Tuoitrenews briefs you on some of the main stories published today in the Vietnamese media

Politics:

- The first sitting of the National Assembly Standing Committee’s 25th session in Hanoi on February 20 discussed the draft amended Law on Environmental Protection. The bill features policies, means and resources for environmental protection, and the rights, responsibilities and missions of organizations, households and individuals in the cause.

Society:

- At the National Steering Committee for Sustainable Poverty Reduction’s meeting on February 20, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh agreed with the Ministry of Construction’s proposal to build 40,000 houses for people in central provinces to protect them against flood.

- The Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on February 20 informed that Thanh Hoa province has recently had H5N1 avian influenza, increasing the number of provinces having the disease to 17.

- On February 20, lawyer Nguyen Anh Thom (Hanoi Lawyer Association) informed that Hanoi People's Procuracy has finished the indictment on the crime at Hanoi-based Cat Tuong Beauty Salon last year. On October 19, Dr Nguyen Manh Tuong, the owner of Cat Tuong Beauty Salon, together with a security man working at the salon, threw the body of a woman who died after a breast surgery there into the Hong (Red) River.

Business:

- The Lam Dong Plant Protection Department has recently released a list of characteristics to distinguish strawberries of Da Lat and China. The list informs that Da Lat’s strawberries will be damaged after around 2 days while Chinese strawberries can stay fresh after 7-10 days.

- The number of flights of the Ho Chi Minh City – Con Dao route will be increased to 8-12 flights/day, instead of 3-4 flights/day like at the moment, Vu Duc Bien, deputy director of the Vietnam Air Service Company informed.

Lifestyle:

- On February 19, the US-based music production and distribution company Lang Van sent Tuoi Tre a letter announcing that the company has sued the International Data Group and VNG Group which owns the music website zing.vn for copyright violations. According to Lang Van, zing.vn has illegally used more than 3,000 songs and 600 albums of which Lang Van owns the copyright.

- The 2014 German Film Festival will kick off in Hanoi from February 21, showcasing numerous successful German movies. The film will be screened in German, Spanish and French with English and Vietnamese subtitles at the Goethe-Institut Hanoi at 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc in Ba Dinh District. Admission is free.

- Ho Chi Minh City’s three-day annual cuisine fest, “Ngay hoi que toi” (My hometown’s fest), will start today in Binh Thanh District’s Van Thanh tourism complex at 4pm, featuring a wide variety of culinary delights and cultural activities.