Good morning from Vietnam!
Politics
-- A naval training sailboat on Wednesday arrived in the central city of Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province. The watercraft is the first sailboat of the Vietnam People's Navy, to be used for training as well as sent to international exchanges.
Society
-- The People’s Committee of the central city of Da Nang is planning on installing more cameras on streets to cope with tourist solicitation.
-- The attendant crew of the Thong Nhat SE18 train Tuesday successfully helped a pregnant woman to give birth to a girl while traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to the central province of Quang Binh.
-- According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, nearly 2,000 cattle have died in the northern mountainous region during the last four days as a severe cold spell is hitting the area.
-- As the Vietnamese Lunar New Year approaches, many local people flock to buy heads of wild animals like chamois which are advertised by sellers from Africa, Laos, Cambodia or Myanmar to display in their houses as an exorcism.
Business
-- Customs officers in the northern city of Hai Phong on Wednesday said they had captured a container containing more than 10 metric tons of contraband, including wine, milk, and dietary supplements, from the U.S.
-- On January 27, border guards in the southern province of An Giang detained more than 18,000 boxes of cigarettes smuggled across the border with Cambodia. The trafficking and trading of contraband cigarettes have shown no sign of reduction despite the government’s effort, causing an around VND10 trillion (US$446.43 million) loss to the state’s budget.
Lifestyle
-- Vietnam has been named a guest of honor at the International Kolkata Book Fair, which kicked off in India on January 25. The event, which is one of the world’s three leading annual book fairs, will run in 12 days with the participation of numerous publishers from around the world.