Truck collided coach, 2 died, 7 injured

Two drivers died at the scene and seven passengers were injured when a coach collided with a truck this morning on a stretch of National Highway No 1A in central Ha Tinh Province's Ky Anh District.

An initial investigation revealed the accident occurred when the coach carrying 40 passengers was travelling against traffic towards the oncoming truck. The truck overturned and the top of the coach was destroyed.

The injured were taken to Ha Tinh General Hospital.

Local authorities plan to provide VND1 million (US$48) in support to each victim's family.

An investigation is ongoing.

Pine forests gutted by wildfire in central province

About 30 hectares of pine forests were destroyed this afternoon after a fire broke out at 1:00 pm in Chau Loc Village, Hau Loc District, Thanh Hoa Province.

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Local authorities were called in right away to fight the fire fueled and fanned by sizzling temperatures and strong winds at noon.

Forest wardens had to resort to giant fans to stop the fire from sweeping through nearby forests in Hoang Khanh Village, Hoang Hoa District.

The wildfire was extinguished after three hours. Many forest rangers were then asked to stay at the scene in anticipation of another outbreak.

Local residents said the fire might have been ignited by visitors to the temple who had possible set fire to something in a religious ritual there.
The local authorities are investigating the cause.

Chief editor arrested; reason not yet announced

Gia Lai Province’s Police on Monday arrested Nguyen Manh Thang, the former chief editor of Doanh Nghiep & Thuong Hieu (Business & Brand Name) Magazine but are yet to announce the reason of the arrest.
The arrest was conducted at 7 pm on July 4 at Thang’s Café at 44 Tran Quy Cap Street in Gia Lai's capital city of Pleiku.

Tien Phong cited a source saying Thang was suspected of being involved in the shooting of a police official at Gia Trung Prison.
Ngo Xuan Thanh was shot injured at New Life Bar in Pleiku on February 13 by an underground gang from the northern city of Hai Phong.
Thang, 35, is a native of Nam Dinh Province and a permanent resident of Hanoi. He has been working in journalism since last July and recently moved to Gia Lai to make business investments.
Doanh Nghiep & Thuong Hieu where Thang worked as the chief editor was under the management of the Vietnam Association of Rural Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises.

The magazine stopped operation in early June under a decision of Gia Lai Province’s Department of Information and Communications.

Tanker hits motorcycle, seriously injures rider in central province

A tank truck crashed into a motorcycle in Quynh Hong Village, Quynh Luu District, Nghe An Province, severely injuring the rider Wednesday afternoon.

Witnesses say Pham Van Minh, a 33-year-old local, was riding his bike on the 1A National Road section that crosses the district when the tank truck driven by Nguyen Van Ngoc, another local of 30, hit right into the rear of the two-wheeled vehicle.

The truck shoved the motorcycle for 20 meters before a halt as it had built up considerable momentum from the fast speed it was travelling at.

Minh was thrown off the bike, geting serious injuries. Ngoc refused to take him to hospital, though.

The victim was then taken to a nearby general hospital by local residents and is now in a critical condition.

The accident occurred in the rush hour so traffic there became congested for 1 hour.

Local police are currently investigating the case.

International institute gets approval

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has issued a decision to establish the Institute of Indian and Southwest Asian Studies at the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences.

Under the decision, the director of the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences is authorised to take responsibility for the institute and govern its organisational mechanisms and operational regulations.

The institute will focus on scientific research in accordance with the Vietnamese legal system.

The institute's headquarters will be based in Ha Noi.

Seminar discusses improving website security

Experts and businesses discussed measures to strengthen website security at a seminar held yesterday, July 6, in Ha Noi.

Participants at the seminar held by the Viet Nam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) were introduced to a draft on technical methods to ensure website security and establish protection systems.

Activities under the draft will help website administrators evaluate security levels and choose suitable measures to set up security systems.

"Information security is a growing concern among the public, especially hacks on websites which can lead to economic losses or have a negative impact on the prestige of State offices," said Nguyen Minh Hong, deputy minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

"Technical guidance to ensure website security is essential," Hong said.

More than 300 Vietnamese websites suffered from interface changes and database damage as a result of hacks from May to mid-June. About 200 web pages were hacked on June 2 alone.

The large scale attacks were directed at websites operated by State management offices and organisations.

Experts at the seminar concluded that websites were susceptible to hacking due to loose security measures and low community awareness.

They also revealed security standards which could help with website security.

Corrupt official gets seven years in jail

The Ha Noi People's Court announced the sentences yesterday for Bui Tien Dung, former General Manager of Project Management Unit 18 (PMU18) and eight accomplices for embezzlement at the Bai Chay Bridge Construction Project.

Dung was sentenced to seven years in jail for "abusing positions and power while performing Government duties" and seven other defendants were found guilty of the same crime including Nguyen Vu Nam (nine years); Nghiem Phu Son (seven years); Le Minh Giang (six years); Nguyen Cong Dung (six years); Nguyen Huu Minh (four years); Nguyen Huu Long (five years) and Tran Duc Hung (three years).

Only Do Kim Quy, who was charged with "using assets illegally acquired by others", was sentenced to two years' probation.

In 2007, PMU18, which operates under the Ministry of Transport, formed the epicentre of a major corruption scandal which has remained unresolved for the last three years. Top officials were accused of spending public funds for personal reasons, with former General Director of PMU 18 Bui Tien Dung sentenced to 13 years in jail for gambling and offering bribes.

In 2009, Dung and his accomplices were further accused of "deliberately acting against the State's regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences" and "abusing positions and power while performing official duties."

Dung was then sentenced to three years in jail after the People's Procuracy recommended a sentence of four to six years.

Dung will now have to serve a total of 23 years.

Ivory seized in Hai Duong Province

Northern Hai Duong Province's Forestry Department has seized 15 kilos of ivory being illegally transported in an automobile.

The ivory was discovered when the automobile was parked near a restaurant in Chi Linh Township in the province.

Local police have been trying to identify the origin of the ivory and hunting the traffickers who escaped after being found.

Tidal surge claims lives of two students

Two female students from Quynh Long Commune in central Nghe An Province's Quynh Luu District were swept away by a sudden high tide on Tuesday morning when collecting oysters along the Lach Quen coastline.

A fishing boat later retrieved the body of one victim, Le Thi Men,13. Yesterday, the body of her companion, Bui Thi Trang, 14, was also found.

Many local children usually collect oysters along the coast to help their families during summer vacation.  

A 12-hour blaze has destroyed 1,000 tonnes of tyres and a 40-tonne crane at the Hai Phong Ship Building Joint Stock company.

Eight nearby houses were also damaged in the fire that began about 6pm on Tuesday and scorched a 4,000 - square metre area.

Firefighters were hampered by the narrow entrance to the site which enabled only four fire engines to tackle the blaze. No casualties were reported.

College instructor accused of soliciting sex through messages

T.X.N., an instructor from Tay Nguyen University in Dak Lak Province has been accused by a student of texting her to solicit sex.
C.T.D., a student majoring in Economics and Business Administration, has sent a complaint to the local police to accuse her thesis supervisor of demanding sex from her in return for a high grade for her graduation thesis.
In her complaint, D showed several cell phone messages she received from N.’s number, one of which read “Let’s go to a hotel. You will feel at ease after your first try.”
D. said she decided to report the case after she received a message that set a deadline for her to meet N. at a hotel.
D. has also provided the police with a tape that recorded her conversation on phone with N. after he knew she had reported him to the police.
“I have given you such enthusiastic support, why did you denounce me?” N. asked his student in the tape which also recorded his apologies to her.

Talking with the press, N. denied the charge, saying somebody who envied his position may have tried to frame him.
As for why he had to apologize to D. if he didn’t text her, N. said he thought it was simply a proper thing to do since the messages were sent from his number.
For its part, the university said if N. had indeed sent the texts, he would be strictly punished.

Illegal textile activities busted, Chinese owner flees

A Chinese man who operates an illegal textile waste collecting warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City has fled after his activities were discovered.

According to the HCMC market management police, Han Zhuan Zhi has absconded after more than 30 tons of baled textile waste and some machinery were discovered and seized from Tuan Phuc Warehouse in District 12.

The warehouse was licensed under the name of Nguyen Thanh Phuoc to sell fabrics but the police found that it was actually collecting and baling used textile waste to export to China to be later spun into textile and imported back to Vietnam.

During the investigation, Nguyen Thanh Phuoc confessed he was hired by Han Zhuan Zhi to apply for a business license and the rest was done by Han Zhuan Zhi. The police said this was a sophisticated illegal investment strategy which imported separate parts of machineries of dubious origins to Vietnam for reassembling.

More than 350 tons of fabric waste had been exported to China over the past 3 months and on June 14, 50 illegal slot machines brought to Vietnam by some Chinese men were also discovered, the police said.

Vietnam seeks info on alleged currency corruption

The Ministry of Public Security is collecting information related to an allegation that an Australian company has bribed Vietnamese officials into granting it a polymer banknote printing contract.

The statement was made by the Major General Trieu Van Dat, deputy head of the General Department of Anti-Crime Police under the ministry, at a recent meeting that reviewed the crime situation in the first half of this year.
After getting to know about the alleged corruption from foreign media, the ministry initially assigned the Corruption Crime Investigation Department to follow and verify the case.
The case has now been transferred to the Financial and Monetary Security Department for further investigation, Dat said.
Vietnam’s competent agencies have requested Australia’s relevant judicial agencies to provide them with information about the alleged corruption, Dat said.
For the time being, there is no evidence to confirm whether any Vietnamese officials have received foreign bribes related to the polymer banknote printing, he said.

The Government has ordered the Ministry of Public Security to cooperate with Australia’s competent agencies to collect information.
If there is a sufficient judicial basis, the alleged corruption will be handled similarly to the high profile PCI case last year, Dat said.
In that case, Huynh Ngoc Si, former deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Transport Department and director of Japan-funded East-West Highway and HCMC Water Environment projects, was charged with taking bribes totaling US$262,000 from PCI (Japan’s Pacific Consultant International).
At his trial in October last year, the HCMC People’s Court said PCI officials paid Sy the bribes in order to win a bidding package for supervision and consulting services of the East-West Highway project.
Sy was sentenced to life in jail.

Four houses razed by fire in Ho Chi Minh City

Four houses were destroyed in a morning fire in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Phu district yesterday, July 5, leaving many people homeless.

Some houses nearby were also affected by the blaze.

However, police said no one was killed or injured.

The fire reportedly broke out from the house No. 94/10 when its owner was cooking.

It took around two hours for firefighters to put down the fire.

Police are investigating.

VNN//VNS/Tuoi Tre