Politics

-- Vietnamese State President Truong Tan Sang started a three-day state-level visit to China on Wednesday, the official Vietnam News Agency reported. He had talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping a friendly, straightforward and open atmosphere, following a welcome ceremony at the highest level for a state leader. The two reviewed their countries’ relationships over the years and discussed measures to foster their neighborly friendship as well as comprehensive strategic partnership.

-- President Truong Tan Sang sent a letter of congratulation to the newly-elected President of Iran Hassan Rowhani on Wednesday. Rowhani was elected on June 14.  

-- The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganizationIrina Georgieva Bokova, arrived in Hanoi on Wednesday to begin her official three day-visit to Vietnam at the invitation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other high-ranking officials. She will also attend several cultural events during her stay.

Society

-- A Ho Chi Minh City court sentenced a doctor to seven years in prison for causing a road accident that killed two people and injured another 13 in 2011. Tran Anh Huy, a 44-year-old doctor at Children's Hospital 1 in District 10, bumped his car into another and then rear-ended 13 motorbikes when they were waiting at the stoplights at an intersection in the same district. 

-- Three Laotian nationals were arrested Tuesday in the central province of Quang Tri when they were smuggling 3.5 kilograms of heroin into Vietnam, local border guards said Wednesday. 

-- Facebook underwent several periods of downtime in Vietnam in the past few days due to an internal issue in the social networking site’s web infrastructure, a Facebook representative in Vietnam told Tuoi Tre on Wednesday. Users in Vietnam recently were unable to log onto Facebook from their computers even though they could do so on smartphones and tablets, so many accused local internet providers of blocking it. They can access the site now after Facebook managed to fix the error yesterday.

-- The United States Agency for International Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations will provide US$1.7 million for Vietnam to battle bird flu, the two organizations announced Wednesday.

-- Police in the northern province of Hai Phong busted Tuesday a ring, including a couple and another woman, who illegally produced guns and bullets. The police have seized 29 guns, 395 bullets, gun stocks, and other equipment. They are conducting further investigation into this case.

Business

-- The Vietnamese National Assembly approved a legislation to lower corporate income tax to 22 percent from the previous 25 percent on Wednesday. It will be effective from next year.   

Lifestyle

-- Three Vietnamese tourism officials have been reprimanded for putting a picture of a place of interest in China in Vietnam’s booth at an international tourism exhibition in Germany in March. 

Sports

-- The Vietnam Football Federation will sign an agreement with the operator of the My Dinh National Stadium on Thursday to lease the venue to organize a friendly between Vietnam’s national football team and English Premier League club Arsenal on July 17. The two had a row over the lease price for several days before sports authorities stepped in to settle it.