Noted firm Mai Linh temporarily banned from Tan Son Nhat International Airport Ho Chi Minh City authorities are taking drastic measures to curb the illegal actions of taxi companies at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, an official told the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday (February 9). Dang Tuan Tu, director of the Tan Son Nhat Aviation Security Center (TASC), said the center was boosting patrols to detect and punish violating taxis and will propose [...]

The dismissal of the chairman of power utility Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) was reported by the media as a positive action taken by the government to help improve state-owned corporations. Across the board, Vietnamese media editorialized that there should be strict measures against all officials involved in the scandal. “The public is waiting for a review of responsibility of EVN’s former chairman Dao Van Hung. With debt and losses of dozens of billions dong during [...]

A 12th grade student in north central Vietnam died from a fall from the second floor of her school on Thursday. Ngo Thi Thuy apparently slipped while climbing over the second floor banister at 6:30 a.m., a time allotted for cleaning duties, said her classmates at a high school in Nghe An Province, the news website Dan Tri reported. Some teachers at the school said Thuy was wearing high heels. However, what remains unclear is [...]

A fire in a market in central Vietnam Thursday destroyed goods worth nearly US$9.6 million. The blaze began at around 4 am in Quang Ngai Market, the largest one in Quang Ngai Province, and destroyed nearly 700 shops with goods estimated by market’s managers as being worth VND200 billion. Only a few small shops and stalls near the entrance managed to save their goods. Several vendors, who were opening their shops, said the fire began [...]

The design of Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant incorporates the most comprehensive safety factors, a spokesperson for the Russian company that will start building the plant in 2014 was quoted as saying Wednesday. Newswire VnExpress quoted Petr Shchedrovitsky from the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation, or “Rosatom,” as saying the plant would use the advanced technology currently used by 80 percent of nuclear plants around the world. It would not face the problems seen at [...]

Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah agreed Tuesday to free nine Vietnamese fishermen arrested by Brunei authorities while fishing in the East Sea last month, the Vietnam News Agency reported. The release was made at the request of Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who paid an official visit to Brunei Darusalam the same day. On January 20, fishing boat BĐ 96092TS with nine crew members on board was seized by Brunei marine police while catching tuna [...]

Authorities in Hanoi readjusted local working hours on Wednesday, after the first modification drew mixed reactions from the public since it was implemented more than one week ago. In an urgent dispatch sent to local agencies that day, Hanoi’s People’s Committee changed the hour for high school students to end their classes to 6 p.m.. The closing hour was originally set at 7 p.m. According to the authorities, they made the latest adjustment, which will [...]

A Hanoian lost his left eye after a golf ball hit his face while playing golf, according to the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology. The hospital said Tuesday the man, whose name was withheld, was discharged from the hospital one day earlier, with his left eye blinded by a broken eyeball and cornea. His right eye was normal. The man, in his 50s, was playing golf at the Dong Mo golf course in Ba Vi [...]

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered the central bank to “solve” within the first quarter a shortage of funds among lenders, stepping up pressure on policy makers to fix banking risks threatening the economy. The deadline to remedy “liquidity problems” in the banking system was given in a resolution on the government’s website. The prime minister also instructed the central bank to closely monitor the market in order to reduce lending interest rates to [...]

The head of the district adminstration involved in the controversial revocation of land where the military was deployed and a farmer’s house razed to the ground in northern Vietnam was suspended Tuesday from his position. Le Van Hien, chairman of Tien Lang District People’s Committee in Hai Phong City, had directly ordered the controversial revocation on January 5, a city official said. The revocation has been deemed illegal by many lawyers. Hien’s subordinate, vice chairman [...]