Propagandist jailed by HCM City court

The HCM City People's Court yesterday, Jan 8, sentenced a woman to 42 months in jail for carrying out anti-national propaganda.

Lo Thanh Thao, 36, of southern Dong Nai Province will also remain under scrutiny by local authorities for another 24 months after she completes her sentence.

On March 20 last year Thao scattered propaganda leaflets in HCM City's Binh Thanh District, and four days later stuck them outside several buildings in District 1.

She was captured while filming a restricted area in Binh Tan District.

Thao told the police she had carried out the activities against the State on the instructions of Nguyen Thi Nhi, an overseas Vietnamese living in the US.

Nhi, whom she met in 2010, gave her a cell phone, a laptop computer, and US$490 in cash as payment.

Smuggled rhino horn seized in HCM City

More than 16 kilo of African rhino horn was seized on arrival at HCM City airport on Sunday and a Vietnamese passenger arrested, the Customs at Tan Son Nhat International Airport said yesterday.

The passenger carrying the horn had arrived on a Qatar Airways flight and claimed he had nothing to declare, a customs official said.

The importing of rhino horns is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and under Viet Nam law.

The rhino horn is being held by police pending further investigations.

Construction elevator collapse injures six

Six people were injured after a construction elevator used for material transport fell suddenly at a construction site in HCM City's District 5 early yesterday morning, Jan 8.

Photo: VNN

The injured included four workers at the site and two people near the area. Witnesses said the six people were rushed to hospitals by fire-fighting vehicles and taxis. There were no reports at press time of the severity of the injuries.

The elevator damaged two houses on Nguyen Bieu District and a motorbike when it collapsed.

Construction on the building is in the final stage of completion. The elevator was being used to transport glass blocks to the upper floor.

Police are conducting an investigation.

Guest workers in Taiwan to pay new insurance fees

The Overseas Management Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) reports Taiwan has announced a new guest worker insurance fee schedule for 2013.

Guest workers’ labour insurance fees will rise from 7.5 percent to 8 percent of their total income. 70 percent of the resulting fee will be covered by employers, 20 percent by the State, and 10 percent by the workers themselves.

Vietnamese workers in Taiwan will actually enjoy lower health insurance fees - 4.91 percent compared to the current 5.17 percent of their income - and only 30 percent of the resulting fee is the burden of the workers themselves.

Labour insurance is not compulsory for housewives and domestic workers but both are subject to mandatory health insurance.

Taiwan is a major market for Vietnamese labour exports, recruiting more than 30,000 Vietnamese guest workers. They are primarily employed in the Taiwanese manufacturing, garment, mechanical, and agricultural sectors.

Red Cross donates blankets to provinces

The Viet Nam Red Cross yesterday donated 3,800 blankets worth nearly US$15,000, to families impacted by the prolonged and bracing cold spell gripping 17 northern provinces.

The society also asked its provincial chapters to mobilise donations of blankets and clothes from communities to further support weather-worn provinces in the north and central regions.

Flyover to be built near Daewoo Hotel

Construction of a 276m by 17m flyover at the intersection near the Daewoo Hotel is expected to begin after Tet, the Ha Noi People's Committee said.

The VND310 billion (US$14.9 million) flyover is forecast to be completed by Ha Noi's Liberation Day, October 10.

The flyover will be the sixth in Ha Noi, the others being at the intersections of Thai Ha-Chua Boc, Lang-Le Van Luong, Lang Ha-Nguyen Chi Thanh, Thai Ha-Lang Ha and Nam Hong-Mai Dich-Noi Bai.

Neighbours free woman, child from blaze

Neighbours managed to rescue a woman and her child after a fire broke our in their house in Mekong Delta Can Tho City yesterday morning.

Nguyen Thi Huyen, 31 and Tran Tuan Anh, 4, however sustained serious burn injuries and were rushed to hospital.

According to local police, the blaze in the house in An Khanh Ward, Ninh Kieu District, broke out after the boy set fire to a large cushion while playing with a lighter in the mezzanine.

Huyen went up to bring the burning cushion downstairs, but the cushion was too big and the ladder too narrow, and mother and son got stuck upstairs.

Luckily, neighbours noticed the fire and, with the help of authorities, extinguished the fire and rescued the two.

Vaccine removed from circulation

The vaccine Quinvaxen "5 in 1" has been removed from circulation in many areas in Ha Noi, said deputy director of the municipal Preventive Medicine Centre Nguyen Nhat Cam yesterday.

The decision was released after a three-month-old boy from Gia Lam District died after receiving the vaccine, which prevents diphtheria, whooping-cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and meningitis.

Samples of the vaccine given to the boy were sent to the National Institute for Testing Vaccines, said Cam.

About 55,000 doses of the vaccine were administered in other districts in the city as well as in other provinces and cities, but no fatalities or complications were reported, according to the centre.

In Gia Lam District alone, more than 1,600 doses of the vaccine were given without complications.

Meanwhile, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Nguyen Tran Hien said that tests of the vaccines given to three children in the central province of Nghe An revealed that the vaccine was not the cause for the children's death.

According to the National Institute for Control of Vaccine and Biologicals, he said, the Quinvaxem "5 in 1" vaccine, produced in South Korea, met the safety requirements of the World Health Organisation.

US fund hails Vietnamese academic talents

Vietnamese students in the US, most under 30 years old, have demonstrated great diligence and talent, according to officials of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF).

More than 20 scientific research ideas in health, biology, information technology and mathematics by Vietnamese postgraduate researchers were put on show at the 10th annual VFF Fellows and Scholars Conference hosted by Florida State University from January 3 to 5.

The event provided a platform for VFF officials, representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in the US and relevant Vietnamese ministries as well as 200 Vietnamese scholars in the US, to discuss orientations for future Vietnam-US cooperation in education.

There were also discussions on Vietnam’s current development environment, including relevant policies that will affect overseas Vietnamese students when they return home.

Since its formation by US Congress in 2000 as an independent US Federal Government agency to foster education cooperation between Vietnam and the US, the VFF has provided scholarships to 421 Vietnamese students to study in the US.

US Congress recently decided to grant US$5 million to extend the foundation’s operation to five more years, until 2018.

According to the latest Open Doors report by Institute of International Education, the number of Vietnamese students enrolled in US institutions of higher education reached 15,572 in the 2011-2012 academic year.

This is a 4.6 percent increase from the previous year, and the 12th consecutive year of growth. Vietnam ranks 8th in the world in number of students studying in the US.

Construction of Vietnam-Cambodia border market begins

Construction of a Vietnam-Cambodia border market, the first of its kind, commenced at the border between Tay Ninh province of Vietnam and Kompong Cham province of Cambodia on January 8.

A ceremony to mark the occasion was organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Tay Ninh People’s Committee and the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce.

When completed, the market will create favourable conditions for local businesses and residents to increase trade and improve their living conditions.

Covering an area of 1.8 hectares, the market will include a warehouse, loading bay and a kiosk area.

According to the Tay Ninh’s Department of Industry and Trade, VND20 billion (US$1 million) of goods were traded through Chang Riec-Da border gate everyday in 2012.

VNN/VOV/VNS