Below are some of the main stories published today, July 26, in the Vietnamese press:

Politics --  Top Vietnamese leaders laid a wreath and offered incense at the Monument to war Heroes and Martyrs in Hanoi on Friday on the 67th anniversary of Vietnam’s War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27). Among the leaders were General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung. They later paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in the capital.Society --  An international seminar on China’s illegal deployment of the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnamese waters is scheduled to kick off Saturday, July 26, at the Thong Nhat (Reunification) Hall in Ho Chi Minh City, with the participation of over 50 scholars, lawyers and researchers from around the world. China removed the rig from Vietnam’s waters on July 16 after illicitly placing it in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf since May 1. --  The second package of the first metro project in Vietnam – the 19.7 km Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien line – was broken ground in Ho Chi Minh City to build a underground 1.7 km section of the line linking the area under the City Theater to that under the Ba Son Plant in District 1. The section costs US$229.1 million and is expected to be complete in March 2015. The first package of the project was implemented in August 2012. -- The People’s Procuracy of southern Long An Province has prosecuted Duong Truong Son, 35, for violating the road traffic rules while driving a bus on the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong expressway on July 17. His violation caused a terrible accident that killed four passengers and injured 10 others. Son is out on bail. -- Huynh Van Hung, a 32-year-old man of southern Long An Province, and his wife and daughter were saved by rescuers when the barge containing 93 tons of sludge steered by Hung suddenly sank on the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday noon. Heavy rains and strong waves on the river were blamed for the sinking.

-- A design contest for a park to be built in the central region in memory of 64 naval officers and soldiers who perished in a battle against Chinese invaders on Gac Ma Island, part of Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in 1988 was kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday. The organizers of the contest are the Vietnam Labor General Confederation, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.Business -- Vietnam will see 20,000 cars to be exported by 2020, according to the national automobile development strategy recently approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. As part of the strategy, Vietnam will cut down import duties on cars and adjust a number of charges levied on cars to boost the development of the country's automobile industry. -- Foreigners are allowed to bring or transfer out of Vietnam the prizes in foreign currencies they have won from playing electronic games illegally organized in Vietnam, according to a new regulation of the State Bank of Vietnam. Accordingly, foreign prize-winners can transfer the winning money through banks in Vietnam, or obtain a certification from local banks to bring the money out of Vietnam, or exchange the winning amount into Vietnamese dong at local banks. Lifestyle -- A symphony orchestra of the Kunitachi College of Music Blasorchester, the largest music school in Japan,  will perform a concert at the Ho Chi Minh Music Conservatory at 8 pm next Tuesday, July 29, 2014. The orchestra’s conductor is Toru Miura.  The event, with free admission, will jointly be organized by the Conservatory and the Japanese Consulate General in HCMC.Free tickets are available at the Conservatory.

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