Here are today’s leading news stories:

Society

-- A woman pretended to be pregnant and tricked people along a bus route in Ho Chi Minh City into chipping in with a total of VND4 million (US$172) for her to deliver the ‘baby’ at a local hospital on Friday afternoon, authorities confirmed on Saturday.

-- A man allegedly high on drugs has been sitting on a transmission tower of a high voltage electric line in the northern Vietnamese city of Hai Phong since Saturday morning, while authorities have yet to be able to bring him down.

-- A 70-year-old woman who earned a living by collecting scrap was killed after being hit by a truck in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang on Saturday.

-- A taxi driver in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau was caught storing crystal meth in his cab and tested positive for the stimulant on Saturday, claiming he had consumed it to stay awake.

-- Police in the northern province of Quang Ninh have arrested a group of nine security guards who were involved in the stealing of 140 metric tons of coal from a local company in late January.

-- Two companies in Nha Trang City in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa have been fined a combined VND135 million ($5,805) for employing a total of 22 foreign workers without legitimate labor contracts.   

Business

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a conference in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on Saturday, which was aimed at seeking ways to promote tourism in the central and Central Highlands region.

-- Farmers in the Mekong Delta have become worried as the price of paddies is rapidly decreasing ahead of a major harvest season.

-- Approximately 600 officers from different military units in Chau Duc District, Ba Ria -Vung Tau Province were mobilized to help local farmers harvest their pepper crops on Saturday. As pepper price has been plummeting, farmers have avoided hiring harvesters in order to minimize losses.

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