Two detained over rare animal possession

Two people from southern Binh Duong Province's Dau Tieng District were detained for illegally transporting rare animals and using weapons, according to Binh Phuoc Province's Loc Ninh District.

The pair was found carrying home-made guns and bullets while transporting five kinds of rare wildlife, including a loris and five langurs, in Loc Ninh District's Loc Thai Commune on Tuesday. The investigation is ongoing.

Man held after attempted attack on traffic police

A 35-year-old man in Hue central city has been arrested following his attempted attack against a traffic policeman, who gave him a ticket for his violations, police sources said on Thursday.

On March 21 afternoon, on-duty traffic officers caught Sinh driving a truck over speed limit when they were patrolling on National Highway 1A located in Loc Son Commune of Phu Loc District.

The police signaled him to stop, but he ignored their requests, according to Major Vo Hong Quang, deputy chief of Hue’s traffic police bureau.

However, the police finally seized his truck, he added.

When Lieutenant Dinh Viet Phuoc was making a report on his traffic violations, Sinh approached him to beg for a mercy but Phuoc refused.

After being punished, angry, Sinh suddenly jumped out of the vehicle to chase after Phuoc and tried to chop him with a scimitar in hand but Phuoc escaped.

Sinh then fled away but was arrested after traveling for 16 kilometers.

He is facing charges of “acting against on-duty officers”, a police officer said.

Three imprisoned for trafficking children

A Hanoian woman, her husband and her sister were charged with trafficking children and sentenced to eight, six and four years in prison, respectively, according to the municipal People's Court on Wednesday.

From January 2009 to November 2010, they adopted four infants then sold the children to infertile couples for a profit.

One of the infants was sold for VND35 million (US$1,660), but they gave its biological mother only VND5 million ($240).

47 fishermen rescued after boat engine dies

47 fishermen who had been floating adrift at sea for 18 hours and a half were rescued on Tuesday and taken ashore to Nha Trang City.

They were fishing 90 nautical miles off Nha Trang beach when the engine of their fishing boat numbered QNa 90019 TS had a technical problem and stopped operating.

The captain and owner of the boat -- Pham Be, 43 -- called his friend on another boat which was also fishing in the area for help but it was impossible to drag the 28m-long and 7m-wide boat ashore.

Be then called the rescue center which sent 17 salvage members but it took hours to locate the ship as its positioning system also went out of order.

After the successful rescue, Be choked with emotion, “All of my 47 crewmen and my boat worth 3.2 billion dong (US$154,000) are finally safe”.

“I had to borrow money and spend all savings from my ten-year fishing career to build this boat. It only made its first fishing trip last month. I planned this trip to last for three months in our fishing grounds in Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos”, he added.

Nguyen Anh Vu, director of Vietnam Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and leader of the rescue squad, proudly informed that “this is the first time the salvage crew of Vietnam MRCC saved so many people.”

Da Nang hotels fined for breaching rules

Eleven hotels in Da Nang have been fined for violating price and business regulations after the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism inspected 30 local travel accommodations.

Fines totalled VND33 million (US$1,570) for Huong Thuy, Bamboo Green, Magnolia, Dai Long, Ngoi Nha Nho, Son Long, Faifo, Hai Au, Thanh Lich, Gold Coast and Blue Snow.

Authorities found that these hotels were not listing prices and were providing services not included in their business licences.

Previously, the local government also fined Varna and SunShine hotels for selling subsidised goods at higher prices.

China deports 115 illegal Vietnamese immigrants

Chinese authorities have ordered the expulsion of 115 Vietnamese who were caught entering China illegally.

According to Xinhua News Agency, on February 8, the border police in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong province detained the illegal immigrants, 88 men and 27 women.

The Vietnamese, aged between 17 and 28, were transported to China on 3 buses, the police said.

They had sneaked across the border into neighboring the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region 3 days earlier, Xinhua News quoted sources with the Guangdong frontier defense forces as saying.

They traveled to Guangdong to look for work opportunities, the police said, adding that they had also arrested 6 Chinese drivers for participation in the smuggling.

According to China’s Southern Metropolis Daily, any entity that is found hiring foreign workers illegally will be fined 10,000 yuan, or US$1,600, and will be forced to pay all expenses related to the expulsion of illegal immigrants.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre