What you need to know in Vietnam for today, June 9:

Politics

-- Deputies attending a session of the law-making National Assembly yesterday in Hanoi strongly blasted China’s escalation in violating Vietnam’s sovereignty over the islands and shoals of the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

-- Vietnam organized a ceremony on Monday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dong Xoai victory in the southern province of Binh Phuoc during the resistance war against the U.S.

Society

-- The prices of nearly 2,000 services in public hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have gone up since June 1.

-- Unknown people have recently scattered sharp snails on the Can Tho – Vi Thanh road in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang to puncture motorbike tires for robbery or selling inner tubes at exorbitant prices.

-- Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper has caught on tape a theft ring in the center of Ho Chi Minh City stealing car parts such as windshield wiper blades and logos after a long investigation.

-- Nguyen Hung Linh, former general director of the Kien Giang Trade and Tourism Company, was yesterday arrested for ‘dereliction of duties and causing great consequences.’

-- A section stretching over tens of kilometers on National Highway 1 in the central province of Nghe An has subsided soon after a project to upgrade and expand the road.

-- Two brothers and a sister of two families, from three to six years old, in Vinh Cuu District of the southern province of Dong Nai drowned on Monday when bathing in the Tri An Lake.

-- The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden will not be relocated to Cu Chi District, but it will stay put at the same location in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, according to a leader of the zoo.

Business

-- Hong Kong has stopped importing poultry from Vietnam for fear of the bird flu (H5N1 and H5N6) epidemic, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.

-- Farmers in the northern province of Hai Duong on Sunday reaped their first batch of high-quality lychees for export to the U.S. and Australia.

Sports

-- Gymnast Ha Thanh yesterday won a gold medal, taking Vietnam’s haul of gold medals to 26. Team Vietnam now ranks second in the medal table, after the host Singapore with 40 gold medals.