Japan helps fight super bacteria

Japan has provided US$8.3 million to support the health sector in controlling the spread of drug resistant bacteria.

The five-year project was signed yesterday between representatives of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), the National Institute of Nutrition and the Ministry of Health's International Co-operation Department

JICA will provide the technology for detecting multi-drug resistant bacteria in clinics, hospitals and the community.

The technology will also be able to detect antibiotic residues in food - and to develop a surveillance model.

The project will involve building a laboratory and data-storage facilities.

It is expected to promote the management of food safety and enhancing enhance the reputation of research institutes and universities.

The project will be carried out by the National Institute of Nutrition in Ha Noi, Thai Binh Medical University, Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, Institute of Hygiene and Public Health and Can Tho University.

Multi-drug resistant bacteria has been on the increase in Viet Nam where the use of antibiotics bought freely at pharmacies and used widely in the medical and agro-fishery sector has greatly increased.

Man honored for rescuing ten in Hoi An shipwreck

Nguyen Cuong (41), a fisherman from Cua Dai ward, Hoi An town, was honored for saving ten people caught in a shipwreck last Sunday, risking his own life in the strong waves and fierce, windy weather.

On Sunday afternoon, Cuong was knitting a fish net when a group of children hurried to his house and told him there was a sinking ship off the coast.

He quickly got on a bicycle and rode to the beach.

From a distance, Cuong saw locals standing on the shore, calling for help. In the sea, a wooden boat was sinking. Nearby, dozens of people were putting up their hands, seeking help 300 meters off shore.

It was freezing, and some of the waves were 2-3 meters high. However, Cuong decided to get into the water and try to save as many lives as possible.

“If you go, you may leave your wife and children behind,” warned one of his acquaintances.

Cuong did not reply, and jumped into the brutal waters. He snatched the backpacks of two young soldiers and helped them to shore.

Locals then gathered firewood and started a fire to help the two men, who had turned blue, stay warm.

Cuong did not rest but again entered the sea and swam to a spot where five people were clinging to a barrel, waiting for rescue.

“When they saw me coming, they panicked and tried to grab me. I shouted out, telling them not to do so, otherwise we all could sink. I told them to let me pull their backpacks and drag them in,” recalled Cuong.

Cuong still remembered not being able to catch the last person in the group. He could only see the soldier’s white hand sticking out of the water for the last time before it was swept down in the cold currents.

When he reached shore with four others, Cuong was exhausted but he attempted, one more try at a rescue.

A fisherman gave him an old life vest, but it was quickly torn off by the fierce waves.
Cuong swam by himself to people shouting for help and was able to bring another four ashore.

Cuong then felt cold from the sea breeze, and had a headache from the whistle of the wind.

He has worked on the sea since he was 10 years old, and is called an otter of the sea by other villagers. In this season of rough seas the fierce waves come one after another, and even an experienced fisherman like Cuong has to fear nature’s wrath.

Nonetheless, Cuong threw himself into the waves for a third time. He was quickly exhausted after swimming 200 meters.

“I thought he would disappear under the waves. Luckily, a fishing boat saved him,” said Nguyen Chi, a local.

“I haven’t eaten anything since this morning. Otherwise, I would try again,” Cuong said honestly after being saved.

Last Monday, Cuong was one of those honored by Quang Nam province’s People Committee for rescuing ten people involved in the weekend shipwreck.

During that fatal afternoon, several locals selflessly jumped into the 13-14 degrees C sea to save lives. On shore, people brought blankets, firewood, and medicated oil to help victims stay warm. Some even took off their coats to cover the blue and pale bodies which had been soaked in cold water.

Animal diseases drop during course of year

Diseases in poultry and cattle, including bird flu, blue-ear and foot-and-mouth diseases, sharply decreased over the past 12 months, reported the National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control yesterday.

Bird flu, for example, infected more than 110,300 domestic fowls in 22 provinces and cities, killing over 151,300,

However, this was down 50 per cent in comparison with last year.

The Animal Health Department has announced the distribution of more than 3,600 doses of vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease for cattle.

Man stabbed in front of Vung Tau club

A man was stabbed in front of Blue Moon club in Nguyen Du Street, Vung Tau City in the coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau after getting into a fight on Tuesday morning. He later died due to his injuries.

According to an initial investigation, there was a fight between two groups of security guards at the Blue Moon club and the Ngoc Lan karaoke parlor on Nguyen Truong To Street.

At 1am, the two groups met at a beer stand on the pavement near Thuy Van Street. After getting drunk, the men picked up chairs and tables to beat each other before they were asked to leave

Later, the staff from Ngoc Lan karaoke parlor arrived at Blue Moon club and wanted to fight again.

Vo Van Dieu (23), who worked at the karaoke parlor, took out a knife and threatened to kill people at the club.

But before he was able to carry out his threat, Le Phuoc Dong (31), one of the security guards at the club, approached Dieu and stabbed him.

Dieu was rushed to the hospital, but he died on the way.

After the accident, Vung Tau police identified the murderer and requested Dong to turn himself in.

At 6am, Dong was taken by his sister to the police station, where he confessed to his crime.

Man stabs staffs in HCMC fashion shop, one dies

A man used a knife to stab five people in Song Nhac fashion shop in Ho Chi Minh City’s Nguyen Trai Street, causing one dead and four injured Monday evening.

According to Tuan, a security guard working for the store, at 9.45pm some young women parked their bikes and went inside without checking in their belongings at the door.
When warned by staffs, they acted annoyed and called up a man.

When their friend, a man of big build, riding a white SH scooter arrived, the guards felt something wrong and told him there was nothing going on.

But the man quickly took out a knife, dashed into the shop and started to stab the staffs.
For defense purposes, some used clothes-hanging pole to fight back.

Injured, the man threw the knife and ran in the direction of Nguyen Bieu Street.

Five staffs stabbed by the men were taken to Cho Ray hospital. However, one of them died due to serious injury.

Police quickly showed up to examine the scene.

The accident happened quickly, causing panic in the neighborhood.

Clothes were scattered everywhere and blood stains were seen everywhere inside the shop.

Hundreds of curious people came to watch, causing congestion on Nguyen Trai Street for three hours.

On Tuesday afternoon, police in District 5 announced they had seized the culprit, Nguyen Van Tri (36), a resident of the city’s District 5 when he went to Hospital 115 to have his wounds dressed.

Nguyen Trai is a thoroughfare connecting district 1 and 5 and is one of the most popular fashion streets in Ho Chi Minh City.

One dies, one missing in bridge collapse

One man died, another was injured and one is missing after Ba Dau Bridge collapsed in central Quang Ngai Province's Binh Son District on Monday.

The 107-metre bridge was built by Nam Thanh Viet Company based in Nui Thanh District. Construction started in February this year.

First reports state that the bridge girders were not strong enough to hold the weight of the bridge.

Charges against 2 officials in $238k chess game

Police in Soc Trang Mekong Delta province Monday brought gambling charges against two local senior transport officials for playing Chinese chess for money in which the loser reportedly had to pay up to VND5 billion (US$238,000) per game. The two will be held in police custody for two months pending investigation.

Nguyen Thanh Leo, deputy director of Soc Trang Province’s Transport Department and Tran Van Tan, director of a drivers’ training center, were seized on Thursday night with VND40 million in cash when they were playing a game of Chinese chess.

Regarding the US$238,000 stakes that Leo told the police earlier, it was now found to be just a challenge in a chess game they agreed to cancel halfway.

Le Thanh Quan, deputy secretary of the province committee, told Tuoi Tre if the two officials are found guilty, they will be given harsh punishments because all citizens are equal under the law.

The two officials were taken to a detention center in Soc Trang on the same day.

According to investigators, Leo and Tan often gambled by playing chess with each other and increased the stakes from a few hundred thousands to billions of Vietnamese dong. Leo had lost as much as VND22 billion ($1.05) to Tan but he could pay just VND5 billion.

After failing many times to collect the entire amount from Leo, Tan hired Mai Chi Khanh, an underworld thug, to come to Leo’s house and threaten to kill him and his family if he did not pay up, Teo told the police.

On the night of December 22, Leo asked Tan to come to Thy Tai 2 café on Phu Loi Street, Ward 2 to play a game with him. He also told Tan that if he lost one more game he would settle all the debt with him.

After Tan agreed, Leo informed the police of the address of the café.

After the two men had been playing for about 20 minutes, the police rushed in.

According to an investigator, Leo had been head of the Soc Trang City Board of Management of Construction Work and secretary of Ward 6’s Party Committee for many years before he was appointed to the current post.

Leo has recently borrowed a lot of money from many individuals and organizations.

Tan is known for his collection of luxurious cars and owns many large cafés and eateries in the city.

Gambling in any forms is illegal under Vietnam’s law except in casinos where only foreigners are allowed in.

PM tells drivers to ‘follow rules'

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said yesterday, Dec 27, that reducing traffic accidents and traffic jams was the responsibility of every person. "Follow the rules," he said.

The PM's message was broadcast over Radio Voice of Viet Nam.

In it, he admitted that traffic problems were a pressing social issue.

"Viet Nam has taken measures to ensure traffic safety and minimise traffic jams and the country has made certain achievements. However, traffic accidents still happen every day, killing (an average of) 30 people and injuring dozens," he said.

As a result, the Government had designated 2012 a year for traffic safety, Dung said.

In his message, the PM said that each person should be responsible for themselves, for their families, friends and the whole society and the first thing one could do was to follow traffic regulations.

He also requested ministries, branches and authorities to implement the Government's urgent and long-term measures from the very first days of the new year.

He said the aim was to reduce traffic accidents and casualties by 5-10 per cent a year as well as ease traffic jams in Ha Noi and HCM City.

A ceremony to launch an action plan for Traffic Safety Year 2012 will be held on January 1.

Taiwan indicts 8 over death of Vietnamese man

After a fortnight of investigation, police in the Taiwanese city of Tai Nan have prosecuted eight local men for manslaughter after concluding that they had chased after a Vietnamese worker, who was later killed by a train, last month.

After the deadly accident occurred, police examined the images recorded by a camera at the railway station and summoned the men for questioning, the Chinese-language Liberty Times reported on December 24th.

The men initially denied their involvement, but they eventually confessed to the police that they had chased after Nguyen before he was hit by the train.

According to the case file, the worker, whose last name is Nguyen, and his three Vietnamese friends arrived at a karaoke parlor in Yong Kang, Tainan at 9 pm November 29th.

They left the parlor at 11 pm and encountered a group of Taiwanese men, including a woman in a short skirt, who were about to get into their car.

Nguyen happened to look at the woman stepping into the vehicle, and one of the local men, Tang Zhong, 32, began yelling at Nguyen for deliberately looking at his wife’s underpants.

Nguyen could not speak Chinese, so he made hand signs to the man as an explanation that he had not done so, but Zhong and the others of the group, under the influence of alcohol, began to attack him.

Nguyen fled from the group while eight Taiwanese men ran after him. After running about 100 meters, Nguyen dashed across a railway barrier that was in the way, ignoring the alarm signal with its light lit, indicating that a train was approaching.

He was then hit by the train, which was traveling at 130 km/h. After witnessing the accident, the men who were chasing Nguyen left the area.

Nguyen had arrived in Taiwan eight days before his death, the police said.

Fire burns down $120,000 fishing ship

A fire started from an engine of a VND2.5 billion (US$120,000) fishing ship and burned it down completely at 3am on Tuesday in Tam Giang commune, Nui Thanh district, the central province of Quang Nam.

Fishermen nearby were unable to put the blaze out since they discovered about the fire when it had become strong.

Within 30 minutes, the 480 horsepower ship with a capacity of 40 passengers turned into ashes.

Tran Van Anh, the ship’s owner, said the fire was caused due to short circuit.

In 2011, Anh’s ship caught 105 tons of squids worth VND13.6 billion ($650000), the highest yield compared to others.

His family pocketed VND3.6 billion (US$173,000) as profit and fishermen on his ship earned VND150-200 million ($7200-9600), depending on their productivity.

VNN/VNS/Tuoi Tre