Politics

-- Chairman of the Democratic Party of Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva vowed Wednesday to foster ties with the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) during his courtesy call to visiting General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Bangkok.   

-- State President Truong Tan Sang will start his two-day visit to Indonesia on Thursday. The two countries’ relationship was established at the consul-general level in 1955 and was upgraded to the ambassadorial level nine years later. Bilateral trade between them topped US$4.6 billion in both 2011 and 2012 while it was worth $2.1 billion in the first half of this year.  

Society

-- The director of the Ho Chi Minh City National Hospital of Odonto – Stomatology, Lam Hoai Phuong, has been relieved of her post following accusations of wrongdoings in the recruitment of employees and a relaxation of overseas travels for doctors and officials.

-- The Vietnamese Ministry of Construction has directed that parking space must reach 20 percent of an apartment’s area at commercial housing developments and 12 percent at social housing projects. 

-- Doctors at a hospital in the central city of Da Nang have saved a 13-month-old baby after he fell from the fifth floor of a hotel.

Business

-- Vietnamese private arline VietJet Air (VJA) signed Wednesday an agreement with Thai budget carrier Kan Air to establish low-cost airline Thai VietJet Air. VJA holds a 49 percent stake in this $8 million joint venture, the rest controlled by Kan Air.

-- Luxury car manufacturer Rolls Royce announced its first official dealership in Vietnam on Wednesday, chosing Regal Motor Cars Corporation as its partner. This is the 22^nd Rolls-Royce dealer across the Asia-Pacific region outside of China. 

-- Indian companies have a strong interest in investment in Vietnam through buying stakes in Vietnamese firms or merger and acquisition deals, Indian Consul General Abhay Thakur said Wednesday at a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City. India’s biggest investment in Vietnam is now a $1.8 billion thermal power plant in the southern province of Soc Trang.

Lifestyle

-- Korean film star Lee Min Ho will have a concert in Vietnam on August 3. The Vietnamese organizer VDC Entertainment has said that the performance will cost VND10-12 ($476,000-571,000), including the fee for the singer and expenses for his travels, music band, and sound and light effects. 

-- Vietnam’s communication and information authorities have warned five portals 24h.com.vn, bongda.com.vn, vietbao.vn, stockbiz.vn and baomoi.com, against aggregating news without any prior permission from the proprietor, following complaints from local newspapers and newswires.

-- A Vietnamese has asked local authorities about procedures to return a four-faced female god statuette, believed to date back to the 8^th century, to Cambodia. The figurine measures 160 milimeters high, 125-130 mm wide, and weighs 3.8 kilos.

Sports

-- A book on the historic game between Vietnam’s national football team and Premier League club Arsenal, scheduled for July 17 at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi, will be published next month to celebrate this sports event.

Education

-- Vietnam introduced its first set of digitalized textbooks for grade 1 through to 12 on a tablet on Wednesday in Hanoi. The device costs VND4.8 million ($229) while paper textbooks for the same grades can be bought at VND2 million ($95) in total.