Cross-sectional studies and 2 Case-control studies) involving 184 921 participants. According to the meta-analysis, the overall random-effects pooled prevalence of SHS was 54.6% (95% CIs: 44.900-64.154) with a high level of heterogeneity (P = .0001, Q = 2245.60, I(2) = 99.73%). It is noteworthy that the pooled prevalence of SHS rose throughout the course of the survey years. Our research found no evidence of publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: Vietnam has ratified the implementation the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004, there are still a large number of people who are adversely impacted by SHS. Given the tremendous cost that SHS imposes on health systems, our results underscore the critical need for the Vietnamese government to expedite an implementation of a set of stronger tobacco control practices, thus reducing the incidence of smoking-related illnesses and fatalities.

The Paris climate agreement established a new framework for global climate governance that is firmly anchored in national plans and commitments. But who is actually going to take the next steps to implement these plans on the ground and what are the incentives and obstacles they face in moving from words to action? Many have pointed to the important role of local governments and other sub-national institutions, not least in developing countries where the task of adapting to climate change is considerable. Yet little is known about the way such sub-national institutions are responding to climate change, and how they interact with the central state and local communities in practice. This report brings together key findings from a collaborative research programme on the politics, actors and emerging agendas within sub-national climate governance in Africa and Asia. Drawing on research in Nepal, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia, the reports discusses four key themes in climate change adaptation practice, namely: how the global climate change agenda is downscaled in national and sub-national processes, the frequent disconnect between national climate change policies and sub-national practices, how climate change may be shifting the basis for social contracts and state legitimacy, how climate change is emerging as an arena for struggles over authority and resources