Meeting marks 35th anniversary of Vietnam-Spain diplomatic ties

A meeting was held at the Hanoi Opera House on May 16 to mark the 35th anniversary of Vietnam-Spain diplomatic ties.

At the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Phuong Nga praised the fine development of relations between the two countries in all fields, especially since the two countries established a strategic partnership towards the future during former President Nguyen Minh Triet’s visit to Spain in 2009.

Spain is Vietnam’s biggest trade partner, with two-way trade turnover growth of 15-20 percent per year. Spanish-funded projects for poverty reduction and health care have contributed to Vietnam’s socio-economic development, Nga said.

For his part, Spanish Ambassador to Vietnam, Fernando Curcio Ruigomez, spoke highly of cooperative programs between the two countries which help contribute to fostering bilateral ties.

Since 1990, Spain has actively supported Vietnam in normalizing ties with international financial and monetary organizations and tightening ties with the EU. The two countries have exchanged a number of visits to discuss measures to promote cooperative ties.

Spain has 17 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth US$21 milion in Vietnam.

Vietnam has so far disbursed US$98 million out of US$315 million Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided by Spain.
The two countries have signed many bilateral agreements, including a framework agreement on cooperation, a tourism cooperation project, a double taxation avoidance agreement, a joint action program between Vietnamese and Spanish Governments and a visa exemption for diplomat passport holder agreement.

Hanoian who forced maid to eat feces gets 1.5 yrs

A court in Hanoi on May 16 sentenced 48-year-old Tran Thi Tuyet Minh, a resident in Ba Dinh District, to one year and a half behind bars for brutally mistreating her housemaid at the first instance trial.

The victim is 59-year-old Pham Thi Phuong, who was hired by Minh’s daughter to do housework in September, 2011.

Prosecutors said during the time at Minh’s house, Phuong was physically assaulted many times by family members. Complaining that Phuong was slow, Minh often beat her with shoes and even forced the poor housemaid to eat her maternal grandchild’s feces.

But the most brutal cruelty is that Minh forced Phuong to eat 200 grams of chili and then pumped hot water into her body in January 2012.

Minh hired a motorbike taxi driver to bring her back to her hometown in Ung Hoa district in Hanoi one day after that.

On January 7, Minh was put into custody for investigations.

Australia presents 40 wheelchairs for AO victims, disabled people

Nam Dinh province Red Cross in coordination with the Australian Embassy and a charitable organization on May 16 presented 40 wheelchairs to Agent Orange (AO) victims and people with disabilities in Nam Dinh.

Of these wheelchairs, Nam Truc and Hai Hau districts received the most, with 10 each.

Since 2007, the Australian Embassy and the charitable organization have provided 110 wheelchairs to AO victims and disabled people in disadvantaged areas of Nam Dinh province.

Death sentence given to crossborder heroin trafficker

A woman in the southern province of Tay Ninh has been sentenced to death due to trafficking in heroin from Cambodia to Vietnam.

According to an indictment made by the provincial People's Procuracy, Phan Thi Hue, from the HCM City's Binh Chanh District, was found to be trafficking 1.2kg of heroin last October when she was crossing Moc Bai International Bordergate. The drug was hidden in the sole of a pair of sandals in a brown bag.

Hue declared that when she was on a bus running from Cambodia to Vietnam, a strange woman asked her to help bring a pair of sandals to the country. The woman would receive it after Hue crossed the border.

During investigations and at the court, Hue persistently pled not guilty and said she did not know about the woman as well as the sandals containing heroin. However, the investigation police had identified that the strange woman was Phan Thi Hang, from the central province of Thua Thien – Hue, who had for many times contacted Hue on her hand phone.

After Hue was arrested, her husband left his living area in Binh Chanh District without notifying the local authorities.

Hang has run away. The police is still investigating the case.

Officials prosecuted for illegal land use

An Giang police on Tuesday proposed prosecution of six Government officials in the Mekong Delta province's Long Xuyen City for alleged wrongdoings in land management.

Huynh Giang Son, member of the Long Xuyen Party Committee's Standing Board and Deputy Chairman of the city's People's Committee; Pham Xuan Gia, member of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Long Xuyen's My Quy Ward; and Nguyen Van Chi, former Chairman of My Quy People's Committee will be charged with violating land management regulations.

Three others, including Nguyen Thi Tu, ex-chief of the city's Natural Resources and Environment Division, will be prosecuted for intentionally acting against State regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.

Gia, Chi and Tu were arrested on Tuesday while three others were placed under house arrest.

The prosecution of 10 other officials and a businessman from Long Xuyen City for violating land mangement regulations was announced at a press conference on April 10.

Disabled people set to get disaster training

People with disabilities will be trained to actively contribute to natural disaster prevention in 46 villages of central Quang Nam Province under a project conducted by German NGO Malteser International.

The project also focuses on the implementation of direct evacuation and emergency response measures.

The two-year project includes financial support of US$380,000 from the German Government.

Oil traffickers jailed for total of 46 years

The People's Court of southern Kien Giang Province has sentenced eight people to between 2-12 years in prison for trafficking more than 24 million litres of oil in local territorial waters.

Ringleader Vo Hoang Dung received the maximum sentence.

Under the indictment, Dung colluded with a Vietnamese woman living in Thailand to buy oil there and sell it in Viet Nam during March 2010. The sales price of Thai oil was VND1,500-2,000 per litre lower than in Viet Nam at the time.

VNN/VOV/Tuoi Tre