Donation okayed for vocational centre

The Japanese Government will donate nearly US$89,000 to build a vocational training centre in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

The centre plans to train 1,500 local women each year.

Tet ban on taxis in five Ha Noi streets

Taxis will be banned from travelling on five streets throughout the city during rush hours from January 9 to February 5, to improve traffic safety and flow for Tet (Lunar New Year), according to Ha Noi Transport Department.

Rush hours are considered to be from 6:30pm to 8:30am and from 4pm to 7pm.

The five streets are Ton Duc Thang, Nguyen Luong Bang, Tay Son, Nguyen Thai Hoc and Kim Ma – none of which are in the overcrowded Old Quarter.

During the holiday period, the department will also stop issuing permits for road digging throughout the city.

2 tons of wild animals seized in Ha Tinh

Two tons of wild animals seized in Ha Tinh central province on December 27, 2011. (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

The police found baskets of snakes (151 kilos), 128 baskets of Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) (839 kilos), and 14 bags of turtles (963 kilos) inside the vehicle.

Nguyen Van Linh, the 26-year-old driver from Huong Son District, told police that he was transporting the animals to a magnate, but he failed to show any documents proving the legal origin of the shipment.

By yesterday afternoon, the animals had been handed over to the province’s forest protection department.

According to Dan Tri newswire, the animals do not belong to any endangered species, so they were sold for VND370 million at an auction held on the same day.

Instead, the wild animals are listed under Group 2B of Vietnam’s wildlife protection law, prohibiting hunting and trade without a legal permit.

In December alone, Ha Tinh authorities have busted three illegal transportations of wild animals on National Highway 8A, located in Huong Son District.

On December 13th, a special task force of the environmental crime investigation police under the Ministry of Public Security ordered a suspicious Toyota Camry to stop and found 56 living pangolins inside.

The Camry car’s driver, Nguyen Du Vu from Nghe An Central province, confessed that he had been hired by a man who had escaped from jail to transport the animals from Ha Tinh to Hanoi, where they would be traded.

Just two days before that, the environmental crime investigation police in Ha Tinh rescued 106 pangolins , which weigh nearly 40 kg and are worth over VND1 billion (US$50,000), from a Camry driven by illegal traders.

Young entrepreneurs praised for efforts in nation's development

President Truong Tan Sang praised entrepreneurs for their efforts and contributions to the country's socio-economic development at a meeting with 90 young entrepreneurs representing the Young Entrepreneur Association in Ha Noi yesterday, Dec 26.

The meeting was held during the two-day 4th Young Entrepreneur Association's Congress that will wrap up in Ha Noi today.

Sang said young Vietnamese entrepreneurs had many good qualities typical of the young generation and praised them for their self-reliance and improvement, community spirit and proactive business activities.

He also advised entrepreneurs to sharpen their skills, develop a positive entrepreneur culture, boost effective business sense, take care of employees' lives and support one another for mutual development.

Under guidance of the Youth Union, the Young Entrepreneur Association was developed in 62 out of 63 cities and provinces throughout the country, attracting a total of 9,000 members.

Members include 75 per cent of key managers in Vietnamese enterprises.

The association's campaign to promote Vietnamese youth and young entrepreneurs' integration into the global economy and others promoting "Vietnamese use of Vietnamese goods" and "Vietnamese young entrepreneurs help ease economic recession" have been highly appreciated by the public.

Fire sweeps through workshop in Russia

A fire broke out at a garment workshop staffed with Vietnamese workers in Tagansky Ryad in the city of Ekaterinburg in Russia's Sverdlovsk region, last Sunday.

The fire grew to 4,000 sq.m in size and burnt fiercely as it spread throughout a market.

More than 30 fire trucks and 150 firemen were sent to stamp out the fire, and a firefighting train was also sent as the market lies next to a railway.

No deaths or injuries have yet been reported.

Three family members die from coal fumes

Three people from Tran Huu Duc's family in central Ha Tinh Province's Can Loc District died from coal fumes yesterday, Dec 26.

Duc's nephew survived the incident.

Vietnamese police are finalizing paperwork to extradite a Swedish couple to their home country after they were arrested in southern Vietnam on an Interpol wanted warrant.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Van Minh, head of a local investigation force, confirmed the information on Monday.

Lundgren Nils Goeran Lennart and Sonja Kristina Bridget Eklund Mickelsson, both 58 years old, are lovers.

They had a construction company in Sweden and falsely promised a resort beachfront project in Thailand to swindle millions of US dollars from investors.

They fled Sweden in December last year and chose Mui Ne tourism site in southern Vietnam to hide. Here they opened a travel agency called Hai Au Ltd.

On December 20th, the Swedish royal police issued an international arrest warrant for them and informed Interpol.

On December 23rd, Vietnamese police arrested them in Phu Hai ward, Phan Thiet City in Binh Thuan Province.

The two entered Vietnam through Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and moved to Phan Thiet.

Vietnam, Lao border delegations meet in Hanoi

The stable border situation has helped facilitate local socio-economic development and strengthen the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos.

The statement was made at the 21^st meeting between the Vietnamese-Lao border delegations in Hanoi on December 24 and 25.

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister and Head of the Vietnam National Border Committee Ho Xuan Son, and the Lao delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister and Head of the Laos-Vietnam Border Committee Bounkeut Sangsomsak.
The two sides agreed that they have coordinated well in the implementation of the Vietnam-Laos agreement on national border regulations, the minutes of the previous meeting and other relevant agreements. 

They underlined the need for closer coordination between the two countries’ ministries, branches and localities in settling pending issues regarding border management.
The two sides reached consensus on cooperation in cross-border travel management, facilitating border trade development, settling free migration issues and unregistered marriages in the border areas.

They committed to speeding up a project to increase and upgrade border landmarks and create a protocol to recognize the results of border landmark, planting in order to complete the work by 2014.

They agreed to jointly organise activities to mark the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos national border demarcation agreement.

One more motorbike burnt down

A made-in-China motorbike mysteriously caught fire and was burnt down today in Hanoi just when the owner started the engine. This is on top of a series of over 10 baffling cases in recent days when motorbikes unexpectedly burnt down by themselves.

This adds fire to the already widespread worries over the mysterious series of bike fire incidents across the country that victimized different models including Hyundai, Daewoo, BMW, Mercedes, Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Kia, and Toyota for cars, and SYM and Honda (Air Blade, SH, Dylan, Wave) for bikes.

Trinh Duc Son, a resident in Mai Dong ward in Hoang Mai District, said the explosion occurred and the fire “swallowed” his bike shortly after he started the engine. But fortunately he jumped out in time.

According to VnExpress, Son bought it secondhand and used it for more than one year. As shown on the license, the bike’s brand is Loncin, indicating it was made by the Loncin factory in China.

Local police managed to put the fire out with extinguishers.

In recent days, just in December alone, around a dozen motorbikes for no reason caught fire while investigators are trying to identify the causes.

The Ministry of Public Security has jumped in the investigation and has recently announced that the cause of the series of fires was short circuits in the electric systems or fire caught from outside.

Of them, the most tragic accident was the bike fire in the northern province of Bac Ninh on December 1 when a pregnant woman and her daughter died.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre