Police official apologizes for making "wrong statement"

Colonel Dinh Manh Toan, Deputy Chief of the Police Agency of Social Order Administration, has admitted to make a slip of the tongue and would like to learn from experience.

Swordfish pierces a fisherman’s belly

 VietNamNet Bridge - Fisherman Le Vi Bi was sitting on a boat to fish squid when a swordfish of about 15 kg jumped from the sea to stab him, making the man fall into the sea.

Women’s national football team begin the journey to the World Cup

 VietNamNet Bridge – Chinese coach Chen Yun Fat and his team left Hanoi at 4.15pm on May 12 and arrived at Amman (Jordan) at 5pm of May 13 after two stopovers in Bangkok and Dubai.

Hanoi Party Secretary: “I sympathize with Duong Lam’s people”

Recognizing asynchrony between conservation and development of relics, Hanoi Party Secretary Pham Quang Nghi said that next week he will go to the Duong Lam ancient village to directly listen to people's comments.

Ngoc Dai’s album to be withdrawn and destroyed

 VietNamNet Bridge - "Thang Mo 1" is said to have vulgar and reactionary content. The authorities wanted to see Ngoc Dai but the musician said he was sick.

Former Deputy Minister of Science assigned Phu Tho’s Vice Chair

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ratified the election of the Chair of Phu Tho Province People’s Committee for the 2011-2016 term for Mr. Chu Ngoc Anh, Deputy Party Secretary of the Phu Tho Party Committee.

British PM says nothing more urgent than ending conflict in Syria

 British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday called for greater efforts to end the protracted conflict in Syria, stressing that "there is no more urgent international task than this."

GOVERNMENT IN BRIEF 14/5

 Standing Committee plans NA agenda; Voters express frustration with unemployment; US helps improve law enforcement capacity at sea; VN, Laos plan to help minorities

Germany threatens new EU bailout plans

 Germany's finance minister warned that only EU treaty change would create the legal framework needed to allow the formation of a single bailout agency for its ailing banks, in an article for Monday's Financial Times.

Health worker keeps half of baby vaccine

VietNamNet Bridge – Parents of small children in the city are worried about the possible misuse of vaccines in Ha Noi after a local health worker was found to retain part of a vaccine shot while injecting a child.

PM checks up on submarine tests

VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday, May 13, inspected the progress of Viet Nam's Kilo-class submarine, which is being tested in Kaliningrad, Russia.

Celebrities in HCM City file meager taxes

 VietNamNet Bridge – The HCMC Department of Tax has announced the total 2012 personal income tax filed by local celebrities was only VND1.2 billion though they are high-incomes earners.

Who will compile new history textbooks for general education?

Educators have all agreed that it’s necessary to rewrite the history textbooks which are too academic and boring for students. However, it’s still unclear who will write the new set of textbooks and what standards to follow when compiling the books.

The cutthroat competition among OTT apps kicks off

Too many firms have jumped into the OTT market, both domestic and foreign, which have spent multi billions of dong to advertise the apps. Only those who can spend money like water can win the competition.

Gov’t asks for reduction of interest rate gap

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Government has given the State Bank of Vietnam the task to narrow the gap between deposit and lending rates, in order to achieve a credit growth of 12 percent.

Workplace accidents increase across country

VietNamNet Bridge – On May 10, one worker died after falling from the fourth floor of a house in Tran Xuan Hoa Street in District 5 in Ho Chi Minh City, which set off alarm bells on the total lack of safety measures in workplace across the country.

Restaurants stick it on, travelers need to become “smart”

After having meals, a lot of travelers felt exceedingly astonished when receiving the bills. They were stung for millions of dong for the dishes worth several hundreds of thousands of dong.

In economic crisis, food industry still can grow strongly

The Vietnamese market is large enough to receive more food producers, especially dairy producers. In crisis, people have to cut the budget on traveling and entertainment, but they still have to spend money on food.

Evaluation of Central Highland bauxite project necessary

VietNamNet Bridge – Pham Quang Tu, director of the Office of Social Evaluation and Consultancy, said that it is time to evaluate the bauxite project in the Central Highlands instead of waiting for Nhan Co alumina plant to do so.

Ministry proposes hiring French experts to make capital region planning

The Ministry of Construction has asked the government’s permission to hire the Institute for Regional Urban Development Planning IAU - Ile de France to make the regional planning of Hanoi.

HCM City unveils detailed downtown planning

VietNamNet Bridge – The HCMC Department of Planning and Architecture on Thursday unveiled the planning, scale 1:2000, for the existing 930-hectare downtown area, in which the center is divided into five functional zones.

Be careful with tricks of Hanoi’s taxi drivers!

In the last two weeks, in Hanoi, several cheating and overcharging incidents occurred against foreign visitors or people from other places to Hanoi. This situation has made many visitors worry.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 14/5

 Budget house program not to bear fruit until 2015; BIDV to add VND5.19 trillion to its capital; Smuggled seafood from China kills domestic market; Thailand to invest in US$27bln Vietnam oil project

Dam bosses keep eye on drought

 VietNamNet Bridge – Hydro-electricity plants will adjust their operations to provide enough water for agriculture production and domestic use in the lowlands of Thu Bon-Vu Gia rivers.

Vietnam will have second remote sensing satellite

VNREDSat-1B is the next remote sensing satellite that Vietnam intends to launch into space with the cooperation of Belgium, after the successful launch of the first earth observation satellite.