-- Vietnam strongly opposes China’s violations of its sovereignty by capturing and detaining two boats together with 21 Vietnamese fishermen since March 3 when they were fishing in Hoang Sa Islands (also known as Paracel Islands in English), which belong to the former, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi said Wednesday. He also appealed for the immediate and unconditional release of the boats and the fishermen by China, and demanded it stop arresting or hindering Vietnamese fishermen doing their normal job in Vietnam’s sea water.
Society
-- China has deported 115 Vietnamese laborers reported to be illegally sent to its land, according to its mouthpiece Xinhua news agency.
-- Defects can be found in the design, construction, supervision, and operation of the Song Tranh 2 Hydropower Dam located in the central province of Quang Nam, which has leaked water so far, said Dr Bui Trung Dung, vice director of the state construction assessment department.
-- Phan Trung Hoai, a lawyer who is hired by Tuoi Tre newspaper to protect the lawful rights and interests of its former reporter Hoang Khuong who was charged with indirectly paying bribes to a traffic policeman, has proposed in writing that local police should stop investigating the case and the journalist himself.
-- The unemployment rate among Southeast Asian nations’ youth stayed very high last year at 15 percent, according to reports at a conference on unemployment organized Wednesday in Ho Chi Minh City.
-- Eleven workers were wounded and burned in an explosion at a textile plant in the northern city of Thai Binh.
Business
-- A local company broke ground on a helmet plant in the central city of Da Nang on Wednesday. The facility, expected to come on stream in July, will produce 150,000 helmets a year.
-- Local farmers are in dire straits as they cannot sell their huge stocks of rice despite hikes in export prices.
Lifestyle
-- Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2011 runner-up Tra My has won the 3rd runner-up prize in the Top Model Worldwide 2012competition just concluding in London.
-- Minh Quan and Minh Hang, two popular Vietnamese singers, now hit local headlines after they have been found lip-syncing The Phantom of the Opera musical in the opening night of the 2012 Vietnamese version of the Dancing with the Stars TV series.
Sports
-- Vietnamese soccer club Navibank Saigon beat Indonesian visitors Arema 3-1 in an AFC Cup 2012 game on Wednesday at its home soil Thong Nhat Stadium, located in Ho Chi Minh City.