Miss World

Giây phút hạnh phúc khi Alizee Poulicek đăng quang Hoa hậu Bỉ.

Cô là mỹ nhân mang hai dòng máu Czech và Bỉ.

Hình ảnh của Poulicek trên trang web chính thức của Miss Universe 2008 vừa diễn ra vào tháng 7 tại Việt Nam.

Trình diễn bikini trên sân khấu Miss Universe trước khi đến với Miss World.

Và Alizee Poulicek tự tin trong hoạt động của Miss World 2008 đang diễn ra tại Nam Phi.

Hoa hậu Nam Phi Tansey Coetzee:

Tansey Coetzee (giữa) đăng quang Hoa hậu Nam Phi.

Người đẹp của lục địa đen 23 tuổi, cao 1m74.

Hình ảnh Coetzee đăng tải trên trang web chính thức của Miss Universe 2008 vừa diễn ra vào tháng 7 tại Việt Nam.

Trình diễn bikini trên sân khấu Miss Universe trước khi đến với Miss World.

Tại cuộc thi Miss World 2008 đang diễn ra, Coetzee xinh đẹp, mặn mà hơn so với thời gian tham dự Miss Universe. Cô cũng tự tin hơn vì được thi đấu trên sân nhà.

Cô là một trong nhứng ứng viên sáng giá cho ngôi vị Hoa hậu Thế giới 2008.

Hoa hậu Pháp Laura Tanguy:

Laura Tanguy đoạt Á hậu 1 cuộc thi Hoa hậu Pháp.

Hình ảnh Tanguy đăng tải trên trang web chính thức của của Miss Universe 2008 vừa diễn ra vào tháng 7 tại Việt Nam.

Trình diễn bikini trên sân khấu Miss Universe trước khi đến với Miss World.

Hình ảnh của Hoa hậu Pháp đang tải trên trang web chính thức của Miss World 2008 đang diễn ra tại Nam Phi.

Hoa hậu Kazakhstan Alfina Nassyrosa:

Alfina Nassyrosa khi đăng quang Hoa hậu Kazakhstan.

Cô năm nay 20 tuổi, cao 1m75.

Hình ảnh Nassyrosa đăng tải trên trang web chính thức của của Miss Universe 2008 vừa diễn ra vào tháng 7 tại Việt Nam.

Người đẹp Kazakhstan trình diễn bikini trên sân khấu Miss Universe trước khi đến với Miss World.

Hoa hậu Kazakhstan Alfina Nassyrosa (váy hai dây đỏ, thứ 5 từ trái sang) trong một hoạt động của Miss World 2008 ngày 23/11 tại Nam Phi.

Hoa hậu Mauritius Olivia Carey:

Olivia Carey khi đăng quang Hoa hậu Mauritius.

Cô năm nay 19 tuổi, cao 1m70.

Hình ảnh Carey đăng tải trên trang web chính thức của của Miss Universe 2008 vừa diễn ra vào tháng 7 tại Việt Nam.

Người đẹp Mauritius trình diễn bikini trên sân khấu Miss Universe trước khi đến với Miss World.

Hình ảnh của Hoa hậu Mauritius đang tải trên trang web chính thức của Miss World 2008 đang diễn ra tại Nam Phi.

Gold prices jump

The Saigon Jewelry Company announced Monday its gold price increased by VND250,000 (US$14.7) per tael to VND17.1 million ($1,000) from Saturday’s closing price of VND16.85 million ($994).

Gold prices on the global market also rose $16.85 per ounce Monday to $817.85 per ounce. A tael is 1.2 ounces. The Vietnam Export-Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank, known as Eximbank, said the global gold price had risen as a result of increased demand. About 840 tons of gold will be consumed globally in the year’s fourth quarter, as some Asian countries, including India and China, start to hold festivals. Reported by Thanh Xuan

Troubled steel makers call for higher tariffs to curb imports

Vietnamese steel manufacturers have asked the government to more than double import tax on finished steel to 20 percent from 8 percent to protect them from cheaper imports, their association said.

The current rate is 8 percent. The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) had last week proposed that the government should hike the tariff on steel billet from 2 percent to 5 percent. Chairman Pham Chi Cuong said producers in neighboring countries cut prices and pushed exports to reduce stocks that had piled up due to the global economic slowdown, which has crimped steel demand from manufacturers and builders. Demand in Vietnam has also dropped as the high bank interest rates hurt the construction industry. A report last week in Phap Luat (Law) newspaper quoted Cuong as saying that steel consumption had shrunk for a second consecutive month in October to less than 120,000 tons. Vietnam had imported around 360,000 tons of steel by October, mainly from China, according to the association. Steel imports grew 57 percent to US$6.1 billion in the first 10 months of the year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO) in Hanoi. In its latest report Monday, GSO said steel imports were up 46.3 percent this month from a year earlier. Steel prices rose slightly after the association’s first proposal last week even though demand remained unchanged. Vietnam Steel Corporation (VSC) increased prices by VND500,000- 700,000 a ton to VND10.6-10.7 million ($626.7-632.5). Foreign manufacturers have priced their products at VND50,000-100,000 higher than VSC. Stocks with manufacturers and distributors rose to 3 million tons as of October 27, Dau Tu Chung Khoan newspaper reported earlier this month, citing a study by Ban Viet Securities Inc. Reported by Minh Quang

The growing NGO lobby

Children perform a play about HIV/AIDS at a meeting sponsored by NGO PACT Vietnam Professional lobbyists are gaining ground in Vietnam as shifting laws give stakeholders a larger say in policy making.

NGOs in Vietnam are advocating for government policy change as authorities become more open to the role professional lobbyists can play in formulating laws. Since the 1990s, international Non-Government Organizations’ main work has been helping with Vietnam’s socio-economic development plans. They traditionally provide financial assistance and capacity building in areas such as health, poverty reduction and education by working with local non-profit organizations such as the Vietnam Women’s Union, with lobbying just playing a minor role in their work. The government, through the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and the Committee for Foreign Non-Governmental Organization Affairs, has called on them to help in particular areas such as HIV/AIDS and vocational training. But international integration and the country’s accession to the WTO have paved the way for more lobbying. “There has been a big change in the process of government policy making in Vietnam,” said Vu Thi Nga, a consultant for the Consultancy on Development (CODE), an NGO that has been helping to bring together government representatives and NGOs at lobby workshops in Hanoi over the last two years. Nga said there used to be a “top down” system that created a lot of “overlapping” in the Vietnamese legal framework. But she said that a new law on the promulgation of legal documents passed in June had made the situation better. The CODE consultant said the new law mandated that law and policy makers must carry out impact assessments of new laws while also proposing solutions to possible risks and consulting public opinion on the new measures. She said agencies now have to publish draft laws on their website for 60 days. The grassroots Nga said CODE was established in March 2007 to carry out development research, advocate for policy, build partners’ advocacy capacity and improve public awareness of the need for lobbying. She said the non-profit organization was working to help people recognize the need to use professionals to advocate for policy change. “I think that heightening people’s awareness of lobbying is the thing that must be done immediately in order to build professional lobbying in Vietnam,” she said. Nguyen Anh Thuan, who consults for PACT Vietnam managing and developing grants from the US government, said that lobbying was more successful than it used to be because members of the government travel a lot more than they used to and they have seen programs working in other countries such as Thailand and Australia. The consultant with 15 years experience in the HIV/AIDS field, said he had worked with the ministries of Health and Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to develop policies to help fight the epidemic. During the building of the Can Tho bridge which started in 2004, he was the first person to alert the Ministry of Health to the HIV/AIDS risk posed when migrant workers are employed on large scale infrastructure construction jobs, he said. What resulted was a 2006 policy that all big projects with a migrant workforce nationwide must have an HIV prevention program. He said to advocate policy change, “What we need to have is evidence – for example a risk assessment... need to have an alliance – groups of different NGOs, provincial HIV/AIDS centers – need to have representatives of people affected with HIV and government partners and agencies.” “You need to have people work with you, do workshops and educate the local media,” he said. Regarding the HIV issue, the PACT consultant said, “The government has become really open, accepting of the issues” because the manner of advocacy was diplomatic, constructive and well prepared. He said as a result of his NGO’s lobbying, the Japanese government and the Ministry of Transport allocated US$170,000 for an HIV prevention program in Can Tho for workers and residents and that such programs have spread all over the Greater Mekong Region. He said that in the context of HIV prevention, he didn’t think the government was shackled by a concern that it was a moral issue, instead he said they just want to see evidence that HIV prevention programs are not going to pose a risk. He said this is the role of professional advocates for policy change. According to Nga, there are three main reasons why lobbying operates less effectively in Vietnam than other countries: a lack of professional lobbying organizations to convey information “accurately and effectively” to the government; “distortion of lobbying” in Vietnam by corruption, bribery and wheeling and dealing; and a “too cumbersome” administration system. “It is difficult for lobbyists to identify who they need to lobby. To improve lobbying activities in Vietnam, the government needs to simplify the administration system and create personal responsibility in machinery of government.” CODE is currently lobbying for a more sustainable government approach to bauxite mining across the country. The non-profit group organized a workshop with stakeholders in October to find solutions to minimize negative impacts of exploiting bauxite, alumina processing and aluminum refining. The workshop, organized by CODE, the people's committee of Dak Nong Province and the Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group in Gia Nghia Town, Dak Nong Province, discussed in depth the positive and negative impacts of bauxite mining on all aspects of society. “After collecting the views and research of all stakeholders, we sent the documents to the Prime Minister and other relevant ministries to discuss in the National Assembly meetings. We hope it could make some important changes,” Nga said. Reported by Michael S. Smith

Prices fall again in Ho Chi Minh City

Lower food, fuel and housing costs are expected to bring consumer prices in Ho Chi Minh City down this month for a second time this year, the local statistics office said.

Prices in Vietnam’s largest city are expected to fall 0.69 percent from October, when prices fell for the first time this year by 0.24 percent. Food prices fell 8.67 percent from October while the cost of housing, utilities and construction materials dropped 5.66 percent from last month, according to the statistics office. Consumer prices in HCMC and Hanoi serve as an early indication of the national inflation figure, due to be published later this month. The government has an inflation target of below 15 percent next year, versus a forecast 24 percent this year. Food prices account for 42.8 percent of the price basket Vietnam uses to calculate inflation while oil products make up less than 3 percent. Source: Bloomberg

Vietnam coffee output fell on rains, frost: US

Coffee production in Vietnam, the world's second-biggest grower after Brazil, declined 14 percent in the year ended September 30 because of heavy rainfall and frost, according to the US Foreign Agricultural Service.

Vietnam produced 18.3 million bags of coffee in the marketing year, down from 21.3 million bags in the previous year, agricultural specialists Nguyen Thi Huong and Tran Quoc Quan said in a report posted Thursday on the US Department of Agriculture website. Output for the current marketing year will be 21.5 million bags, unchanged from the agency's previous estimate, the specialists said. They cited an increase in the growing area, improved weather conditions and better yields for the increase from a year ago. A bag weighs 60 kilograms. In a separate report, Brazil's coffee crop for the year starting July 1 was projected at 51.1 million bags, unchanged from a June forecast. A crop of that size would be 36 percent bigger than the previous year. Colombia, the third-biggest coffee grower, is expected to produce 12.3 million bags in the marketing year that began October 1, or 1.1 percent less than a year ago, according to a third FAS report. Harvest delayed The coffee harvest in Vietnam may be hampered due to heavy rains, according to Cao Van Tu, director of the Dak Lak Province-based Ea Pok Coffee Co. “We can’t harvest the ripe beans,” Tu said Monday by phone from the Central Highlands province, the country’s biggest coffee producer and exporter. “I’m afraid we will not be able to have enough stock for delivery in December.” Delayed shipments may spur a rebound in the price of robusta beans, which has tumbled by a fifth over the past year. Rainfall in Dak Lak also disrupted harvesting and drying last week, Tu said. His staff had only a few sunny days to dry the crop and some workers were trying to collect as many ripe beans as possible in the rain, he said. “We’re sitting by the fire as it has been raining all the time,” said Tu. “Usually it doesn’t rain this much.” The rains would compound the problems faced by coffee traders, who are already battling high borrowing costs and a shortage of credit to fund coffee purchases, Tu said. Robusta for January delivery slipped US$16, or 0.9 percent, to $1,790 a ton on Liffe Thursday. Source: Bloomberg

Vietnamese banks to charge clients for ATM use

The Vietnam Bank Card Association wants to charge ATM card users VND1,000 per transaction from December 1. The 20-member Vietnam Bank Card Association (VBCA) is seeking the State Bank of Vietnam’s approval to charge customers for using automated teller machines from December 1, its chief has said.

The banks want to charge VND1,000 per transaction, chairwoman Nguyen Thu Ha said, adding she sees no reason for the central bank to reject the plan. The VBCA had planned to introduce the charge much earlier but said last June the central bank wanted it deferred because of the economic slowdown, she said. She said it is a reasonable demand since banks spend a lot of money on setting up and maintaining their ATM network. She said an ATM costs around US$30,000 without including maintenance costs. The VBCA wants customers to get used to the idea of paying a user fee before increasing it, she said, admitting it has not yet decided whether to raise the fee. But there are disagreements over the timing of the move. DongA Commercial Joint Stock Bank’s chairman Tran Phuong Binh told Thanh Nien Daily that banks should put off introduction of the charge by a year because of the economic slowdown. “The fee will possibly see low-income people, whose salaries are paid into their accounts, withdrawing all their money in one shot. “They will struggle to manage their monthly spending. “One ATM costs us $15,000 to 25,000 and annual maintenance $500-1,000. But we treat it as promotional expenses to encourage people to use ATMs. “We have to keep at least VND500 million at every ATM.” Foreign banks said they have no plan to charge ATM transactions. Thomas Tobin, CEO of HSBC’s Vietnam branch, said: "We do not charge any fee for the transactions on our ATMs and the ATMs of our strategic partner Techcombank. But we will review our policy when we fully operate as a wholly foreign owned bank in Vietnam." HSBC Holdings, Europe’s biggest bank, has got a license to open a wholly-owned unit in Vietnam. ANZ too said it has no plans to impose the charge. Dave Stewart, an English teacher in the city, said most ATMs in the city do not have money. “The service is not good enough, so it is unfair that we have to pay a fee for it,” he said. An official from the central bank, who wished to remain unnamed, said if they cannot charge ATM transaction fees, domestic banks would be unwilling to expand their ATM network. “The important thing is for them to charge a reasonable fee,” he said. Reported by Hoang Uy

High interest rates could drive small companies bankrupt

A tenth of Vietnam’s 350,000 small-and medium-sized enterprises may go bankrupt in the first quarter of next year as high lending rates wipe out profits, according to a business association.

The companies are typically paying as much as 16 percent to borrow money, more than their profit margins of 14 percent, Cao Sy Kiem, president of the Vietnam Association for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, said on Monday. “These companies may not survive for long,” Kiem said. “With lending rates remaining high, the main reason their business is struggling lies in their over-reliance on bank capital.” Faltering smaller enterprises may add to pressure on the central bank to lower interest rates from the second-highest in Asia to support economic expansion. The companies generate about 40 percent of gross domestic product, and use half the labor pool, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “With the majority of these companies’ source of capital coming from banks, and given the high lending rates at the moment, they really aren’t making any profit,” said Kiem, who was governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) from 1989 to 1997. While the central bank has twice lowered rates by a percentage point in the past month, Vietnam’s benchmark interest rate of 12 percent is still the highest in Asia after Pakistan. More than half of Vietnam’s small- and medium-sized companies owe money to commercial banks, Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Hanoi-based chamber of commerce, known as VCCI, said on Monday, citing data from the SBV. ‘Barely making profit’ Almost 60 percent of Vietnam’s small- and medium-sized exporters reported a slowdown in their business in recent months, the VCCI report said. “Given high rates and other inflationary costs, we are barely making profit from many export contracts at the moment,” said Nguyen Duc Cuong, deputy director of Hai Duong Agricultural and Seafood Export Joint-Stock Co. “But we have to keep up our exports in order to maintain business contacts.” The company, based in the northern province of Hai Duong, often needs to borrow as much as 80 percent of the value of export contracts, Cuong said. Profit may fall by a third to US$30,000 this year, he said. Seafood is Vietnam’s third-largest export by value after petroleum products and textiles, according to the General Statistics Office. Exports have slumped in recent months because of the global credit crisis. Vietnamese banks have reduced lending rates to about 15 percent after the central bank’s rate cut, according to a statement by the SBV. The maximum interest they can charge is now 18 percent, compared with 21 percent previously. However, Nguyen Tuan Anh, director of Ut Xi Seafood Company in Soc Trang Province, said businesses could only operate if banks’ annual loan rates stood at 10-12 percent. Further deposit rate cuts Interest rates paid to depositors by Vietnamese lenders will decline as the central bank pursues monetary policies to support economic growth, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Giau said. “In a situation where inflation is constrained, banks shall reduce deposit interest rates to a reasonable level,” Giau said, according to a statement posted on the government’s website. “The macro economy has been stabilized and inflation is under control, but enterprises’ production and businesses still have difficulties.” The government forecasts economic expansion of 6.7 percent this year, from 8.5 percent in 2007. Year-on-year inflation slowed for a second month in October to 26.7 percent, from 27.9 percent in September. The central bank’s actions are “necessary” and aim “to enable companies to maintain and expand their operations,” the statement said. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also said last week that Vietnam should keep lowering interest rates next year and manage the exchange rate flexibly in the face of a worsening global economy. On November 6 the SBV widened the trading band for the dong to 3 percent on either side of a daily fixed rate, from 2 percent previously, allowing a weaker currency to boost exports and narrow the country’s trade deficit, according to the statement. Bonds rise Vietnam's benchmark bonds rose Wednesday after the central bank governor’s statement. The yield on five-year notes dropped 8 basis points to 11.94 percent, according to a daily fixing price from 10 banks, compiled by Bloomberg. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. “In a situation when the economy is slowing down and corporate earnings are threatened like now, we don't want to make more loans but put our money in bonds," said Nghiem Ngoc Minh, Hanoi-based head of the capital-management department at Agribank, Vietnam’s biggest bank by asset. The local currency traded at VND16,977.50 to the dollar as of 4:20 p.m. Wednesday in Hanoi, versus VND16,977 on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Source: TN, Agencies

Suri

Suri là em bé hot nhất Hollywood. Ảnh: JJ.

Xếp sau con cưng nhà TomKat là Shiloh, Zahara và Pax Thien - ba em bé nhà "ông bà Smith" rồi đến "con gái rượu" của tay golf số một thế giới Tiger Woods và "tam thiếu gia" của danh thủ bóng đá quyến rũ số một hành tinh David Beckham, cậu út Cruz. Sau cái chết đột ngột của người cha là ngôi sao trong bộ phim Brokeback Moutain của đạo diễn Lý An, Matilda Rose Ledger cũng lọt vào bảng xếp hạng này của Forbes vì vụ tranh chấp quyền thừa kế có liên quan đến cô bé được giới truyền thông hết sức chú ý. Ngoài ra các "cậu ấm cô chiêu" của nữ hoàng nhạc pop Madonna, công chúa nhạc pop Britney Spears và ông vua truyền hình Charlie Sheen cũng vinh dự được Forbes "điểm mặt".

Bắt đầu được biết đến kể từ khi xuất hiện trên trang bìa tạp chí thời trang danh tiếng Vanity Fair, Suri đã trở thành một trong các sao hot nhất xứ Hollywood. Cô bé xinh xắn này có khi còn thu hút sự chú ý của dư luận nhiều hơn người hùng của Điệp vụ bất khả thi và cô vợ trẻ, hai bậc cha mẹ nổi tiếng của bé.

Xếp sau Suri là con gái đầu lòng của "cặp đôi quyền lực nhất thế giới" Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie. Với 4.1 triệu USD thu được từ People khi mua những bức ảnh đầu tiên của bé (số tiền này được dùng để làm từ thiện) và "ngôi vị" cô con gái rượu của "người hùng thành Troy" Brad Pitt, giống như Suri đôi khi Shiloh cũng được chú ý hơn chính "người phụ nữ gợi cảm nhất thế giới"- bà mẹ nổi tiếng của bé.

Cô con gái nuôi 3 tuổi của nhà Brad Pitt xếp hạng thứ 3, ngay sau em mình. Sinh ra ở Ethiopia và được Angelina Jolie nhận nuôi năm 2005 khi bé mới sáu tháng tuổi, Zahara được giới báo chí nhận xét là rất ăn ảnh và cá tính.

Chiếm lĩnh ba vị trí liền nhau trong bảng xếp hạng của Forbes đều là các thành viên trong đàn con đông đúc nhà Brad-Angie. Sau Zahara và Shiloh là cậu bé 4 tuổi đến từ Việt Nam, Pax Thien. Mới gia nhập đại gia đình này từ năm ngoái son có vẻ Pax đã hòa nhập rất nhanh. Dù không nổi tiếng bằng hai cô em gái của mình, nhưng chính tên tuổi của hai "vị phụ huynh" đã giúp cậu bé "sở hữu" vị trí thứ 4.

Các thứ tự tiếp theo lần lượt là bé Sam Alexis Woods, cô con gái mới 1 tuổi của tay golf số một thế giới Tiger Woods.

Công tử út nhà Beckham xếp vị trí thứ 6.

Vị trí thứ 7 trong bảng xếp hạng của Forbes là bé gái 3 tuổi Matilda Rose Ledger, con của hai diễn viên Michelle Williams và Heath Ledger. Matilda không phải bé gái quá nổi tiếng, song chính cái chết đột ngột trong khi đang ngủ hồi đầu năm của cha bé - ngôi sao trong bộ phim gây chấn động Oscar 2006 về đề tài đồng tính của đạo diễn Lý An có tên Brokeback Moutain và cuộc chiến xung quanh quyền thừa kế cho bé đã khiến Matilda trở thành cái tên rất được chú ý đối với giới truyền thông và người hâm mộ.

Tiếp theo là cậu con trai nuôi 3 tuổi người Malawi của Madonna và đạo diễn người Anh Guy Ritchie. Ngay từ đầu, việc nhận con nuôi của nữ hoàng nhạc pop đã là đề tài cho báo chí tốn vô khối giấy mực để khai thác. Tại thời điểm Madonna làm thủ tục nhận con nuôi, người ta vẫn không xác định được cha ruột của David. Vì thế các tổ chức nhân đạo trên thế giới được thể cáo buộc cô ca sĩ nổi tiếng đã vi phạm luật Malawi. Nay Madonna và Guy Ritchie lại tuyên bố ly dị, và cuộc chiến giành quyền nuôi con trong đó có cả David Banda đang được giới truyền thông dự đoán sẽ rất khốc liệt,

Hai vị trí cuối trong bảng xếp hạng của Forbes là Sean Preston Ferdeline, con trai của công chúa nhạc pop Britney Spears

... và Sam Sheen, con gái 4 tuổi của diễn viên Denise Richards và Charlie Sheen, "diễn viên truyền hình cao giá nhất nước Mỹ" năm 2008 theo bình chọn của tạp chí truyền hình TV Guide.

Ovvio House

Vietnamese goods show at trade fair in India

Nine Vietnamese companies are showcasing their handicraft and textile products at the 28th India International Trade Fair (IITF) in New Delhi. Vietnamese lacquer paintings, woodwork, ceramics and textiles are on display, until November 27. More than 7,000 companies from 38 countries, including China, Japan, Russia, South Africa and Turkey, are participating in the event, which opened Friday. Vietnamese ambassador to India Vu Quang Diem expressed his hope that more Vietnamese companies would participate in events in India to promote the country’s exports and boost economic relations. On the same day, a two-week seminar on biotechnology organized by the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) concluded in the Indian capital. Scientists from ICGEB and other countries including Vietnam, Italy, Romania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Costa Rica and Egypt discussed issues relating to gene alteration technology. ICGEB, a UN scientific study organization, was established in 1987 with 57 official member countries. Source: VNA

Premier Oil doubles investment in Vietnam project

Premier Oil Plc, a UK explorer with projects in Asia and Africa, said it plans to more than double investment next year to take advantage of lower costs as it develops a project in Vietnam.

The company plans to invest US$515 million in development and exploration, up from $225 million planned for this year, London-based Premier said Thursday in a statement. It has discovered commercial reserves at Chim Sao, one of three prospects it was exploring in Vietnam. “What we are starting to see is a weakening in steel prices and weakening in the service sector, particularly on the drilling side,” chief executive officer Simon Lockett said in a phone interview Thursday. “We are going to try to catch as much of that as we can over the next two years.” The UK company plans to focus on projects in Indonesia, Vietnam and Norway to increase production to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day by 2010. It plans about $1 billion investment in the projects by 2011 and to drill nine exploration wells next year. Acquisition opportunity The company has an opportunity to acquire assets that “fit really well with our existing portfolio,” Lockett said. “We’ve got a little more left over to be able to do one or two value-added project acquisitions,” he said. Premier pumped an average of 36,800 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the first 10 months of the year, 5 percent more than in the year-earlier period. It had $330 million in cash and $275 million in undrawn bank facilities as of October 31. The Chim Sao “final field development plan has been submitted, and final Vietnamese government approval has now been received,” Premier said in the statement. “In August, the development moved into the execution phase,” with oil production expected to start in 2010, it said. Premier is cooperating with Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, in production of equipment and with a Singapore-based contractor in modification of floating oil-production platform and storage facility, or so-called FPSO, for the field, Lockett said. The company is in talks with France’s Total SA about a rig for drilling at the Ida field in Congo, in addition to a well already planned at the Friday deposit. It plans to cooperate with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. to drill the area. The partners expect to drill Ida in 2009 if they secure the rig in December, Lockett said. Premier and its Nordic partner Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA are reassessing plans for development of Norway’s Froy field as oil prices decline. The two companies in September said they expect the deposit to produce 56 million barrels of oil. “Premier is working closely with the operator and the main contractor to optimize the potential development in light of the lower oil prices and the potentially lower cost environment,” the UK explorer said Thursday. Source: Bloomberg

$6 million bet illegal, lawyer says

A rendering of the Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower, which includes a 70-story skyscraper and two 47-story apartment buildings Law experts say a wager between a South Korean company and a group of war veterans is as illegal as other forms of gambling in Vietnam.

A lawyer has called a wager illegal in which several Vietnamese war veterans and construction workers bet a South Korean builder US$6 million it couldn’t complete Vietnam’s tallest tower on schedule. On Thursday, South Korea-owned Keangnam-Vina Company and several Vietnamese veterans signed a commitment in which the company pledged to wrap up the structural work of the Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower on schedule by October 2010. VIETNAM’S TALLEST TOWER TO-BE Work on the US$1.05 billion project began in August last year. The 70-story main tower will stand 336 meters tall, about 50 meters shorter than the Empire State Building in New York. By 2007 records, it would be the 17th tallest building in the world. The country’s second tallest building, a 68-story skyscraper, is also slated for completion in HCMC’s District 1 by 2010. If the South Korean firm misses the deadline, it would lose VND100 billion ($6 million) to Vietnamese veterans and vice versa. Both the betting parties said they would donate the proceeds to charity. The bet stemmed from an open letter issued on Thursday on the Cuu Chien Binh Viet Nam (Vietnam War Veterans) newspaper by several veterans, construction experts, and engineers who doubted the South Korean builder could conclude the tower as promised. But speaking with Thanh Nien Saturday, lawyer Pham Quoc Hung from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association said the wager between the two sides was illegal. The agreement would only be legal if it was designed as a “penalty fee” or “bonus reward” transaction between the investor and the contractor of the project, Hung elaborated. Since the war veterans and construction experts have nothing to do with the tower project, the transaction would be sheer betting in a country where gambling is illegal, Hung said. Under Vietnamese laws, locals are forbidden to gamble money and can face criminal charges when caught, Hung said. But foreigners are allowed to gamble at several licensed casinos. Le Hong Son, head of the HCMC-based Saigon Notary Office, agreed that the deal was illegal. Speaking with Thanh Nien Saturday, Oh ChunSik , a manager at Keangnam Enterprises, said the firm had signed the agreement not for gambling purposes, but to protect its brand name instead. Another allegation In early October, several journalists sent a letter to the prime minister, the Hanoi government, and agencies concerned accusing Keangnam-Vina Company of selling apartments before completing them. Vietnamese laws prohibit houses or apartments to be sold before the completion of the building’s foundation. In late October, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong instructed the Hanoi municipal administration to probe the allegation and report back. But Hanoi vice mayor Phi Thai Binh said inspectors had failed to report back Saturday as promised. He attributed the delay to flooding in late October that left at least 22 people dead or missing in Hanoi. He declined to comment on the betting deal. Reported by Kap Long - Hong Minh

Vietnam attractive despite global recession: survey

Vietnam is becoming an increasingly attractive investment destination for Asian businesses while China is losing some of its appeal, according to a survey of Asian business leaders published Friday.

The annual poll, conducted by the Asia Business Council of its members, mostly Asia-based CEOs and chairmen, also showed 75 percent of them expect business conditions to worsen in Asia as a result of the global financial crisis and a US economic slowdown. It showed that China remained the top destination for investment by Asian companies this year, followed by India, but Vietnam surpassed the US, pushing it into fourth place. Investment in China, however, has seen a drop in the last two years. In the latest survey, 61 percent of respondents said they invested in China in the past year, down from 64 percent in 2007 and 77 percent in 2006. Investment in Vietnam jumped 28 percent in the past year, the survey showed, compared to 25 percent in 2007. The survey was conducted in September and October and based on responses from 54 of 69 council members. Only 6 percent of respondents expected business conditions to improve, compared with 32 percent in a similar survey a year ago. According to 42 percent of respondents inflation was the biggest problem in Asia, while 30 percent named recession. There was little change in reported investment plans for the next one to three years compared with a year ago, suggesting companies were taking a wait-and-see attitude amid an uncertain investment climate. Source: TN, Reuters

Dong continues drop toward 17,000 mark

The dong fell for a fifth day Friday after the central bank widened the forex trading band. The dong fell for a fifth day Friday after the central bank widened the currency’s daily trading band.

It wrapped up a week of losses after the State Bank of Vietnam said Friday it would increase the trading range for currencies to 3 percent, from 2 percent, on either side of a daily reference rate, effective Friday. A wider band will give the currency more room to weaken, helping increase the competitiveness of the nation’s exports and boosting growth. The dong declined 0.86 percent to 16,984 per dollar as of 3:39 p.m. in Hanoi, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The dong fell 0.91 percent this week. With storm clouds gathering over the global economy, the Vietnamese government has been taking aggressive action to prop up its economy and analysts said the widening of the band is aimed at supporting growth by making exports more competitive. EXPORTER PLEASED Nguyen Van Hoa, general director of S.G Fisheries Joint Stock Company, told Thanh Nien that his company would benefit from the central bank’s move to widen the forex trading band. The company makes annual exports of around US$10 million, he said, meaning any appreciation in the dollar’s value against the dong would be welcome. “The dollar may continue to gain against the dong but it is unlikely to trade higher than VND17,000 a dollar,” said Le Duc Tho, head of the investment department at Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade, the country’s fourth-biggest lender by assets. “Given the current state of Vietnam’s foreign-currency reserves, the government can keep the dong value in a way that favors exporters and minimize risks to the economy.” The central bank set the reference rate for Friday’s trading at VND16,503 per dollar, compared with 16,511 Thursday, according to its website. “The central bank’s move is an indication that the government is taking stronger measures to beef up exports amid slower global demand,” said Pham Dang Truong, an analyst at Hanoi-based Habubank. The move followed the central bank’s Wednesday cut in the benchmark interest rate, the base rate, by one percentage point to 12 percent – the second time in two weeks it has cut rates. “As in China, growth is the policy priority,” ING said in a research note. The dong has fallen by less than 6 percent against the dollar this year, constrained by tight exchange controls. Some currencies in Asia have fallen much further. Investors trading offshore non-deliverable forwards PNDG expected the dong to fall nearly 20 percent against the dollar from Friday’s mid-point in the coming year, with 12-month contracts at 19,500/20,500. Vietcombank, the country’s top bank for foreign trade, said in a statement it would sell the dollar for less than VND17,000 per dollar on Friday and state-run BIDV said it would sell dollars for no more than VND16,950, slightly less than the 3 percent ceiling. HSBC expects further cuts The State Bank of Vietnam may cut the benchmark interest rate to as low as 10 percent by early January to maintain economic growth, Prakriti Sofat, an economist at HSBC, wrote in a note dated November 5. The recent rate cuts are “likely the start of an easing cycle,” wrote Singapore-based Sofat. “The easing in policy rates and onwards to lending rates will work to ease the pressure on local corporates and support economic growth.” Vietnam this month cut the economic growth target to 6.7 percent this year from 7 percent. Last year the economy expanded 8.5 percent, the quickest since 1996. Concerns over a slowdown in economic growth are “unlikely to fade anytime soon,” making further rate cuts likely, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said this week. In 2009 the government expects the economy to expand 6.5 percent. The Vietnamese economy is hampered by “the deteriorating outlook for the global economy, and also domestic factors such as previous tightening, and weak equity and property markets,” Sofat said in her note. “It should also be remembered that interest-rate reductions usually take several months to have an effect.” Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies

Gold bounces on weaker dollar, physical buying

Local gold price Friday rose VND40,000 to VND16.68 million per tael, or US$827 per ounce. Gold prices rose Friday after the dollar weakened and buying by jewelers emerged but weaker equities could still spur selling in bullion, which this week posted its biggest daily percentage gain in more than a month.

Funds cashed in gold to cover stock market losses, and investors also awaited the release of US jobs data that set the tone for the dollar and precious metals. The precious metal was nearly 30 percent below a record high above US$1,000 hit in March. Gold hit a low of $724.75 an ounce before rebounding to $735.60, up $2.65 from New York’s notional close on Thursday, when it moved in a $19 range to hit a session high of $760 before retreating. “The non-farm payrolls data is coming out later tonight. It’s going to be relatively quiet ahead of that. In the meantime, it’s just drifting around with the dollar,” said Peter Tse, a dealer at Scottia Mocatta in Hong Kong. “Probably if gold dips below $720, we might see more physical buying around,” he said. Gold gained as much as 6.2 percent this week to hit a session high of $768. It was still down from a two-month high of $931 hit in October but significantly higher than a 13-month low of $680.80 also struck last month. “We are now at a lower range. I believe there’s a lot of demand from short-term speculators around the $700 to $720 level. They might be accumulating (gold) slowly,” said William Kwan, bullion director of Gold Capital Management. “A lot of people are still buying gold coins. Retail investors are very happy to buy gold at these levels.” On the physical front, premiums for gold bars were steady between $1.50 and $2 an ounce to spot London prices in Singapore. Premiums were also stable in Hong Kong at between $2 and $3 an ounce. “It’s cooling off a little but physical demand has been very good in the past two weeks. Demand is so good in Thailand that we’ve seen streams of people buying gold at jewelry shops in Chinatown,” said a dealer in Singapore. “We also heard many people crossed over to Thailand from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to buy jewelry,” he said. Despite buying on dips by consumers, gold was struggling to revisit March’s record at $1,030.80, partly blamed on a slump in the equities markets that forced investors to cash in to make good losses. In Vietnam, the price of gold at Saigon Jewelry Joint Stock Co., the country’s biggest gold trader, rose VND40,000 to VND16.68 million per tael, or $827 per ounce. The massive gap between Vietnamese and global prices is caused by the fact that the two markets are no longer connected, said Huynh Trung Khanh, a consultant in Vietnam for the World Gold Council, adding this has given rise to smuggling into the country. Customs officers caught a smuggler trying to bring in 4.8 kilograms of gold through the Bo Y checkpoint on the border with Laos at the end of last month, Saigon Tiep Thi newspaper reported. The Vietnamese government recently stopped the import of gold as part of measures to curb the trade gap. Japan’s Nikkei index slid 3.6 percent Friday, with exporters tumbling on a firmer yen and fears of a deepening economic downturn. Recession fears sent oil prices to below $60 a barrel for the first time in 20 months at one point Friday. In theory, weaker oil prices reduce gold’s appeal as a hedge against inflation. Among currencies, the euro rose to $1.2736 ahead of US jobs data which is likely to show that job cuts hit a five-year high of 200,000 in October, according to a Reuters poll, and October unemployment jumped to 6.3 percent from 6.1 percent. Source: TN, Reuters

Risk of deflation receding, says securities firm

The risk of deflation this year or the next has reduced considerably with increased year-end economic activity and a loosening of its monetary policy by the central bank, according a Ho Chi Minh Citybased brokerage.

There are other signs for a positive outlook, says Sacombank Securities Co. (SBS), the securities arm of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank, in its latest report. It expects this year’s inflation rate will be slightly over 20 percent. The General Statistics Office (GSO) has said the monthly consumer price index (CPI) in October decreased by 0.19 percent for the first time in 18 months. The trend in falling prices is also apparent in some major items in the CPI basket, like food and foodstuff, housing and construction materials, the report says. “In fact, the price of these items started going down since September and notably, that of foodstuff began falling since as early as July 2008,” analysts from SBS said in the report. “The negative CPI number in October has been certainly a highly welcome news after the hefty rises since the beginning of the year. It could thus be said that the brake has been effectively put on inflation. A new issue which has been raised recently is whether there is a possibility of deflation in the remaining months of 2008 and in 2009. “We think there is less of a chance for that to happen as the economic activities will be busier at the year end, furthermore, a loosening monetary policy recently initiated by SBV will help boost economic activities and prevent deflation from taking effect.” They also expect the country’s trade deficit at US$500 million per month for the remaining two months and the total gap for the year at $17.2 billion, 14 percent lower than the $20 billion target set earlier this year. According to GSO, imports exceeded exports by $700 million in October, the fifth consecutive month that the trade gap has been kept at under $1 billion. This has been a successful year for Vietnam in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), SBS analysts say in the report, adding the FDI registration at $58.3 billion at the end of October, 2.73 times higher than last year’s figure, in spite of the global financial turmoil. The disbursed amount stood at $9.1 billion, 13 percent higher than last year’s figure. “The current financial mayhem will definitely impact the disbursement of FDI projects in 2009 and thereafter,” the report said. “However, we think the impact will not be clearly felt for this year’s current projects and the total disbursement for the year will be $10.5 billion. “We have estimated FDI and ODA disbursement for the whole year to reach $10.5 billion and $2 billion respectively.” Reported by THANH NIEN STAFF

Obama

Người dân Chicago, Mỹ, đổ ra đường ăn mừng ngay trong đêm Obama giành chiến thắng.

Phụ nữ Afghanistan dán chặt mắt vào màn hình ti vi để theo dõi kết quả cuối cùng của cuộc bầu cử Tổng thống Mỹ.

Tại Nhật Bản, người dân thị trấn Obama, đơn vị hành chính trùng tên với tân Tổng thống, ăn mừng.

Người dân thành phố Naples, Italy đeo mặt nạ Obama.

Tại quảng trường Thời Đại, dân chúng New York mừng chiến thắng bằng những cái ôm thật chặt.

Với tấm áp phíc có hình ông Obama, người dân Kenya đổ xuống đường hò reo.

Học sinh tại một trường tiểu học ở Indonesia

Sinh viên đại học Sydney vui mừng trước chiến thắng của Obama.

Khách trong một quán ăn ở Ấn Độ chăm chú theo dõi kết quả cuối cùng.

Britney

Britney cải trang thành một nàng phù thủy tóc đen trong dịp Halloween vừa rồi.

Cô cũng đưa hai con trai đi chơi trò trick-and-treating truyền thống.

Còn công chúa pop, hôm 6/10 vừa rồi, cô đã hoãn chuyến thăm bất ngờ tại lễ trao giải MTV châu Âu ở Liverpool, Anh vì chuyện gia đình. Cô thổ lộ với những nhà tổ chức của kênh MTV rằng cô đang ở Los Angeles và muốn dành nhiều thời gian cho hai con trai Jayden James và Sean Preston hơn.

Một nguồn tin tiết lộ trên tờ Metro của Anh: "Britney rất hứng thú, nhưng gia đình là điều cô ấy quan tâm số một. Sau khi lo cho các con xong, cô ấy mới nghĩ tới việc làm những chuyện khác".

Trong tuần lễ Halloween vừa rồi, công chúa pop đã hóa trang như một nàng phủ thủy (váy đen, mũ đen và đội tóc giả màu đen), đưa hai con trai Sean Preston 3 tuổi và Jayden James 2 tuổi đi một vòng để chơi trò trick-or-treating (trò chơi truyền thống của trẻ nhỏ trong tuần Halloween. Chúng đến gõ cửa từng nhà để xin bánh kẹo hoặc tiền lẻ, cùng câu hỏi: Trick or treat? với ý, nếu chủ nhà không "đáp ứng yêu cầu", lũ trẻ sẽ tiến hành vài hoạt động phá quấy).

Kim Hee Sun

Sugar refineries in central region face cane shortage

Fourteen sugar refineries in central and central highlands regions are facing a shortage of sugarcane for processing, Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Association President Vo Thanh Dang said Friday.

The shortage will cause competition among the refineries in the region to buy cane when the harvest starts, he said. The region’s sugarcane farms have dwindled by 4,600 hectares to only 67,500 hectares since last year. Refineries promised to pay between VND460,000 (US$26) and VND470,000 per ton at the beginning of the crop and will adjust the price according to the market price. Reported by Hien Cu

Gold loses more glitter

Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC), the country’s largest gold trader, Friday cut its bullion price by VND250,000 per tael to VND16.7 million (US$990).

Globally, the metal fell from $756 per ounce to $725 (a tael is equal to 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces). A tael of gold in Vietnam, thus, costs around VND1.9 million more than on the global market. The Vietnam Export Import Bank explained that the US dollar is surging sharply against other currencies and oil prices have fallen, causing gold prices to dip. Reported by Thanh Xuan

Coffee exporters fear profit drop next year

Vietnam’s coffee exports reached a record US$2 million this year thanks to soaring global prices. Vietnam’s coffee exports reached a record US$2 million this year thanks to soaring global prices but the economic crisis has threatened a sharp profit decline for the next crop, according to a conference last week.

Local coffee businesses exported about 1 million tons of coffee in the period between October 2007 and September 2008, Luong Van Tu, chairman of Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said at the conference in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday. Vietnam, the world’s second largest coffee exporter after Brazil, has seen steady increases in export revenues for the past three years from $1.2 billion in 2006 and $1.8 billion last year, official statistics showed. Tu, a former deputy trade minister, said the country’s export volume remained unchanged from last year but coffee prices in the world market reached a ten-year high this year. On average, the price increased to $1,937 a ton on average this year from $1,463 last year, 2.5 times higher than in the late 1990s, according to Vicofa. Tu said the prices were boosted by increasing demand in the global market and a rush by international investment funds which switched to agricultural products as a safer bet than the more unstable crude oil and gold. However, many analysts agreed that Vietnamese coffee businesses were just “lucky” this year since the coffee season wrapped up before the global economic downturn expanded. Feeling bearish Nguyen Xuan Thai, chairman of Thang Loi Coffee Company, said the global fear of economic recession has driven foreign importers to cut orders and prices. The Ministry of Industry and Trade also forecast lower coffee export revenue next year but it did not give figures. The average export price has already fallen to $1,600 a ton but Do Ha Nam, Vicofa’s vice chairman, said coffee prices may fall further to as low as the 2006-2007 level. Nguyen Xuan Han, chief executive officer of Maseco Company, said, “Foreign customers are showing signs of financial shortage.” Some had refused to receive shipments they signed for at higher prices earlier, he said, suggesting local exporters check their foreign partners’ financial capacity carefully. Falling export prices have forced businesses to buy coffee beans from farmers at just VND24,000 a kilogram, a VND18,000 reduction from the first quarter of this year causing huge losses to Coffee farmers, Vicofa said. Thang Loi’s Thai warned that farmers trying to reduce losses would rush to sell their beans, which in turn would push prices further south. It would be better if businesses could try to store coffee until June-July next year, when the world prices would recover, Thai said. However, businesses have pointed to local banks’ high borrowing costs and their reluctance to give loans to coffee businesses as a great deterrent. Tu said most local exporters were small and medium-sized businesses that mainly relied on bank loans for investments. They would need about VND12,000-15,000 billion ($700-900 million) to buy coffee next year, Tu said. However, the common annual Vietnamese dong loan interest rate offered by commercial banks is more than 19 percent, which not many businesses could afford. The central bank has also restricted exporters from getting loans in foreign currencies, which have lower interest rates. Nam said the central bank’s policy was “unfair” and called for lifting it. Yet an official from Vietnam Technology and Commercial Bank (Techcombank) said at the conference his bank felt it was risky to loan exporters as the global economy has been very unstable. Reported by Minh Quang – Quang Thuan

Vietnam may take US export share away from China

Shipments of plastics from Vietnam to the US increased 41 percent through August to $112 million, led by polyethylene bags. Vietnam may take US export market share from China should the former be admitted to an American program that would eliminate some import duties, the Congressional Research Service found in a study.

Though experts say that the US might want something in return, Vietnam’s government asked the US in May to make it eligible for a program that promotes growth in poorer countries by axing tariffs on some imports. While there is no regulatory timetable, the target is for President George W. Bush to admit Vietnam this year, according to the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Business Council. “Rising production costs in other parts of Asia, especially in China, are leading manufacturers to explore alternative locations for their Asian operations,” said the report by Washington-based Michael Martin and Vivian Jones, Asian trade and finance analyst and international trade and finance expert respectively. Olympus Corp., a Tokyo-based digital-camera maker, will close a factory in China to move some operations to Vietnam, the Nikkei newspaper said in November. Olympus said last year it plans to build a factory in Vietnam. “Chinese companies in particular, facing rising labor costs and the strengthening of the renminbi against the US dollar, may find the added bonus of Generalized System of Preferences eligibility an incentive to relocate their final assembly operations to Vietnam,” Martin and Jones wrote. Exports to US Vietnam’s exports to the US, the world’s largest economy, have grown quicker this year than those from China, which is not a member of the US program. Shipments rose 20 percent through August, and Chinese exports gained 6 percent in the same period. Any shift to Vietnam “could partially offset the general rise in the US bilateral trade deficit with China,” the Congressional Research Service said. Last year, the US posted a US$262 billion trade shortfall with China, its largest gap with any trading partner, according to figures from the US International Trade Commission. Vietnam’s machinery industry would probably benefit the most, according to the study. Electrical-machinery exports to the US jumped 23 percent through August to $253 million, paced by shipments of video cameras and wiring. Plastics exports may also gain from duty-free access under the American program, the US said. Shipments of plastics from Vietnam to the US increased 41 percent through August to $112 million, led by polyethylene bags. Apparel, furniture Vietnam’s top exports to the US – apparel, furniture, shoes and crude oil – are largely excluded from the tariff-elimination program, the Congressional Research Service study said. Products designated by the US as “import-sensitive” aren’t part of the program, according to a June report from the US-ASEAN Business Council. Inclusion in the program offers the potential for Vietnam to diversify its exports into new areas where it has so far not been competitive, the US-ASEAN Business Council report said. “It’s probably not going to happen this year,” said Fred Burke, a partner in the Ho Chi Minh City office of the law firm Baker & McKenzie. “The American business community hasn’t been pushing it.” The US may want Vietnamese concessions in exchange. “My sense is that American companies don’t want to just give away something for nothing,” Burke said. “They’d want something in return, like better access to retail distribution in Vietnam.” Source: Bloomberg

Fresh probe ordered into Quy Nhon market fire

An appeals court in Quy Nhon Town Friday ordered police to begin a fresh investigation into a 2006 market fire, expressing doubt over previous evidence used to convict a shopkeeper.

The court said fresh evidence given during the first two days of the trial on Wednesday and Thursday contradicted police’s charge that a fan at a height of two meters in Vo Thi Thuy Van’s shop had caused the fire. Witnesses told the appeals court the fire had started at a height of 10 cm in another stall. The blaze at the three-story Cho Lon Market in December 2006 had destroyed it causing damages of over VND134 billion (US$8 million). The Binh Dinh Province People’s Court sentenced seven people to jail last May. Van was sentenced to eight years for “violating fire regulations” after an electrical short in her fan was found to have caused the fire. Nguyen Thanh Hai, security guard, was sentenced to five years. He fainted and foamed in his mouth on hearing the verdict. Two other guards, Doan Dinh Tri and Doan Binh respectively received 11 years and five years. Deputy head of the market security squad at the time, Pham Viet Ngo, was given eight years. Do Thanh Tam, head of the market management, was sentenced to three years, and his deputy, Do Thanh Tan, got 30 months. All of them were charged with “dereliction of duty.” Van had asked for the case to be reinvestigated but the court dismissed her request. The court also ordered the seven defendants to pay VND122 billion ($7.25 million) to more than 500 vendors who lost their shops in the fire. But the stall owners protested the verdict, saying that the defendants cannot afford so much money and that their contracts stated the market management would be responsible in case of fire. Reported by Dinh Phu

Record rainfall inundates Hanoi

Thai Ha Street in Hanoi suffered the worst in the heavy rains Friday The worst flooding in more than two decades turned many streets in the capital city into torrential rivers Friday, leaving at least three dead and two missing and many vehicles stranded in deep waters.

The deluge began as the skies opened up around 1 a.m. and never let off, thwarting efforts by trucks dispatched to rescue vehicles stuck in flooded areas, authorities said. The rains, considered the worst since 1984, left many streets under water up to two meters. At least five people were reported dead or missing until late Friday. Breakdown truck owners said they had worked at full-blast, but their efforts could not make a dent considering the large numbers of motorbikes and cars stranded in the city. An ambulance is among the vehicles that broke down on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street in Hanoi Many motorbike owners said they had to wait for rescue trucks for hours. Many taxis broke down in Nguyen Luong Bang, Thai Ha, Ton Duc Thang, and Kham Thien streets. Many taxies were flooded, forcing cabdrivers to climb on the vehicles’ roofs. Commuters could only move their vehicles a few feet at a time. Many motorbike mechanics capitalized on the heavy rains to make money. A spark plug normally sold at VND35,000 (US$2) each fetched VND70,000 Friday. Until late Friday, traffic to many flooded streets remained cutoff. Hanoi authorities also reported that many dikes in the city were damaged and around 61,300 hectares of crops submerged, causing losses of hundreds of billions of dong. Power outages also occurred in several areas of Hanoi and Ha Dong Town, where rainfall was the highest since 1960. State-run power utility Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) said Friday it had instructed agencies concerned to tackle the blackouts at the earliest. Hanoi was expecting the rains to continue over the next two days, weather experts said. The Hanoi Water Drainage Company said the city drainage system is equipped to handle only 85mm of rainfall, and the city had received 300mm Friday. Central regions also hit hard Non-stop rain continued to batter central provinces Friday with at least 16 people reported dead or missing. INCLEMENT WEATHER EXPECTED TO CONTINUE The north-central provinces would experience more heavy rains over the next several days, meteorological experts said Friday. Water levels in northern rivers have reached the highest emergency level but could not recede, they warned. The weather would not be favorable for seafaring vessels to put to sea this weekend. The north-central province of Nghe An, the hardest-hit, said at least 12 people had been swept away by the floods. The sole route linking Nghe An’s Vinh Town to mountainous districts remained severed until Friday, holding up hundreds of motorbikes and cars. Many dikes in the province were now in peril and could burst at any time, provincial authorities said. But despite repeated warnings from local authorities about the dangers posed by the relentless downpours, many residents were still catching fish, capturing floating timber from rivers, or at sea. A large amount of crops, yet to be calculated, has been destroyed by the floods. Elsewhere, in Ha Tinh Province, four people have been killed by the floods which also destroyed houses, crops and cattle stocks. Rescue and repair workers have been working non-stop in the northern and central provinces of Phu Tho, Ha Nam, Hoa Binh, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Tri, and Quang Binh. The Central Steering Committee for Flood Control and Prevention issued an emergency notice Friday instructing affected provinces to take precautionary measures as the weather would remain unpredictable in forthcoming days. They were told to reinforce dike systems and evacuate residents to safer ground as quickly as possible. Reported by Thanh Nien staff

Britney

Người trông trẻ bé Jayden James, cậu nhóc mặc "đồng phục" với anh trai, trang phục của một chú ong vàng xinh xắn.

Cậu cả Sean Preston.

Britney cùng nhóm nhảy tập luyện liên tục trong phòng tập.

Hình ảnh cô ca sĩ suy sụp của một năm trước gần như biến mất.

Đầu năm 2009, Britney sẽ đi lưu diễn vòng quanh thế giới.