Tuoi Tre News briefs you on some of the leading stories published today, March 7, in Vietnamese media.

Politics -- The U.S will assist Vietnam in improving its capabilities in maritime law enforcement and protection of territorial waters, Major Ly Van Thang, a U.S. ground force officer, who is the chief of the Office for Defense Cooperation of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, said at a press conference there on Friday.   Society -- An earthquake measuring 3 on the Richter scale struck an area between Son Tay District in Vietnam’s central Quang Ngai Province and neighboring Kon Tum Province’s Kon Plong District at 5:30 am Friday. The quake’s epicenter is near the Dakdrinh Hydropower Plant in Son Tay, local authorities reported. -- Police in Phu Quoc District in the southern province of Kien Giang on Friday reported that they had detected more than 100 37-mm artillery shells and fifteen 83-mm mortar shells in a preventive forest area in the district’s An Thoi town. These shells were left over during the war in Vietnam before 1975, police said.  -- Under a plan promulgated by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on February 10, an inspection team led by Do Phi Hung, deputy director of the city Department of Construction, will inspect a total of 1,244 tenement buildings in the city from now to late June this year, Hung told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday.  -- The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has assigned the city Anti-flooding Program Operation Center to coordinate with other relevant agencies to review the city’s anti-flooding plan that was approved by the Prime Minister in 2008 and set up a project to prevent flooding caused by rising river water in the city, taking into account all climate change factors.Business -- At a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday to inaugurate a representative office of Kasikorn Bank, the second largest bank in Thailand, Preedee Dawchai, the bank’s general director, said that the office, along with another in Hanoi, will help promote trade and investment activities by Thai businesses in Vietnam, facilitate their business in the country, and assist them in seeking Vietnamese partners.   -- The Hoa Binh Real Estate Construction and Trading Joint Stock Company, a Vietnamese contractor, on Friday conducted a topping-out ceremony for the GEMS Condominium Project, which includes four 21-storey towers and a 5-storey building for parking, in Yangon, Myanmar, after 19 months of construction since August 2013.Education -- A session providing university examination consultation and vocational orientation for students organized by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper will take place at Can Tho University on March 8. More than 120 consulting booths from over 100 universities will take part in the one-day event.    Sports -- Real Madrid (R.M) will face Athletic Bilbao in a match in the 26th  round of the Spanish League Championship (La Liga) in the latter’s stadium at 12 am on Sunday, March 8 (Vietnam time). According to observers, R.M badly needs to win the upcoming game, as it wants to gain momentum before facing its tough rival Barcelona on March 22.      

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