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...

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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...

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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. ...

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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 ...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Posted in: Society

Blogger Truong Duy Nhat arrested

Blogger Truong Duy Nhat is pictured at 3:10 pm at Da Nang Airport on May 26, 2013 Police from the Ministry of Public Security have arrested the owner and chief writer of the blog “Một góc nhìn khác” (“Another viewpoint”), for his illegal actions.  The site’s owner, Truong Duy Nhat, 49, was arrested yesterday, May 26, on charges of “abusing rights to freedom and democracy to infringe upon State interests and the legitimate interests of organizations and/or citizens,” under Article 258 of the Penal Code, police said. The arrest was made at about 9 am at his home in Hoa Cuong Bac Ward, Hai Chau District, in the central city of Da Nang. Police also searched his home for hours. At 3:30 pm, police escorted Nhat to the Da Nang...

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Posted in: Society

52% of homosexual-heterosexual marriages end in divorce

52% of marriages between homosexuals and heterosexuals in Vietnam end in divorce, the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE) announced on May 14. Titled “Same-sex relationships in Vietnam,” the study was carried out with the participation of 2,500 people, 23% of whom were homosexuals, bisexuals, transgender and people of unknown gender from 2012 to early 2013. Homosexuals seen in a photo of the collection The Pink Choice of Vietnamese photographer Nguyen Thanh Hai, aka Maika Elan According to the study, most homosexuals agree to marry heterosexuals due to pressure from their family, their wishes to have a marriage like other people, and to have children, or their filial duty. Half of the 52% who divorced said...

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Posted in: Society

IRS targeting of conservative groups intolerable - Obama

US President Barack Obama has said the federal tax agency's targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny was "intolerable and inexcusable". The treasury department's inspector general will release a report on the matter this week He said those who carried out the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) actions would be held responsible. Mr Obama spoke after a treasury department report placed the blame on "ineffective management" at the agency. The US attorney general earlier ordered an FBI inquiry into the IRS conduct before the 2012 presidential election. Eric Holder told a news conference that agents would determine if any laws had been broken. The actions of tax officers, if not criminal, were "certainly outrageous and unacceptable",...

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Posted in: Business

Money-mad teens will do anything for money

Suggestive pictures are seen on a community page on Facebook Imagine you are a father or mother relaxing at home believing that you are safe in the knowledge that your two teenage girls are upstairs, having harmless fun with friends on social networking sites. But you have had a nagging doubt for a while and decide to keep an eye on them once in a while. They are impressionable young girls after all who can get themselves into trouble with amorous young males, if they are not careful. You have managed to secretly join their friends’ list and decide to see what is going on. You log on to your smartphone and there standing before you is your worst nightmare. Your daughter - nude. Now that is bad enough but not only is she naked but she...

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Posted in: Society

Taxi driver sacked for fleecing Irish couple

A Hanoi taxi firm has fined and sacked a cabbie who has been found guilty of overcharging an Irish couple, said its inspector. James Murtagh and his wife Tran Duc Tri, inspector of Thanh Nga taxi firm, Saturday confirmed with Tuoi Tre that Pham Van Linh, 38, the accused cabbie, has been fined VND5 million ($250) and sacked. Linh has also been summoned to local police station for further investigations, Tri added. As previously reported, James Murtagh and his wife from Ireland were asked to pay VND480,000 ($23) for a distance of two kilometers from a hotel on Hang Bong street to a restaurant on Ma May street. The maximum fee should have been VND40,000 ($1.9). According to Murtagh, he handed the driver a 500,000 banknote but...

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Posted in: Society

National Observers Note Irregularities in Pakistan Elections

Pakistani election staff count ballots at a polling station in Islamabad, May 11, 2013. Sharon Behn May 12, 2013 ISLAMABAD- Pakistan’s Election Commission on Sunday endorsed the country’s landmark elections that will see the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power via the ballot box in the country's history. It declared the country’s elections for a new national assembly and government leadership as “largely free and fair.” But Pakistani non-governmental observers noted voting irregularities and terror attacks in parts of the country meant that not everyone’s voice was heard.Free and Fair Election Network CEO Muddassir Rizvi says there were serious incidents of voting irregularities, fraud and intimidation in areas such as in the...

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Posted in: Politics

Vietnam Politburo Selects First U.S.-Educated Member

Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a meeting at the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing, May 10, 2013. Reuter- 12 May 2013. HANOI — Vietnam's ruling Communist Party has appointed for the first time a U.S.-educated official to its powerful politburo, a landmark decision as pressure mounts to reform an economy stagnating after years of boom growth. The top decision-making body of the party that has ruled Vietnam since 1975 voted to increase its membership and bring in Nguyen Thien Nhan, a deputy prime minister overseeing education, health and technology, it said on its website (dangcongsan.vn). Nhan, 59, has a master's degree in public policy from the University of...

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Posted in: education

Former Pakistani PM’s Son Kidnapped at Election Rally

Ali Haider Gilani, son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who is contesting in the upcoming general election, speaks during a campaign meeting at a house on the outskirts of Multan, May 9, 2013, before his abduction by unidentified gunm Sharon Behn May 09, 2013 SLAMABAD — The son of former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been taken hostage by gunmen during a political rally in his home area of Multan. It's the latest incident in what has been a violence-marred election campaign in the run up to the May 11 national assembly elections. Amid a spray of gunfire, unidentified men on motorbikes Thursday sped up to the rally and kidnapped Ali Haider Gilani, who was addressing his supporters.Gilani had...

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Posted in: USA,violence