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

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.

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 food 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.

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