Rabid
dogs bite 26 people in Lao Cai

There has
been an outbreak of rabies amongst domestic dogs in the Si Ma Cai District of
northern Lao Cai Province, the provincial Animal Health Department reported
yesterday, June 9.

Photo: Thanh Nien

According to the department, 26 local people have been bitten by rabid dogs
within the last two months.

The
district People’s Committee has set up a Rabies Prevention Steering Committee,
recommending local people to destroy rabid dogs instead of slaughtering and
eating their meat.

Teen
could get 12 years in jail over child rape

The
People’s Court in Hanoi Thursday held a trial to judge the teenage gang
involving in the case of child rape and robbery of victims from yahoo chats led
by Dao Thi Thu Huong, 15, and her lover Trinh Thang Long, 19.

At the trial, Hanoi procuracy
stressed such crimes are very dangerous to society and violate human morality
and therefore proposed to sentence Long hailing from Thanh Hoa province to 30
years in prison, and 12 years for Huong from Hanoi.

Six other indictees between the ages
of 18 and 20 could face from 4 to 30 years in prison.

Huong, the gang’s youngest member
and was dubbed as My “soi” (Wolf), and Long have long dropped out of school.

The others include Nguyen Xuan Thang,
Nguyen Duc Hoang, Le Quang Vinh. Au The Doan, Hoang Trong Dat, and Tran Hoang
Nam. All of them had led a fast life before their arrest.

Except Nam who is facing robbery
charges, the remaining seven are charged with three crimes: rape, raping
children, and robbery.

Not including Long, all of them are
residents of Hanoi.

According to indictment, Huong and
Long made acquaintances with teen girls via chats on Internet.

The couple later lured the teens to
go out with them and then forced them into hotel rooms where the other male
members of the gang raped them and then robbed their assets.

They committed their first crime on
July 16, 2010 and the victim was Pham Thi K.T, 25, a resident of Hanoi. Huong
lured T. to go out and then forced her to go to a hotel, where she was raped
many times.

The gang also robbed VND200,000
(US$10) and a mobile phone from N.T.T, 16, who later managed to escape from the
hotel.

The gang later carried out four
other crimes, in which they abducted, beat, raped and robbed their victims.

Total value of the assets robbed by
the gang is estimated at VND30 million ($1,500).

All of the gang members confessed to
their crimes at the trial and burst out crying after hearing the sentence.

Father
offers to sell 6-month-old son

Police detained and questioned a
man at a market in Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen province Wednesday after he tried to sell
his 6-month-old son.
According to witnesses, the man, identified as Nguyen Minh Dong, was offered
VND5 million to VND10 million (US$245 to US$485) for the boy.
However, he did not have his ID card and relevant papers to prove he actually
was the boy’s father.
Locals reported the unusual case to the police, who rushed to the market and
escorted Dong, with the boy in his arms, to their office for questioning.
Dong told police that the baby’s name was Nguyen Minh Dang.
He said he offered to sell his son as a threat to his wife, Le Thi Kim Ngan,
whom he had a fight with that morning.
A representative of the local Women’s Union later confirmed with police that the
boy was the son of Dang and Ngan, who both reside at Ward 6 in the city.
The police made a report about the case and then calmed down Dong and asked him
to take his son home.

Families drop charges against Din Ky staff

Families of several of the
victims who died in the restaurant boat accident on the Saigon River that left
16 people dead last month have decided to drop charges against the company’s
employees who were detained after the tragedy.

Ha Thi Tam, 53, from Quang Binh province, has submitted an application to Binh
Duong police waiving liability against Lao Van Quang, 28, the boat manager, and
Nguyen Van Duc, the unlicensed pilot who was operating the boat when it sank.
Tam’s daughter, Tran Thi Thuy Trang, and grandnephew, Truong Tran Duc Anh, were
among the dead.
After the May 20 accident, local police detained Quang and Duc.
The two men were employed by Din Ky Restaurant Private Enterprises, which owned
the boat.
Tam said in her application that Din Ky has paid VND256 million (US$12,400) in
compensation for the deaths of her family members.
“When the boat was traveling on the river, a heavy rain and strong winds caused
it to capsize and sink,” she wrote. “It was a force majeure case that led to the
deaths of my daughter and nephew.”
Like Tam, Dong Van Sy, 54, and his wife wanted to drop charges against two
employees of Din Ky.
“We was very heartbroken over the death of my daughter, but after all the
accident was unforeseen. Din Ky has actively mitigated our sufferings,” he
wrote.
A representative of Din Ky said the total compensation payment for each
Vietnamese victim was VND128 million (US$6,221), including damages for mental
anguish.

WWF assists
Vietnam in biodiversity conservation

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Vietnam on June 8
launched a sub-project called “Annamites Carbon Sinks and Biodiversity” to avoid
deforestation and forest degradation in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue city.

It is part of the “Avoidance of
deforestation and forest degradation in the border area of southern Laos and
central Vietnam for the long-term preservation of carbon sinks and biodiversity”
project of the WWF Greater Mekong Programme.

The sub-project aims to develop a
sustainable management and protection of approximate 200,000 ha trans-boundary
forest area which contains global biodiversity values and high level of ability
to absorb carbon dioxide. The aim is to avoid emissions of 1.8 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide delivering from deforestation and forest degradation.

The sub-project, supported by the
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of
Germany, is scheduled to run in four years.

It covers the two Sao La Nature
Reserves and the Bach Ma National Park in Vietnam and the Xe Sap National
Protected Area in Laos. These areas are connected with Phong Dien and Song Thanh
Nature Reserves in Vietnam via natural forest corridors.

WWF Vietnam – Central Annamites
Landscape Manager, Van Ngoc Thinh said: “The success of the sub-project will be
seen through many indicators including reforestation and protection of assigned
forest areas, reduced impacts to forests from illegal logging, increased
diversity and populations of mammals, and additional income of local
households”.

Khanh
Hoa eyes growth of 12% this year

The socio-economic
development plan of Khanh Hoa Province needs to be implemented synchronously and
comprehensively to reach the highest rate of gross domestic product of 12 per
cent in 2011, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during his visit to the
central coastal province yesterday.

The
Prime Minister requested that provincial leaders drastically carry out the
Government’s 11th Resolution to restrain inflation, stabilise macroeconomics and
ensure social security.

In his
address, Dung lauded Khanh Hoa Province for having made great efforts to save
power while maintaining production and daily consumption.

Khanh
Hoa Province should update its plan for socio-economic development and land use
by mobilising all financial resources to construct Van Phong International Port
and Cam Ranh Airport, Dung suggested.

On this
occasion, he approved adjustments on the design of the Van Phong International
Port capacity to 12,000 TEU ships.

While
working with provincial authorities, Dung told them to take advantage of the
provincial potential of tourism and port services to draw investments and bring
Khanh Hoa into the hub of the southern region.

The
Prime Minister also reminded the provincial leaders to protect coastal
environment in their socio-economic development.

At the
meeting, the Prime Minister ordered provincial leaders to recover agricultural
production from the 2.8 thousand tonnes reduction during the spring-winter
season last year.

Chairman
of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Chien Thang briefed the Prime
Minister on recent socio-economic developments and implementation the
Government’s 11th Resolution in the province.

The
province also suspended the construction of 43 works with total capital of
VND150 billion (US$7.3 million) and saved about VND54 billion (US$2.6 million)
with regular spending cut.

HCMC finds 10
products with cancer-causing DEHP

Ho Chi Minh City cooking safety inspectors said they have found 10
products made by nine companies containing the carcinogenic chemical DEHP, and a
recall is underway.
According to a report from the city’s sub-department of Food Safety and Hygiene,
the products are tapioca pearls produced by Possmei; calcium and vitamin tablets
by Brand’s; Fruit House drinks by food group Heysong; sport drink Pro Sweat and
asparagus drinks by Uni-President; collagen powder by TaiYen; Yes water by
Taiwan Yes; grape and strawberry syrup by Toan Lam, energy drinks by Duyet Thi,
and nutritious food powder Power-Lac by Bach Thinh.
All of the companies are based in Taiwan.
The production of the products must be stopped and their producers must urgently
withdraw them from the market, the department said.
After the finding, the Ho Chi Minh City Health Department called on all food
producers to test products suspected of containing the cancer-causing DEHP.
Le Truong Giang, deputy head of the department, said food could be contaminated
if it is packed in containers containing DEHP or when producers use food
additives containing DEHP in food production.
The acceptable content of DEHP in water is eight parts per billion, while there
is no norm for DEHP in food, he said.
The department has asked all traders of Taiwanese-made products containing DEHP
to report to the Health Department, Giang said.
Earlier, New Choice Foods Company recalled 3,582 packages of Taro jellies from
the market for fear they are tainted with DEHP.
On May 31, an inspection team from the Vietnam Food Administration found and
seized 100 kilograms of food additives suspected of containing DEHP at the
company, located in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park II in Binh Duong
Province.

DEHP, or diethylhexylphthalate, is a
cost-effective general-purpose plasticizer used mainly for making PVC soft and
pliable.

The plasticizer is commonly used in
fruit jelly, yogurt mix powder, juices and other drinks to keep emulsions well
dispersed.
DEHP is present in plastic products such as wall coverings, tablecloths, floor
tiles, furniture upholstery, shower curtains, garden hoses, swimming pool
liners, rainwear, baby pants, dolls, some toys, shoes, automobile upholstery and
tops, packaging film and sheets, sheathing for wire and cable, medical tubing,
and blood storage bags, according to Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dealer
responds to beauty queen’s land complaint

After Miss Sea 2006 Vu Ngoc Diep complained she had not come into possession of
the land for which she had paid a deposit under a signed contract, the real
estate dealer Phuc An Thinh has offered an explanation to Dan Tri.

In response to the complaint, Truong
Ngoc Dung, Phuc An Thinh general director said the contract the company signed
with Diep was a contract on deposit, not on land assignment.

Under the contract, if the deal is
not satisfactorily fulfilled due to Phuc An Thinh’s faults, the company shall
refund the deposit to Diep in full and at the same time pay Diep a compensation
at 20 percent of the deposit.
Now that Phuc An Thinh fails to hand over the land to Diep under the contract,
the company will give the deposit back to Diep and also pay a compensation to
her as stipulated in the contract.
The company could not fulfill the contract because the project has yet to be
completed by the investor, Dung explained.
Dung also said Diep signed the contract through a broker named Nguyen Hai Long
and the company repeatedly asked Long for the telephone number of Diep to
contact her, but Long refused.
According to Dan Tri, Phuc An Thinh issued Notice No. 11/TB-2011 dated
March 10, 2011 in which the company undertakes to liquidate the contract with
Diep but has not been able to contact her.
Meanwhile, Diep, a Hanoi native, has complained to Ho Chi Minh City police that
she signed a contract last August with Phuc An Thinh to buy two plots of land at
the Thanh My Loi housing project in District 2.
Under the terms of the contract, she was to receive the land no later than
January 31, 2011.
The land cost VND4.54 billion (US$221,000) and Diep paid VND1 billion as an
advance.
The deadline came and went but there was no word from Phuc An Thinh.
When Diep went to its office to seek an explanation, the company told her to
wait.

Phuc An Thinh executives had told
Diep the company was authorized by Phu Nhuan One-member Housing Construction and
Trading Company Limited, the project developer, to sell plots.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Phu Nhuan, which has its office at 99 Nguyen Van
Troi Street, Phu Nhuan District, told Lao Dong newspaper that the
company had not given any authorization to Phuc An Thinh.

In late May, when she visited the
project site, Diep discovered someone occupying her land and accordingly has
filed a complaint agaisnt the company.

Vietnam Airlines leaves passengers behind

Although 13 have booked plane tickets in advance at Vietnam Airlines, 10 of them
had to arrive at their destination by train while the remaining 3 had to take a
detour flight that covers a distance 3 times longer.

The airlines has officially
apologized and blamed this on an “overbooking incident”.

Not enough seats

Earlier, a group of 13 family
members was carrying out procedures to board the flight VN1590 due to depart at
8:20am from Quang Binh to Hanoi on June 6 when they were told that the plane
“does not have enough seats”.

Vietnam Airlines officials then
requested three of them to stay behind and take a detour trip to Hanoi via … Ho
Chi Minh City.

Under this arrangement, the other 10
passengers would be allowed to fly directly to Hanoi as scheduled but since the
10 waited for the other three - who are all family-related, to carry out
paperwork for the detour trip, the 10 missed their flight.

The VN1590 flight then took off
after airlines staff removed their luggage from the plane.

A Vietnam Airlines representative
complained to Dan Tri that their luggage had to be unloaded and this caused the
flight to take off 25 minutes late.

This group of 10 passengers then
took a train to Hanoi.

Vietnam Airlines reasoned that as
they had announced the boarding and takeoff time on the loudspeaker, they were
not to be held accountable for late passengers who missed their flight.

Detour 3 times longer

As for the other group of 3, they
had to take a ‘transit’ at Ho Chi Minh City where they received a free flight
back to Hanoi, flying over Quang Binh from which they originally should have
departed.

Airlines officials said they did try
to correct their “overbooking” mistake by offering the three free meals and free
flights.

But passenger Ha Minh Ngoc
disagreed, telling Dan Tri that the airlines officials were irresponsible as she
had booked the tickets one week in advance.

But she added that she did not wish
to sue.

In another “not enough seats”
incident, on June 6, Jetstar Pacific apologized after the airlines’ flight took
off and left a 13-year-old boy behind even though he had a ticket to Ho Chi Minh
City.

The apology was made after the
carrier received a complaint from the mother of Nguyen Vu Gia Huy who was
removed from the flight from Da Nang City to HCM City on June 3 although he had
a return ticket and needed a guardian as required by law.

At 11:45 a.m on June 3, Vu Thi Loan,
Huy’s aunt, was carrying out procedures for boarding the BL593 flight from Da
Nang to HCM City, when she was informed by Jetstar Pacific staff said Huy was
not in the list of passengers.

The staff explained that Huy was
among three passengers who were “randomly removed from the list” by the carrier
because the plane “did not have enough seats”.

Huy, along with the other two
passengers, would be arranged for the next flight that would depart at 7:30
p.m., the staff said.

Although Huy’s parents had
authorized aunt Loan to be Huy’s guardian during the two flights, Loan was
refused by the airlines to take Huy in.

As Loan had to come back to HCM City
in time for her business, she could not help but leave Huy at the airport alone
to wait for the next flight.

Foreign pay TV
needs licensing in Vietnam

The content of foreign channels’ broadcasts on pay
TV in Vietnam must be edited and translated by a licensed agency.

This is one of the recently approved
regulations on pay TV management discussed at a seminar hosted by the
Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information Management Department under
the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The contents of programmes must be
suitable for people’s healthy needs and not violate Vietnamese laws or
regulations. The translation of contents is compulsory when a foreign TV channel
wants to broadcast in Vietnam.

Advertising, if any, must be carried
out in Vietnam and follow Vietnam’s regulations on advertising. Providers of pay
TV contents must be responsible for advertisement content on their channels.

If an individual channel registers
to broadcast in Vietnam, it will be granted a licence and if many channels of a
single firm register, they will be granted a joint licence.

Japan
shares heart surgery technology

The
Japanese Kanazawa University has transferred technologies based on adult heart
surgery to the Vietnamese E Hospital’s Cardiovascular Centre.

Technologies focus on coronary artery surgery without using cardiopulmonary
bypass techniques and heart operations assisted by the Davinci Surgical Robot.

Luong
Ngoc Thanh, director of the centre, said that Viet Nam currently had a high
demand for heart surgeries.

Thai
paint firm donates $3,400 for eye surgeries

HCM CITY
— Thai emulsive paint producer 4 Oranges donated VND70 million (US$3,400) to
perform cataract surgeries for 100 poor people at a ceremony at the Thai
consulate on Wednesday.

The
donation is part of charity scheme ‘Bringing light to poor visually impaired
people’ launched by the consulate to mark the 35th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The
paint producer also donated VND250 million ($12,150) to fund cardiac surgeries
for children in Long An Province two years ago and gave away 300 scholarships
worth VND300 million to poor students in April.

S
Korean Embassy gives $6,800 to poor

The
Embassy of South Korea presented VND141 million (US$6,800) to the Viet Nam
Fatherland Front yesterday to benefit disadvantaged people.

Funds
were collected at a South Korea gastronomy fair organised in Ha Noi late last
year.

Ceremony praises 100 blood donors

One-hundred blood donors from across the country will be honoured at a ceremony
in Ha Noi on Sunday for their contribution to humanitarian aid.

The
event, its second incarnation this year, is being organised to mark annual World
Blood Donor Day on June 14.

“It will
be a memorable event for 100 blood donors, who should be proud of their actions
and continue to donate more blood,” said the committee’s deputy director and
Viet Nam Red Cross chairman Tran Ngoc Tang at a press conference yesterday.

Donors
will also have the opportunity to exchange their experiences about blood
donation with patients who benefited from blood donations in a three regions
meeting today.

There
are currently between 3,000-4,000 units in the country’s blood reserves.
Voluntary donors have contributed more than 85 per cent of the blood supply,
said Director of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion
Nguyen Anh Tri.

The
national blood donation rate is still far lower than the recommended World
Health Organisation rate of around 2 per cent of the population. The health
sector collected more than 675,000 blood units last year, accounting for 0.85
per cent of Viet Nam’s population.

900,000 households in HCM City save energy

Nearly
900,000 out of two million households in HCM City have saved up to more than 10
per cent of power consumption after two months of joining a programme to save
power, created by the HCM City Electricity Company.

Under
the programme, more than 208,400 households saved less than 5 per cent of power
consumption, about 129,3000 households between 5 – 10 per cent and roughly
561,900 households more than 10 per cent compared to last year.

The city
targets encouraging 1.8 million out of 2 million households to participate in
the programme by 2015.

VNN/VOV/VNS/TuoiTre