Dak Lak’s officials disciplined for wood loss

 VietNamNet Bridge – Being assigned to manage nearly 200 hectares of forest of a resettlement project, three officials of Ea H’leo district of Dak Lak province had to serve as a warning for loose management.

Reliving the voucher years

 A restaurant on Nam Trang Street in Hanoi is displaying various items from the years after the American War, attracting many customers.

German, French, local artists join world music night

 World music night ‘Nguon coi’ (Origin) will feature talents such as Dhafer Youssef from Tunisia, Vietnamese-French star Nguyen Le and Moroccan-German artist Rhani Krija at Hanoi Opera House at 8 p.m. on September 1.

Vietnam’s national economy not likely to recover by 2013

VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Report Company on August 13 released the Policy Debate No. 2, a regular research survey, which shows that Vietnamese businessmen still keep pessimistic about the economy performance in 2013.

TRAVEL IN BRIEF

 Da Nang pushes Bangkok air route; Travel firms aim to lure Thai tourists; National Day tours cheaper than normal; Discounts hope to lure travellers

Chinese goods boycotted, paving the way for Vietnamese goods to emerge

Chinese goods have been boycotted all over the world for their dumping prices and toxic contents, which experts believe, brings the golden opportunity to Vietnamese producers to boost sales.

Chinese terminal manufacturers meet big difficulties in Vietnam

Joining the Vietnamese market tens of years ago as the network infrastructure item suppliers to mobile service providers, but Huawei and ZTE still cannot cement their firm positions on the market.

In-service training – the child who has been denied

Local education departments officially refuse to recruit in-service training graduates. As such, the education sector refuses the products it generates itself.

HCM City turns blind eye to street use

 VietNamNet Bridge – Just 4 per cent of cases involving the illegal use of pavements and roads for doing business and parking vehicles in HCM City are punished, according to inspectors with the Ministry of Transport.

Hue’s nature wasting for tourism development

The ancient capital city of Hue has been warned that it may not have a sustainable tourism development if it continues wasting Hue’s nature and characteristics.

Ancient documents of Nguyen Dynasty on display in Hanoi

 VietNamNet Bridge – A total of 132 ancient and priceless documents belonging to the Nguyen Dynasty, dating back hundreds of years and written on ‘Do’ paper, are being displayed in Hanoi.

The Vietnamese tea tragedy

Vietnamese tea products are the cheapest ones in the world, because they acquire a bad reputation as low quality products. Meanwhile, making clean tea is completely within the reach of Vietnamese producers.

China excites public opinion, slanders Vietnam

 VietNamNet Bridge – To realize its ambition of controlling the entire East Sea, Chinese newspapers have published articles to excite public opinion, slander countries in the region, especially Vietnam.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 18/8

 Automobile industry out of the woods; Foreign businesses seek Vietnamese partners; Thai group to enter Vietnam’s telecoms market; VASEP says nation will meet seafood export target; Central bank okays higher credit growth targets for lenders

SOCIETY IN BRIEF 17/8

 Buildings cleared to improve riverbanks; Locals siege gov’t office, attack commune leaders; Mekong province aims to improve human resources; Drug trafficker arrested in Dien Bien

Summer promotions fail to ignite tourism

 Tour operators have said sales growth in this year’s summer travel season is dismal and not even worth their efforts to stimulate demand through numerous promotion programs.

Commune officials attacked by locals

 VietNamNet Bridge - The chairman and deputy chair of a commune in the central province of Ha Tinh were hospitalized on August 15 after being attacked by a group of local residents.

First shots of Miss Vietnam contestants in Da Nang

 VietNamNet Bridge – Forty finalists of the 2012 Miss Vietnam pageant arrived in Da Nang city on August 14 to prepare for the final round.

Bombs, attacks kill more than 50 in Iraq ahead of Eid

 A spate of bombings and gun attacks that killed at least 53 people in Iraq overshadowed preparations on Friday to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, amid warnings that insurgents could strike again.

Petrol price hike makes another strong blow on producers

Transport services would most suffer from the petrol price increase by 1100 dong per liter. Other sectors would also be distressed because of higher input production costs.

ART & ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF 17/8

 Phan Thiet gears up for Nghinh Ong Festival; Pianist releases Chopin album in Vietnam; Music fest to celebrate war-era songs; 20th Oktoberfest planned

Contemplating Vietnam’s largest sapphire Gautama Buddha statue

 VietNamNet Bridge – A 31-ton Buddha statue made from sapphire is now placed at the Truc Lam Tay Thien Monastery in Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc Province.

White House backs Biden for VP

 The White House on Thursday ruled out dropping Vice President Joe Biden, and told Republican nominee John McCain that with his track record he was in no position to give advice on running mates.

Anti-corruption drive sees success at grassroots level

Hundreds of patients in six pilot hospitals nationwide were able to benefit from using an automatic queuing system and thousands of Khmer residents in a mountainous village in An Giang Province were able to attend training on the laws

U.S. fixed mortgage rates continue to rise with stronger economic outlook

 U.S. fixed mortgage rates this week edged up for the third straight week following recently released stronger economic data, according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday by Freddie Mac.