Vietnam ethanol plant to be merged with oil refinery to cut costs

The Dung Quat Bio-Ethanol plant in the central province of Quang Ngai Vietnam’s only remaining ethanol plant will be merged with the oil refinery at Dung Quat as a cost-cutting measure at a time of low demand. BSR, a PetroVietnam subsidiary that owns the Dung Quat oil refinery, and Petrosetco, another subsidiary that owns the Dung Quat Bio-Ethanol, are wrapping up procedures for the merger. The ethanol plant, which has a capacity of 330 tons per day, has been on a trial run since the start of last year. The US$80-million plant, while awaiting the country’s switch to biofuels by 2015, has been exporting most of its output.  News website VnExpress quoted BSR chairman Nguyen Hoai Giang as saying...

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Vietnam

Let the online buyer beware

Vietnamese law struggles to keep pace with the boom in online shopping A man browses for cell phones online. The rapid development of Vietnam’s e-commerce industry has led an increase in fraud, while a new government decree lacks punitive measures. Photo: Diep Duc Minh Tran Minh Tan was delighted to find a used Sony Vaio laptop for just VND5 million (US$236) online. The computer technician from Ho Chi Minh City’s Go Vap District transferred money to the seller’s account and was promised he would receive the computer within two days. “It wasn’t until the fourth day that I realized I’d been cheated,” he said, adding that he found the laptop on a popular IT site. Similar instances of fraud are becoming more...

Read more »

Posted in: Business,Vietnam

US House votes to continue NSA's phone surveillance

The US House of Representatives has narrowly voted to continue collecting data on US phone calls, in the first legislative move on the programme. In a 205-217 vote, lawmakers rejected an effort to restrict the National Security Agency's (NSA) ability to collect electronic information. The NSA's chief had lobbied strongly against the proposed measure. The vote saw an unusual coalition of conservatives and liberal Democrats join forces against the programme. Republican Justin Amash attached the amendment to a defence spending bill The details of the NSA dragnet were made public by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for America's electronic spying agency. He is now a fugitive, seeking asylum in Moscow. ...

Read more »

Posted in: Society,USA

China charges disgraced politician Bo Xilai

Mr Bo was removed from his post in March 2012 China has charged disgraced politician Bo Xilai with bribery, corruption and abuse of power, state media say. Bo Xilai, formerly the Communist Party chief of Chongqing, was expelled from the party after a scandal surrounding the murder of a British businessman. His wife Gu Kailai was jailed in August for the killing of the Briton, Neil Heywood. Mr Bo was charged by prosecutors on Thursday in Jinan in Shandong province, state media said. The scandal was one of the biggest to rock China in years. Source: bbc ...

Read more »

Posted in: China,Society

North Korea to reopen hotline with South

North Korea says it will restore a key hotline with South Korea, as the two Koreas discuss where to hold talks on a jointly-run industrial zone. Pyongyang said it would reopen a Red Cross hotline which it cut in March. Operations at Kaesong came to a halt after the North withdrew its workers and restricted access It also invited officials to come to Kaesong for talks on Sunday on restarting operations at the factory zone, after the two sides agreed in principle to talks on Thursday. Work at Kaesong has been halted since April, amid high regional tensions. Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated earlier this year in the wake of the North's 12 February nuclear test. North Korea's nuclear ambitions...

Read more »

Posted in: Korea,Politics

Afghans angry at 'lenient' Robert Bales massacre sentence

Residents of Afghan villages where a US soldier went on a rampage last year have reacted with anger that he has escaped the death penalty. At a US military hearing on Wednesday Staff Sgt Robert Bales, 39, admitted killing 16 civilians in March 2012. A jury will decide in August whether he is sentenced to life with or without the possibility of parole. Some of the victims' bodies were burned by Bales after he had shot them The villagers in Kandahar province argue that he has been treated far too leniently and should be hanged. Most of the victims were women or children, and many of them were shot in the head. Some of the bodies were piled up and burnt. 'Full of blood' Friends and family members of...

Read more »

Posted in: Politics,violence

Foreign sex workers could be expelled from Vietnam

The security ministry is proposing fines of up to US$476 for clients indulging in paid sex “of an obscene nature”, starting July 1. If the prostitute is a foreigner, that person will be fined up to $47 and can be deported from Vietnam. According to a draft decree proposed by the Ministry of Public Security on administrative punishment in social order, fire and domestic violence prevention, sex buyers will be fined from VND500,000 to VND1 million (up to $47). The fine will be increased to VND2 million - VND5 million (up to $238) if the client has sex with many prostitutes at a time. If the sex is “of an obscene nature”, or the client incites others to buy sex together, that person will be fined from VND5 million to VND10 million...

Read more »

Posted in: Society

In the world of beer girls

More pretty girls, including students, who drink well now earn quite a lot from waiting on and sharing a table and drinks with their male customers. The main difference between these ‘beer attendants’ and ‘bia om’ (beer hug) girls is that these ‘beer attendants’ usually don’t offer sexual services to customers. However, the difference blurs sometimes. A Tuoi Tre undercover reporter recently disguised herself as a beer attendant to penetrate this world. She got to know Ha, a seasoned beer attendant, who agreed to let her tend to one of her patrons after the reporter boasted that she can drink up to 10 beer bottles in one go. “The more you can drink and the prettier and sexier you are, the more tips you receive from your clients,” Ha shared...

Read more »

Posted in: Society

Michael Jackson daughter Paris 'tries to kill herself'

Paris Jackson, the daughter of late pop legend Michael Jackson, is in hospital after attempting to kill herself, a publicist has confirmed. Paris, 15, is physically fine, her grandmother's lawyer told the Associated Press news agency. Paris is a prolific user of Twitter Emergency officials said they responded to a reported overdose in the Calabasas area of Los Angeles where Paris lives, but did not identify the patient. Local media say she left the family home at about 02:00 PST (09:00 GMT). Earlier on Wednesday, Angel Howansky, a long-time publicist for Joe Jackson - Michael Jackson's father and the girl's grandfather - could not confirm reports of a possible drug overdose or multiple cuts on her wrist. Paris, Michael Jackson's only...

Read more »

Posted in: Society

Vietnam Detains Blogger Over Anti-State Criticism

HANOI — Vietnamese police have detained a former journalist who ran a blog containing anti-state views, authorities said on Monday, part of a widening crackdown on dissent in the Communist-run country. Truong Duy Nhat, 49, was taken into custody on Sunday and police searched his house in the central city of Danang. He complied with an urgent warrant issued against him, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on Monday. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in jail. Online dissent has grown in the past year as Vietnam wrestles with deep economic woes that have shattered its image as one of Asia's hottest emerging markets. Some bloggers have harshly criticized Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, accusing him of cronyism and economic mismanagement - which he denies. The...

Read more »

Posted in: Society