Read what is in the news today, March 14!

Politics

-- On this day 30 years ago, China conducted a military offensive to invade Vietnam’s Gac Ma (Johnson South), Co Lin (Collins) and Len Dao (Lansdowne) Reefs in the Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands of the East Vietnam Sea, killing 64 Vietnamese naval soldiers.

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his official visit to New Zealand on Tuesday expressed his strong belief that the countries would soon upgrade their relations from comprehensive partners to strategic partners.

Society

-- Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly is mulling over a comprehensive revision of the country’s law on higher education, including the amendment of over half of the law’s existing articles and the addition of two new ones.

-- Nine former Hanoi officials charged with construction violations that led to repeated problems with a major water pipeline in the capital city have been sentenced to between 12 and 21 months behind bars by.

-- A fire that killed five people on Monday at an old villa in Da Lat City in Vietnam’s Central Highlands was an act of arson by one of the victims, who had set his neighbors’ residence on fire over personal conflicts, authorities said Tuesday.

-- Vietnamese people have the shortest travel itinerary in the world, with an average trip lasting for only four days or less, according to a recent report by U.S. credit card brand Visa Inc. using survey data from over 15,000 people in 27 countries.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City administration has requested a thorough inspection into illegally built houses on land reserved for agricultural purposes citywide, as more conflicts are reported between local residents and developers of agricultural projects.

-- Kbec Vina, a South Korea-invested waste company headquartered in southern Vietnam’s Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, has been fined VND682 million (US$30,000) for discharging harmful wastewater into the environment.

Business

-- Vietnam-produced organic vegetables are facing tremendous opportunities for export to the European Union (EU), Tran Thanh Nam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said at a meeting with local businesses on Tuesday.

-- Vietnam’s top brewer Sabeco was found to have used state capital to invest in ten loss-making companies in 2016, causing it to provision VND444.7 billion ($19.61 million) against the losses, according to a recent report by state audit.

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