Seven hours sleep enough for teenagers: study

How much sleep do teenagers need? The more, the better? Not really.

At least 49 dead in Buenos Aires train crash and derail

At least 49 people were killed and more than 550 others were injured on Wednesday morning in Buenos Aires, Argentina when a train crashed and derailed in the middle of rush hour at Once station, center of the city.

Football fans claim to fire flares at stadiums

VietNamNet Bridge – At the sixth round of V-League 2012, fans stretched banners on Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi and Lach Tray Stadium in the northern port city of Hai Phong, asking for the right of burning flares during football matches.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 23/2

Chinese entrepreneurs eye Vietnamese rice market; Vietnam to export 100,000 – 150,000 tonnes of sugar in 2012; Petrol import taxes cut amid global price hike; Petro Vietnam purchases oil from Ecuador

Profit and losses of State-owned groups to be made public

VietNamNet Bridge – Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue said that the new regulations on financial supervision over State-owned enterprises (SOEs) will tighten control over State-owned groups and corporations.

Tien Lang case to not be neglected, says General

VietNamNet Bridge - Lieutenant General Pham Quy Ngo, Deputy Minister of Public Security, said that the Public Security Ministry is very interested in the land revocation case in Tien Lang district, Hai Phong city and the case will not be neglected.

Amended Land Law in the pipeline

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) will submit the draft amendment of the Land Law to the government in June, two months before it is submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Hoa Lac – West Lake elevated railroad project kicked start

VietNamNet Bridge – The railroad project No. 5 which runs from Hoa Lac to the West Lake of Hanoi, with a total capital of several billion USD has been kicked off.

Contestants of Dancing with the Stars 2012 selected

Actor Quach Ngoc Ngoan, actresses Minh Hang and Anh Thu, beauty queen Hoang My and singer Phuong Thanh are among contestants of the third season of Dancing with the Stars reality show, which is called “Universal Steps” in Vietnam.

Banks rush to announce credit growth rate quotas

Banks have hurriedly made public their credit growth rate quotas for 2012; because this is an effective way to declare that they are good banks.

Nghe An: Cock lays an egg

VietNamNet Bridge – People in Quynh My commune of Quynh Luu district, the central province of Nghe An, are very surprised about the fact that a cock of a local woman laid a small egg.

Delta pre-schools lack funds

VietNamNet Bridge – Pre-schools in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are in serious need of major investments to improve their poor facilities and deal with a severe teacher shortage.

ASEAN steps up defence cooperation

VietNamNet Bridge – ASEAN senior defence officials are meeting in Phnom Penh to draft a declaration on increasing defence cooperation towards the realisation of the ASEAN Political Security Community by 2015.

Greece granted second chance to tackle debt crisis: FinMin

Greece avoided the nightmare scenario of a possible default as early as next month and was granted a second chance to tackle the debt crisis with the strong support of European counterparts,

Mekong River hydropower assessment wins int’l award

The “Strategic Environmental Assessment of proposed hydropower projects on the Mekong River’s mainstream” made by an expert team, including a Vietnamese consultant, has been selected for the international award “2012 Cooperative Initiative”.

Plastic surgery makes you look younger: study

Plastic surgeries do make you look much younger, according to a new study published in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.

March start for swimming, diving competitions

VietNamNet Bridge – The national swimming and diving championships, the opening water sports tournament of the year, will take place in March in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

SOCIETY IN BRIEF 22/2

Social network attracts 12 million members; PM asks for strong fight against bird flu; Japan wants to receive 10,000 Vietnamese workers a year; Nghe An struggles with unxploded ordnance clearance

Badminton star to play international tournaments

VietNamNet Bridge – Top Vietnamese badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh will take part in the England Open Badminton Championships from March 6-11.

ART & ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF 22/2

Mong Mi comes to life through her art; Painting exhibition on Tran Dang Khoa poems held in France; Modest photo wins coffee prize; Hue Festival tickets on sale; Hanoi to present French piano-drum duo; Writer Masatsugu Ono comes to town  

When the peasants have more… casinos

The projects on developing casino and amusement complexes all are worth billions of dollars and cover hundreds of hectares of land. Meanwhile, the casinos which have been operating on the trial basis do not show the necessity of casinos in Vietnam.

Poor farmer’s love for birds

There remains a four-hectare mangrove forest which is home to thousands of various birds in Vinh Xuan Hamlet, Nha Trang City. The owner of the salinity-intruded forest is Nguyen Van Hung, 49, a poor farmer.

Vietnam's rice bowl under serious threat, says ADB advisor

The delta that produces 85 per cent of Vietnam's rice exports is under threatened by reduced flows of the Mekong River, a leading water expert for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned Monday.

Naturalized players of Vietnam’s volleyball

VietNamNet Bridge – Having just married, the only female volleyball player in Vietnam, Ira – Le Kim Nhung, has returned to his team – Vietsovpetro – to prepare for the new season.

Eximbank alliance asks Sacombank to reelect board of directors

Le Hung Dung, chairman of the Vietnam Export Import Bank (Eximbank), has sent a document to the chiefs of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) to call for a reelection of the latter’s boards of directors and inspectors.