Below are some of the main stories published today, April 5, in the Vietnamese press.Politics

-- Vietnam and Malaysia have issued a joint statement reaffirming the commitment to intensify the comprehensive partnership in all areas toward the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries. The statement was made in Hanoi on Friday during the three-day visit to Vietnam by Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak and his wife starting on Thursday.

Society

-- A grand requiem will be held within this month on Truong Sa Lon Island, part of Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in the East Sea, to commemorate all heroes and martyrs of the Vietnam People’s Army, all soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who sacrificed themselves while protecting Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago in 1974, and all ‘boat people’ – people who left Vietnam by sea after 1975 for different reasons – who lost their lives in the East Sea, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Thanh Son, who is also chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese. -- Police in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday arrested Nguyen Thi Thao Hien,  a local 41-year-old woman, at her home for storing drugs. Police seized five bricks of drugs weighing 1.8 kg of drugs and are expanding their investigation to track down Hien’s accomplices. -- The Supreme People’s Court has announced that an appeal hearing for ex-chairman of Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) Duong Chi Dung, 56, will be held on April 22, 2014. Dung and Mai Van Phuc, the ex-CEO of Vinalines, were sentenced to death in December 2013 for their offenses in a serious corruption case this State-owned Corporation in 2008. -- Ho Chi Minh City Department for Agriculture and Rural Development on Friday released 450,000 breeding fish into Tau Hu Canal on the occasion of 55th anniversary of Vietnam Seafood Traditional Day (April 1). The total value of the fish released is around VND300 million (US$14,100).

-- Authorities of many provinces and cities including Quang Ninh, Ha Tinh, Ninh Thuan and Hai Phong are inspecting and punishing many restaurants and other eateries that have been using signboards with contents written only in Chinese. The Vietnamese law mandates that any sign must be presented in Vietnamese, and whenever foreign languages are used, they must be placed below the Vietnamese equivalents.

Business

-- Vinalines Sky, a cargo ship of the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) has been seized in South Korea as “hostage” by South Korean company SK E&C since mid-March 2014 in a dispute between this company and Vinalines. The seizure has caused a loss of hundreds of thousands of US dollars to Vinalines.

-- Total investment capital in industrial parks and export processing zones in Ho Chi Minh City in the first quarter of this year amounted to US$277 million, up 92 percent from the same period last year. Of the amount, foreign direct investment accounted for $243 million, up 97 percent year on year.Sports --  Newcastle will host M.U at St James’ Park on Saturday, April 5, within the 33nd round of the English Premiership. AFP quoted Newcastle coach Alan Pardew as saying that Newcastle will face difficulties to compete with M.U but his team will try its best in the coming match.