Somerset East

Prom night turned out to be a bust for a high school senior who claims she was denied entry because of the size of her breasts.

Brittany Minder of Silverdale, Wash. came to the school dance in a strapless gown designed for large-chested women, but staff didn’t allow her in until she covered her cleavage with a shawl, the Associated Press reported.

Minder said she has worn similarly-styled dresses to other Central Kitsap High School events. The prom’s dress code allows strapless dresses only if the cleavage is covered. Minder’s parents say their daughter was singled out because of her physique and they want a public apology, KOMO-TV reported.

She stayed for only an hour because the ordeal “took the magic out of the night,” she said, according to Gawker.

The officials enforcing the dress code were acting like boobs, according to Kim Minder, Brittany’s mom.

“All women are not created equal, and you cannot compare a golf ball to a grapefruit. It ain’t gonna happen,” Minder told KOMO-TV.

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• This photo released by the Glendale Police Department shows a black Cadillac that lost control and careened onto the roof of a neighbor’s home on Saturday, March 23, 2013 in Glendale, Calif. The Cadillac driver lost control before leaving his driveway, plunging off a hill “onto the roof of his neighbor’s house directly below his driveway. (Photo courtesy of Glendale Police Department)

• Third Eye Blind

  Tilde Nörgaard, a Swedish sixth grader, is still trying to figure out how she got a third eye in her class photo.

• 150-lb Boulder Crashes Through Car Windshield

  This 150-lb boulder crashed through the windshield of a rental car in Sedona, Az. The passengers, Bob Jaczko and Peter Wilson suffered minor cuts.

• Kid Has LEGO stuck in nose for three years.

  Isaak Lasson can finally breathe easy after three years of sinus problem caused by a single wheel-shaped LEGO that he got stuck up his nose back when he was three.

• Scrapyard Destroys Wrong Car

  Ben Forrer outside Sita UK, a scrap yard in Coventry, today, 25, 2012. Refer to NTI story NTICRUSH. Ben Forrer looked on in horror as a Coventry scrapyard crushed his van by mistake. Ben Forrer had only left his Citroen Relay for a few minutes as he dropped off an old cooker at the Sita yard, in Longford. But workers mistook the van for scrap and began crushing it in the jaws of a mechanical grabber

• Middle Finger Bush

  A bush carved into the shape of a middle-finger has landed a gardener into trouble after somebody failed to share his humour over the shrub. The council received a complaint about the shaped bush eight years after it was carved by Richard Jackson, 53, in his front garden. Despite only receiving one complaint, the council have since contacted Richard to alter the bush as it is considered a public offence. But Richard, from Tamworth, Staffs, said his neighbours are backing his pledge to keep the bush and they have even began a Save the Bush campaign to support him. Credit: Caters News

• Cathedral Licker

  A man has made a 5,000 mile pilgrimage to every Anglican cathedral in England so he can give them a good LICKING. Lawrence Edmonds has staked his claim as Britains first every cathedral licker by tongue tickling an incredible 42 in less than two years. Christian approval, Polish condemnation, and looks of confusion from a flock of Dutch tourists have all been experienced by Lawrence on his epic journey Back in January 2011, Lawrences friend Adam challenged him to a bet- that he couldnt lick every Anglican cathedral in the UK within five years. Credit: Caters News

• Baobab Tree Sculpture

  Mike De Butts adds the finishing touches to a giant Baobab Tree sculpture entitled ‘Under the Baobab’, outside the Southbank Centre on May 24, 2012 in London, England. The Pirate Technics’ installation is made from a selection of brightly coloured fabrics from around the world, and is part of the Southbank Centre’s ‘Festival of the World’ exhibition, which includes a series of large scale pieces of art that will be in place around the Southbank centre over the Summer.

• My Little Ponies

  Some of Sarah’s ponies. Sarah Butler, 28 from Barnsley, Yorkshire has been collecting 1980’s My Little Ponies for 24 years and now has over 1,000 of them as well as having a themed room in her house including My Little Pony curtains, bedspread and other collectables.

• Rapunzel Hair

  Natasha Moraes de Andrade, 12, is nicknamed Rapunzel because her hair is more than 5 feet long — just one and a half inches shorter than her height. In March, she planned to cut and sell the locks for some $2,600 to help get her family in Rio De Janeiro out of poverty.

• Moscow City Lights

  Swirling colors of city lights from a 900ft crane fill the Moscow skyline. Photographer D. Chistoprudov boards the crane, which is being used to build a skyscraper called Federation, and takes pictures over a period of two hours. Chistoprudov, 28, starts taking the swirling snaps around 1am and battles freezing weather to remain completely still so not to ruin the careful process. (Caters News / ZUMA Press)

• iPoo

  The sleek design, the impressive functionality, the distinctive logo – was it only a matter of time before Apple redesigned the humble toilet with the iPoo? The iPoo is literally a case of toilet humour and Belgrade designer Milos Paripovic makes the tongue-in-cheek claim his work isn’t intentionally related to the Apple brand.

• Tamaseseri Festival

  Naked men wearing only loincloths vie for a wooden treasure ball weighing eight kilos to bring good fortune, during the Tamaseseri festival at Hakozaki shrine in Fukuoka, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu on Jan. 3, 2012. Two teams of farmers and fishermen competed for the rich harvest or largest catch at a festival that dates back some 500 years.

• Snow Church

  Visitors stand around a snow church just after its inauguration on Dec. 28, 2011 in Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany. The circa 25 meters long church was made of 1,400 cubic meters of snow and aims to commemorate the winter of the years 1910/1911, when so much snow fell that believers of Mitterfirmiansreut were no more able to go to church in the neighboring community of Mauth. So they decided to build their own church, made of snow. (Armin Weigel, AFP / Getty Images)

• Snow Church

  Visitors stand around a snow church just after its inauguration on Dec. 28, 2011 in Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany. The circa 25 meters long church was made of 1,400 cubic meters of snow and aims to commemorate the winter of the years 1910/1911, when so much snow fell that believers of Mitterfirmiansreut were no more able to go to church in the neighboring community of Mauth. So they decided to build their own church, made of snow. (Armin Weigel, AFP / Getty Images)

• Heine Braeck, 33, from Sarpsborg, Norway, has been without an right arm since he lost it during a freak accident when he was 13. Now he has decided to make the stump look like a dolpin’s head with the help of Bulgarian tattooist Valio Ska.

• Giant Slipper

  A man who ordered a special slipper to fit his oversized foot was sent a size 1,450 – after manufacturers failed to spot a decimal point in his order. Tom Boddingham, 27, has a size 13 right foot while his left is slightly bigger and measures a size 14-and-a-half. But when he ordered his custom-fit slipper manufacturers in China misread size 14.5 and accidently made a whopping 7ft long size 1,450

• Eight-year-old girl is world’s youngest drag racer

  Eight-year-old girl Belle Wheeler has become the youngest drag racer in the world — just two days after her eighth birthday. The pint-sized dragster then went onto compete against youngsters more than twice her age and qualified for the UK National Finals.

• Lawn Mower Endurance Race

  Competitors race in the 12-hour Lawn Mower Endurance Race on September 24, 2011 in Billingshurst, England. First started in 1973 as a motorsport that would be accessible to as many as possible, this year’s competition included more than 30 teams including some from South Africa, America and Luxembourg.

• Pumpkin Art

  An employee arranges pumpkins to form a fish at the pumkin exhibition of the asparagus and experience farm Buschmann and Winkelmann in Klaistow near Beelitz, northeastern Germany on August 31, 2011. The exhibition will start on September 1 , 2011, with over 100,000 pumkins in 400 different varieties.

• Cable Car High Wire

  High wire artist Freddy Nock balances as he walks up on the rope of a Zugspitze cable car in Grainau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011. Nock walked up the 995 meters long rope with an altitude difference of 348 meters aiming at collecting money for the UNESCO. He is attempting to set a new world record by doing seven summits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in seven days. It took him about 90 minutes to arrive on top of Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany.

• Third Story Exit

  A 16-ton salt spreader blasted through the fifth-floor wall of a Queens Sanitation Department garage and came within inches of plummeting 50 feet to the street. The driver survived the spectacular 9:30 am crash, which sent bricks and debris raining down on cars parked outside the Maspeth repair facility, but spent 15 terrified minutes dangling in the cab of the bright orange vehicle. It’s unclear how driver Robert Legall, a 10-year Sanitation veteran with a clean record, lost control of the big rig. “There are signs up there warning drivers to slow down,” Commissioner John Doherty told the New York Post. “He’s familiar with the rules. We think it was just an unfortunate accident.”

• Speed Record Spins Out

  Driver Joe Wales crashes through the surf after veering off course during an attempt on the British land speed record for battery-powered vehicles in the Bluebird Electric on Pendine Sands on August 14, 2011 in Pendine, Wales. Driver Joe Wales and his father, fellow driver Don Wales, come from a famous family who have been setting land and water speed records since 1924. Don holds the current UK record of 137 miles an hour in an electric vehicle.

• Giant Cabbage

  Harrogate Autumn Flower show Director Martin Fish with a giant cabbage, as he introduced a series of new classes for Giant Vegetables to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Show. Giant onions, tomatoes and many others will all compete for the top prize of the biggest vegetable.

• Keep Claer

  An incorrectly spelled “Keep Clear” road marking is pictured in Kingswinford, on August 3, 2011 in West Midlands, England.

• Etna Volcano lava

  Lava spewed from a crater of the giant Etna volcano in the southern Italy island of Sicily on July 30, 2011 in Catania. The lava flown into a valley overnight and did not represent a danger to inhabited areas. Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet) which last eruption was in May.

• Killer Plant Eats Bird

  An exotic plant expert was stunned when he inspected one of his garden
  pitcher plants and discovered it had eaten a blue tit.
  Prize winning Nigel Hewitt Cooper one of Britain’s leading carnivorous plant
  growers, from West Pennard, Somerset, couldn’t believe his eyes when he
  checked the Nepenthes x mixta or Monkey Cup pitcher and found the dead bird
  inside.
  Normally the plants which are native to south east Asia consume insects
  which thy attract by secreting a sticky, sweet fluid at the bottom of the
  pitcher.
  Sometimes in the wild they have been known to kill small mammals like mice
  but Mr Hewitt Cooper who regularly wins prizes at the Chelsea flower show
  says for a cultivate plant to capture a bird is incredible.

• Giant Mermaid

  A man adjusts a sculpture “Giant Mermaid” on the Alster lake in the northern German city of Hamburg on August 1, 2011. The sculpture is created by art and advertising agency headed by Oliver Voss.

• Huge Pastry

  People look at a huge khachapuri (Georgian cheese pastry) in central Batumi on July 28, 2011. The cake was baked using 100 eggs, 90 kilograms of cheese, 150 kilograms of flour, has 8 meters length and was eaten within 1minute 32 seconds by people at a street.

• Velomobiles

  Velomobiles, recumbent bicycles with sleek, colorful outer shells, head for the open road in Portland, Ore., Thursday, July 28, 2011. Twenty five riders from Europe and twenty five riders from North America are on a cross-country trip which will finish on the U.S. Capitol steps in Washington D.C. on August 26. The bikers are trying to spread the message that sustainable, clean transportation can be fun.

• Bobblehead Bishop

  Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman has been immortalized in miniature with a bobblehead doll made in his likeness. The bobblehead comes as Trautman prepares to end his tenure as bishop of Erie.

• Canadian bubble artist

  Canadian bubble artist Yang Fan, who has set world record by packing 118 people inside a soap bubble, performs at the Gazillion bubble show in Beijing on July 19, 2011. Yang has earned international acclaim as a result of his complex displays of “bubble theater”. In addition to performing he has developed his own bubble solution formulas and equipment to create bubbles.

• Giant Marilyn

  Newly-wed bride Magda Villasenor looks at “Forever Marilyn”, a sculpture by Seward Johnson, on July 15, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The stainless steel and aluminum sculpture, which stands 26 feet tall and weighs 34,000 pounds, will be on display in Chicago through the spring of 2012. The sculpture was inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s iconic scene in the 1955 movie “Seven Year Itch”.

• Hot Dog Hot Rod

  The iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile vehicle is seen outside of the New York Stock Exchange as part of its day-long 75th birthday celebration, Monday, July 18, 2011. To commemorate the milestone, the Oscar Mayer brand rang the closing bell at NYSE. (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Oscar Mayer)

• Harry Potter Corn Maze

  An aerial view of Top Pearsy’s Maize Maze in the shape of Harry Potter, on July 11, 2011 in York, England. Farmer Tom Pearcy has cut two portraits of Harry Potter in his crop of maize plants. With some subtle differences the two images create the world’s largest spot the difference competition. At over 50m in diameter, and cut out of over 1 million living maize plants, the York Maze is the largest ‘Maize Maze’ in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

• Recycled Sailboat

  A sail boat made of recycled material makes its maiden voyage to mark World Oceans Day in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, June 8, 2011.

• Pontiac Deluxe Six ‘Ghost Car’

  An extraordinary transparent car could fetch as much as GBP 295,000 when it goes up for auction.The motor, dubbed the ‘Ghost Car’, is a Pontiac Deluxe Six which has been covered in Plexiglas. The first transparent full-sized car to be made in America, it was built in 1939 by General Motors and chemical company Rohm and Haas. Billed as a vision of the future, it was a sensation at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair and continues to cause a stir today. Just two were ever made and this model, which has a three-speed manual transmission, is thought to be the last of its kind. It has clocked up just 86 miles in its lifetime; and now its set to go on sale for the first time since the early 1980s. It last sold for an undisclosed amount. American auctioneers RM expect it to sell for between $275,000 and $475,000.

• Serbian Brides Race

  Serbian women take part in a wedding dress race in downtown Belgrade on June 19, 2011. More than fifty “brides” took part in an annual wedding dress race in the Serbian capital, competing for numerous prizes. (Andrej Isakovic, AFP/Getty Images)

• World Naked Bike Ride

  People take part in the annual “London World Naked Bike Ride” event in central London on June 11, 2011. Now in it’s eighth year, the event has seen participation grow from 58 in 2004 to 1,200 in 2009. Taking a route that passes many of London’s most famous landmarks, the ride allows those participating to decorate their body with messages of protest against oil dependancy and motor vehicle usage.

• Hanging Around

  British artist Alice Newstead hangs by shark hooks during her demonstration to protest against shark slaughter in Hong Kong on June 14. The protest was organized by marine conservation group Shark Savers, and supported by Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics who are launching a global campaign to protect the sharks.

• Reptile House

  Diska Putra, holds one of his snakes in bed at home on June 10, 2011 in Bintan, Indonesia. Putra, 24, cohabitates in Indonesian with a collection of 30 snakes, some of which are deadly poisonous.

• Monkey God

  An Indian priest walks outside the temple of Hindu monkey God Hanuman in New Delhi early June 12, 2011. The highly popular monkey-god Hanuman known for his strength is worshipped for his unyielding devotion and selfless dedication to the Lord Rama.

• Big Baby

  Ron Mueck’s ‘Big Baby’ sculpture is displayed in front of Jenny Saville’s painting ‘Interfacing’ at the Masterpieces Exhibition at Christie’s on June 13, 2011 in London, England.

• Drunken Knight

  A would-be knight who tried to woo a maiden by riding into her home on a horse is facing five years behind bars for aggravated burglary. Lovelorn Jan Rudnicki, 40, hatched the scheme to bowl over divorcee Gosia Domoslawska after a night’s drinking down his local bar in Jarnoltowka, Poland. But terrified Gosia, 36, dialed 999 when her drunken suitor – stripped to the waist – galloped up her garden path and smashed his way through the front door like a battering ram.

• Sideshow Fat Man Dies

  Bruce Snowdon, the last sideshow fat man, was honored in a memorial service on Jan. 30, 2010. Snowdon performed as “Harold Huge,” and weighed 607 pounds (though by some billing he tipped the scale at 712 pounds). Here he is with fellow sideshow star Peter Terhurne, a fire-eating dwarf.

• So, What Do You Do For a Living?

  Mexican tattoo artist and trained lawyer Maria Jose Cristerna, known as “Vampire Woman”, attends the Fifth International Tattoo Convention in Bogota, Colombia, on June 4, 2011.

• It’s All Fun And Games…

  A Sufi Kalandar (wandering ascetic) performs an act of self torture during devotion at the annual death anniversary of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, India on June 2.

• Indian spiritual guru Swami Baba Ramdev

  Indian spiritual guru Swami Baba Ramdev performs yoga during his hunger strike at the Pitanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, some 240kms from New Delhi, on June 7, 2011. India’s embattled prime minister on June 7 defended a police crackdown on a peaceful anti-graft demonstration led by a famous yoga guru, saying authorities had been left with no choice.

• Kwok Mang Ho

  Chinese artist Kwok Mang Ho performs during the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice on June 1, 2011. The Biennale entitled Illuminazioni that will open to the public from June 4th to November 27th 2011, in the Giardini and the Arsenale exhibition venues, as well as in various other locations around the city.

• Chinese Cabbage Art

  These glamour models look good enough to eat but will not turn your girlfriend green with envy – because they are made entirely of cabbage. Artist Ju Duoqi created the bizarre sculptures for her project called “The Fantasies of Chinese Cabbage”. Every body part is made from the vegetable. Ju is from Beijing, China. Pictured, some of Ju’s work, made from cabbage leaves.
  This is entitled: ‘An’
  (Ju Duoqi/Solent News Photo Agency)

• Chinese Cabbage Art

  These glamour models look good enough to eat but will not turn your girlfriend green with envy – because they are made entirely of cabbage. Artist Ju Duoqi created the bizarre sculptures for her project called “The Fantasies of Chinese Cabbage”. Every body part is made from the vegetable. Ju is from Beijing, China. Pictured, some of Ju’s work, made from cabbage leaves.
  This is entitled: ‘Susan’
  (Ju Duoqi/Solent News Photo Agency)

6th June 2013

BY LAURA GOLDBURY NOY

A dedicated fundraiser from Fields of Sidmouth will be trekking up the highest mountain in North Africa to raise money for the Devon Freewheelers. 

Sales advisor, Tracy Allen was so touched by the work of the charity, which is Field’s charity of the year, she decided to go one step further with fundraising and decided to climb Mount Toubkal, which towers at 4,176 metres high.

Mum of two, Tracy, who lives in Honiton, decided that she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing after hearing how the Devon Freewheelers’ volunteers ride to save lives, by delivering urgent blood supplies, samples, drugs, medical equipment and donor organs across the whole of Devon for the NHS, at no cost.

Having previously climbed to Mount Everest base camp and scaled the Breithorn in the Swiss Alps, where she suffered from altitude sickness, Tracy has made a promise to herself not to climb any more mountains, but she has broken that promise.

She said: “After listening to what the Freewheelers do, it really made me want to do something to highlight their work and raise funds for them.  

“What they do is just remarkable and I wanted to give something back.”

Fields are very supportive of Tracy’s challenge and are hoping that her efforts will boost the charity’s coffers.  

A spokesman from Devon Freewheelers added: “We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the staff at Fields of Sidmouth for their continued support and fundraising activities for Devon Freewheelers.”

Tracy will fly out with 13 others including her husband, to Morocco at the beginning of June.  

To sponsor her, please visit: www.charitygiving.co.uk/tracyallen or call into the Sidmouth store.

CAPTION AIMING HIGH: Sales advisor at Fields of Sidmouth, Tracy Allen, will be climbing the highest mountain in North Africa to raise money for the Devon Freewheelers. She is pictured with Kevin Lee, a Devon Freewheelers volunteer outside the Sidmouth store

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6th June 2013

BY CHRIS DENNE

Members of Bridport’s University of the Third Age (U3A) learned about one of the key battles in the Boer War courtesy of a visiting expert.

Dr Kevin Shillington, freelance historian, teacher and author of several books on Africa, gave the talk fresh from his tour of the battlefield in South Africa which formed the subject of his latest research.

Dr Shillington’s investigation centres on the British defeat at Spion Kop – literally “hill with a view” – where many Lancashire soldiers lost their lives. 

The loss resonated so strongly back in Lancashire that Liverpool Football Club named their famous stand after the battle.

Winston Churchill – a journalist stationed in South Africa at the time – acted as a courier during the battle which also saw his future political rival Mahatma Gandhi serve as stretcher bearer.

During the U3A presentation Dr Shillington contended that General Sir Charles Warren – accused of tactical sloppiness and of encumbering his men with cumbersome personal possessions said to include a cast iron bathtub –  was wrongly blamed for the British defeat.

The historian’s illustrated talk included photographs taken in the last month at the battle scene, and was well received by the audience.  

One member said: “For me, the talk brought the whole war situation to life; it was an excellent history lesson”.

At the next meeting – on June 25th at Bridport United Church Hall from 2pm  – Brian Stidwell will be telling the story of West Bay 

U3A is dedicated to providing educational, creative and leisure opportunities to people no longer in full time education.

 

CAPTION Kevin Shillington who presented the results of his research on the battle of Spion Kop at the Bridport  District U3A meeting in May,  is pictured with Stewart Owers

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During Friday’s White House press conference, Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest declined to apologize for the Internal Revenue Service targeting President Barack Obama deemed “outrageous.”

The Republican National Committee highlighted the exchange between Earnest and The Daily Caller on their Youtube channel immediately as a part of its effort to place attention on the media scandal.

Mark Meckler, president of the conservative Citizens for Self Governance, told TheDC the Obama administration “should apologize on behalf of the IRS and on behalf of the U.S. government,” calling it “a simple human courtesy.” He also said that he thought “the president was behaving worse than a child,” by not owning up to the actions taken by the IRS.

Earnest tiptoed around TheDC’s question by expressing the president’s “willingness to cooperate on oversight efforts” as the scandal unfolds.

“What the president has said is that he is troubled by the wrongdoing that apparently occurred at the IRS.” Earnest said, “And he is committed to making sure that we get to the bottom of what exactly happened and to make sure that we have safeguards in place to make sure to prevent those kind of things from happening again.”

Earnest went on to explain that the president is taking many steps toward ameliorating the issue, including the appointment of a bi-partisan civil servant to discover who should be held accountable for the IRS’s wrongdoings, and that the White House will continue to work to get to the bottom of the scandal.

“I know there’s an appetite in Congress to take a look at what exactly happened” Earnest continued. “And I think the cooperation that you’ve seen from us, well I would say this, you’ve actually already seen cooperation from us on this effort in terms of senior administration officials who have testified before Congress and as a legitimate oversight effort to move forward you can anticipate that the administration will cooperate with them.”

The President has apologized for wrongdoings in the past, and many Tea Part leaders are calling on him to do so in this situation.

“How can [Obama] think public opinion outweighs our First Amendment rights?”  National Coordinator of Tea Part Patriots, Jenny Beth Martin said.  ”It’s unbelievable and this falls far from the leadership we expect from the President of the United States of America.”

Earnest also addressed the Department of Justice’s announced criminal inquiry into the matter. While the DOJ will determine whether or not there was any criminal involvement, that’s a decisively different matter from the president’s actions.

“So there are a lot of people who are taking a careful look at this and will give us an opportunity to get to the bottom on what exactly happened and will hopefully allow us to put in some safeguard to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Despite the administration’s many plans to ameliorate the issue, the President still has yet to apologize.

“We still don’t know how far this abuse goes, when it started and who started it.” Martin said “We need apologies, accountability, and actual leadership from our elected representatives—and we will continue to fight until we have them.”

McHenry Lee contributed to the reporting of the article

The tension between the costumed characters who parade Los Angeles’ Hollywood Blvd. begging for tourist tips is getting super-charged.

On Wednesday, two people dressed as Captain America and another in a Spider-Man getup allegedly threw punches at each other in front of the Madame Tussauds kiosk, feet away from the Dolby Theatre, according to an eyewitness.

“All of a sudden, two Captain Americas and Spider-Man started circling around me. Captain America just hit one of them and Spider-Man started bleeding,” Vernando Stroud told CBS Los Angeles. “I was stunned at the moment. Then all of a sudden, it just got to me…I got to get them out of the way. The tourists just looked around like they were enjoying the moment,” he said.

A Batman costumed bystander, whose real name is A.C. Simmons, felt the fight might defuse the mounting friction.

“I think it was just hostility that had to be let out,” he said, according to CNet.com. “There’s a group of characters that are actually strong-arming tourists and actually asking for $20 tips, which is ridiculous.”

One of the Captain Americas involved in the fight, Juan Diego, said he jumped in the fray because he wanted to stop some costumed creeps who were picking tourists’ pockets; a non-heroic act that he said is bad for business.

“What are [tourists] going to say when they come home?” Diego said to KTLA-TV. “Oh, I was hustled by Zorro. Oh, I was hustled by Green Lantern. Oh, I was hustled by Captain America … the other one.”

Police investigated the allegations, but found nothing warranting an arrest, KTLA-TV reported. Still, this brawl is just the latest incident in Hollywood involving alleged not-so-heroic behavior by people dressed up in hero costumes.

In April, police were on the prowl for a man dressed as Spider-Man, who allegedly made off with $6,000 from a tour operator on Hollywood Boulevard.

In February, 2012, a woman dressed up as Catwoman got into a literal cat fight with an Ozzy Osbourne impersonator. She reportedly pepper sprayed the fake Ozzy and a Jack Sparrow character.

In September 2011, a man dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants was arrested for harassing two women, according to NBC Los Angeles.

The station also reported in 2009 that a Spider-Man impersonator struck a man in the face and arms.

Loading Slideshow

• This photo released by the Glendale Police Department shows a black Cadillac that lost control and careened onto the roof of a neighbor’s home on Saturday, March 23, 2013 in Glendale, Calif. The Cadillac driver lost control before leaving his driveway, plunging off a hill “onto the roof of his neighbor’s house directly below his driveway. (Photo courtesy of Glendale Police Department)

• Third Eye Blind

  Tilde Nörgaard, a Swedish sixth grader, is still trying to figure out how she got a third eye in her class photo.

• 150-lb Boulder Crashes Through Car Windshield

  This 150-lb boulder crashed through the windshield of a rental car in Sedona, Az. The passengers, Bob Jaczko and Peter Wilson suffered minor cuts.

• Kid Has LEGO stuck in nose for three years.

  Isaak Lasson can finally breathe easy after three years of sinus problem caused by a single wheel-shaped LEGO that he got stuck up his nose back when he was three.

• Scrapyard Destroys Wrong Car

  Ben Forrer outside Sita UK, a scrap yard in Coventry, today, 25, 2012. Refer to NTI story NTICRUSH. Ben Forrer looked on in horror as a Coventry scrapyard crushed his van by mistake. Ben Forrer had only left his Citroen Relay for a few minutes as he dropped off an old cooker at the Sita yard, in Longford. But workers mistook the van for scrap and began crushing it in the jaws of a mechanical grabber

• Middle Finger Bush

  A bush carved into the shape of a middle-finger has landed a gardener into trouble after somebody failed to share his humour over the shrub. The council received a complaint about the shaped bush eight years after it was carved by Richard Jackson, 53, in his front garden. Despite only receiving one complaint, the council have since contacted Richard to alter the bush as it is considered a public offence. But Richard, from Tamworth, Staffs, said his neighbours are backing his pledge to keep the bush and they have even began a Save the Bush campaign to support him. Credit: Caters News

• Cathedral Licker

  A man has made a 5,000 mile pilgrimage to every Anglican cathedral in England so he can give them a good LICKING. Lawrence Edmonds has staked his claim as Britains first every cathedral licker by tongue tickling an incredible 42 in less than two years. Christian approval, Polish condemnation, and looks of confusion from a flock of Dutch tourists have all been experienced by Lawrence on his epic journey Back in January 2011, Lawrences friend Adam challenged him to a bet- that he couldnt lick every Anglican cathedral in the UK within five years. Credit: Caters News

• Baobab Tree Sculpture

  Mike De Butts adds the finishing touches to a giant Baobab Tree sculpture entitled ‘Under the Baobab’, outside the Southbank Centre on May 24, 2012 in London, England. The Pirate Technics’ installation is made from a selection of brightly coloured fabrics from around the world, and is part of the Southbank Centre’s ‘Festival of the World’ exhibition, which includes a series of large scale pieces of art that will be in place around the Southbank centre over the Summer.

• My Little Ponies

  Some of Sarah’s ponies. Sarah Butler, 28 from Barnsley, Yorkshire has been collecting 1980’s My Little Ponies for 24 years and now has over 1,000 of them as well as having a themed room in her house including My Little Pony curtains, bedspread and other collectables.

• Rapunzel Hair

  Natasha Moraes de Andrade, 12, is nicknamed Rapunzel because her hair is more than 5 feet long — just one and a half inches shorter than her height. In March, she planned to cut and sell the locks for some $2,600 to help get her family in Rio De Janeiro out of poverty.

• Moscow City Lights

  Swirling colors of city lights from a 900ft crane fill the Moscow skyline. Photographer D. Chistoprudov boards the crane, which is being used to build a skyscraper called Federation, and takes pictures over a period of two hours. Chistoprudov, 28, starts taking the swirling snaps around 1am and battles freezing weather to remain completely still so not to ruin the careful process. (Caters News / ZUMA Press)

• iPoo

  The sleek design, the impressive functionality, the distinctive logo – was it only a matter of time before Apple redesigned the humble toilet with the iPoo? The iPoo is literally a case of toilet humour and Belgrade designer Milos Paripovic makes the tongue-in-cheek claim his work isn’t intentionally related to the Apple brand.

• Tamaseseri Festival

  Naked men wearing only loincloths vie for a wooden treasure ball weighing eight kilos to bring good fortune, during the Tamaseseri festival at Hakozaki shrine in Fukuoka, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu on Jan. 3, 2012. Two teams of farmers and fishermen competed for the rich harvest or largest catch at a festival that dates back some 500 years.

• Snow Church

  Visitors stand around a snow church just after its inauguration on Dec. 28, 2011 in Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany. The circa 25 meters long church was made of 1,400 cubic meters of snow and aims to commemorate the winter of the years 1910/1911, when so much snow fell that believers of Mitterfirmiansreut were no more able to go to church in the neighboring community of Mauth. So they decided to build their own church, made of snow. (Armin Weigel, AFP / Getty Images)

• Snow Church

  Visitors stand around a snow church just after its inauguration on Dec. 28, 2011 in Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany. The circa 25 meters long church was made of 1,400 cubic meters of snow and aims to commemorate the winter of the years 1910/1911, when so much snow fell that believers of Mitterfirmiansreut were no more able to go to church in the neighboring community of Mauth. So they decided to build their own church, made of snow. (Armin Weigel, AFP / Getty Images)

• Heine Braeck, 33, from Sarpsborg, Norway, has been without an right arm since he lost it during a freak accident when he was 13. Now he has decided to make the stump look like a dolpin’s head with the help of Bulgarian tattooist Valio Ska.

• Giant Slipper

  A man who ordered a special slipper to fit his oversized foot was sent a size 1,450 – after manufacturers failed to spot a decimal point in his order. Tom Boddingham, 27, has a size 13 right foot while his left is slightly bigger and measures a size 14-and-a-half. But when he ordered his custom-fit slipper manufacturers in China misread size 14.5 and accidently made a whopping 7ft long size 1,450

• Eight-year-old girl is world’s youngest drag racer

  Eight-year-old girl Belle Wheeler has become the youngest drag racer in the world — just two days after her eighth birthday. The pint-sized dragster then went onto compete against youngsters more than twice her age and qualified for the UK National Finals.

• Lawn Mower Endurance Race

  Competitors race in the 12-hour Lawn Mower Endurance Race on September 24, 2011 in Billingshurst, England. First started in 1973 as a motorsport that would be accessible to as many as possible, this year’s competition included more than 30 teams including some from South Africa, America and Luxembourg.

• Pumpkin Art

  An employee arranges pumpkins to form a fish at the pumkin exhibition of the asparagus and experience farm Buschmann and Winkelmann in Klaistow near Beelitz, northeastern Germany on August 31, 2011. The exhibition will start on September 1 , 2011, with over 100,000 pumkins in 400 different varieties.

• Cable Car High Wire

  High wire artist Freddy Nock balances as he walks up on the rope of a Zugspitze cable car in Grainau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011. Nock walked up the 995 meters long rope with an altitude difference of 348 meters aiming at collecting money for the UNESCO. He is attempting to set a new world record by doing seven summits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in seven days. It took him about 90 minutes to arrive on top of Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany.

• Third Story Exit

  A 16-ton salt spreader blasted through the fifth-floor wall of a Queens Sanitation Department garage and came within inches of plummeting 50 feet to the street. The driver survived the spectacular 9:30 am crash, which sent bricks and debris raining down on cars parked outside the Maspeth repair facility, but spent 15 terrified minutes dangling in the cab of the bright orange vehicle. It’s unclear how driver Robert Legall, a 10-year Sanitation veteran with a clean record, lost control of the big rig. “There are signs up there warning drivers to slow down,” Commissioner John Doherty told the New York Post. “He’s familiar with the rules. We think it was just an unfortunate accident.”

• Speed Record Spins Out

  Driver Joe Wales crashes through the surf after veering off course during an attempt on the British land speed record for battery-powered vehicles in the Bluebird Electric on Pendine Sands on August 14, 2011 in Pendine, Wales. Driver Joe Wales and his father, fellow driver Don Wales, come from a famous family who have been setting land and water speed records since 1924. Don holds the current UK record of 137 miles an hour in an electric vehicle.

• Giant Cabbage

  Harrogate Autumn Flower show Director Martin Fish with a giant cabbage, as he introduced a series of new classes for Giant Vegetables to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Show. Giant onions, tomatoes and many others will all compete for the top prize of the biggest vegetable.

• Keep Claer

  An incorrectly spelled “Keep Clear” road marking is pictured in Kingswinford, on August 3, 2011 in West Midlands, England.

• Etna Volcano lava

  Lava spewed from a crater of the giant Etna volcano in the southern Italy island of Sicily on July 30, 2011 in Catania. The lava flown into a valley overnight and did not represent a danger to inhabited areas. Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet) which last eruption was in May.

• Killer Plant Eats Bird

  An exotic plant expert was stunned when he inspected one of his garden
  pitcher plants and discovered it had eaten a blue tit.
  Prize winning Nigel Hewitt Cooper one of Britain’s leading carnivorous plant
  growers, from West Pennard, Somerset, couldn’t believe his eyes when he
  checked the Nepenthes x mixta or Monkey Cup pitcher and found the dead bird
  inside.
  Normally the plants which are native to south east Asia consume insects
  which thy attract by secreting a sticky, sweet fluid at the bottom of the
  pitcher.
  Sometimes in the wild they have been known to kill small mammals like mice
  but Mr Hewitt Cooper who regularly wins prizes at the Chelsea flower show
  says for a cultivate plant to capture a bird is incredible.

• Giant Mermaid

  A man adjusts a sculpture “Giant Mermaid” on the Alster lake in the northern German city of Hamburg on August 1, 2011. The sculpture is created by art and advertising agency headed by Oliver Voss.

• Huge Pastry

  People look at a huge khachapuri (Georgian cheese pastry) in central Batumi on July 28, 2011. The cake was baked using 100 eggs, 90 kilograms of cheese, 150 kilograms of flour, has 8 meters length and was eaten within 1minute 32 seconds by people at a street.

• Velomobiles

  Velomobiles, recumbent bicycles with sleek, colorful outer shells, head for the open road in Portland, Ore., Thursday, July 28, 2011. Twenty five riders from Europe and twenty five riders from North America are on a cross-country trip which will finish on the U.S. Capitol steps in Washington D.C. on August 26. The bikers are trying to spread the message that sustainable, clean transportation can be fun.

• Bobblehead Bishop

  Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman has been immortalized in miniature with a bobblehead doll made in his likeness. The bobblehead comes as Trautman prepares to end his tenure as bishop of Erie.

• Canadian bubble artist

  Canadian bubble artist Yang Fan, who has set world record by packing 118 people inside a soap bubble, performs at the Gazillion bubble show in Beijing on July 19, 2011. Yang has earned international acclaim as a result of his complex displays of “bubble theater”. In addition to performing he has developed his own bubble solution formulas and equipment to create bubbles.

• Giant Marilyn

  Newly-wed bride Magda Villasenor looks at “Forever Marilyn”, a sculpture by Seward Johnson, on July 15, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The stainless steel and aluminum sculpture, which stands 26 feet tall and weighs 34,000 pounds, will be on display in Chicago through the spring of 2012. The sculpture was inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s iconic scene in the 1955 movie “Seven Year Itch”.

• Hot Dog Hot Rod

  The iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile vehicle is seen outside of the New York Stock Exchange as part of its day-long 75th birthday celebration, Monday, July 18, 2011. To commemorate the milestone, the Oscar Mayer brand rang the closing bell at NYSE. (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Oscar Mayer)

• Harry Potter Corn Maze

  An aerial view of Top Pearsy’s Maize Maze in the shape of Harry Potter, on July 11, 2011 in York, England. Farmer Tom Pearcy has cut two portraits of Harry Potter in his crop of maize plants. With some subtle differences the two images create the world’s largest spot the difference competition. At over 50m in diameter, and cut out of over 1 million living maize plants, the York Maze is the largest ‘Maize Maze’ in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

• Recycled Sailboat

  A sail boat made of recycled material makes its maiden voyage to mark World Oceans Day in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, June 8, 2011.

• Pontiac Deluxe Six ‘Ghost Car’

  An extraordinary transparent car could fetch as much as GBP 295,000 when it goes up for auction.The motor, dubbed the ‘Ghost Car’, is a Pontiac Deluxe Six which has been covered in Plexiglas. The first transparent full-sized car to be made in America, it was built in 1939 by General Motors and chemical company Rohm and Haas. Billed as a vision of the future, it was a sensation at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair and continues to cause a stir today. Just two were ever made and this model, which has a three-speed manual transmission, is thought to be the last of its kind. It has clocked up just 86 miles in its lifetime; and now its set to go on sale for the first time since the early 1980s. It last sold for an undisclosed amount. American auctioneers RM expect it to sell for between $275,000 and $475,000.

• Serbian Brides Race

  Serbian women take part in a wedding dress race in downtown Belgrade on June 19, 2011. More than fifty “brides” took part in an annual wedding dress race in the Serbian capital, competing for numerous prizes. (Andrej Isakovic, AFP/Getty Images)

• World Naked Bike Ride

  People take part in the annual “London World Naked Bike Ride” event in central London on June 11, 2011. Now in it’s eighth year, the event has seen participation grow from 58 in 2004 to 1,200 in 2009. Taking a route that passes many of London’s most famous landmarks, the ride allows those participating to decorate their body with messages of protest against oil dependancy and motor vehicle usage.

• Hanging Around

  British artist Alice Newstead hangs by shark hooks during her demonstration to protest against shark slaughter in Hong Kong on June 14. The protest was organized by marine conservation group Shark Savers, and supported by Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics who are launching a global campaign to protect the sharks.

• Reptile House

  Diska Putra, holds one of his snakes in bed at home on June 10, 2011 in Bintan, Indonesia. Putra, 24, cohabitates in Indonesian with a collection of 30 snakes, some of which are deadly poisonous.

• Monkey God

  An Indian priest walks outside the temple of Hindu monkey God Hanuman in New Delhi early June 12, 2011. The highly popular monkey-god Hanuman known for his strength is worshipped for his unyielding devotion and selfless dedication to the Lord Rama.

• Big Baby

  Ron Mueck’s ‘Big Baby’ sculpture is displayed in front of Jenny Saville’s painting ‘Interfacing’ at the Masterpieces Exhibition at Christie’s on June 13, 2011 in London, England.

• Drunken Knight

  A would-be knight who tried to woo a maiden by riding into her home on a horse is facing five years behind bars for aggravated burglary. Lovelorn Jan Rudnicki, 40, hatched the scheme to bowl over divorcee Gosia Domoslawska after a night’s drinking down his local bar in Jarnoltowka, Poland. But terrified Gosia, 36, dialed 999 when her drunken suitor – stripped to the waist – galloped up her garden path and smashed his way through the front door like a battering ram.

• Sideshow Fat Man Dies

  Bruce Snowdon, the last sideshow fat man, was honored in a memorial service on Jan. 30, 2010. Snowdon performed as “Harold Huge,” and weighed 607 pounds (though by some billing he tipped the scale at 712 pounds). Here he is with fellow sideshow star Peter Terhurne, a fire-eating dwarf.

• So, What Do You Do For a Living?

  Mexican tattoo artist and trained lawyer Maria Jose Cristerna, known as “Vampire Woman”, attends the Fifth International Tattoo Convention in Bogota, Colombia, on June 4, 2011.

• It’s All Fun And Games…

  A Sufi Kalandar (wandering ascetic) performs an act of self torture during devotion at the annual death anniversary of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, India on June 2.

• Indian spiritual guru Swami Baba Ramdev

  Indian spiritual guru Swami Baba Ramdev performs yoga during his hunger strike at the Pitanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, some 240kms from New Delhi, on June 7, 2011. India’s embattled prime minister on June 7 defended a police crackdown on a peaceful anti-graft demonstration led by a famous yoga guru, saying authorities had been left with no choice.

• Kwok Mang Ho

  Chinese artist Kwok Mang Ho performs during the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice on June 1, 2011. The Biennale entitled Illuminazioni that will open to the public from June 4th to November 27th 2011, in the Giardini and the Arsenale exhibition venues, as well as in various other locations around the city.

• Chinese Cabbage Art

  These glamour models look good enough to eat but will not turn your girlfriend green with envy – because they are made entirely of cabbage. Artist Ju Duoqi created the bizarre sculptures for her project called “The Fantasies of Chinese Cabbage”. Every body part is made from the vegetable. Ju is from Beijing, China. Pictured, some of Ju’s work, made from cabbage leaves.
  This is entitled: ‘An’
  (Ju Duoqi/Solent News Photo Agency)

• Chinese Cabbage Art

  These glamour models look good enough to eat but will not turn your girlfriend green with envy – because they are made entirely of cabbage. Artist Ju Duoqi created the bizarre sculptures for her project called “The Fantasies of Chinese Cabbage”. Every body part is made from the vegetable. Ju is from Beijing, China. Pictured, some of Ju’s work, made from cabbage leaves.
  This is entitled: ‘Susan’
  (Ju Duoqi/Solent News Photo Agency)

Petition filed against steel dumping

Two local steelmakers have submitted a petition to the Vietnam Competition Authority saying imported cold-rolled stainless steel is being dumped on the local market.

The authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade on May 6 received the petition from Posco VST Company Limited and Hoa Binh Inox Joint Stock Company. The local steel firms propose an anti-dumping investigation into steel imports from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia.

According to Ordinance 20/2004/PL-UBTVQH11, the Minister of Industry and Trade will decide whether an anti-dumping investigation would be launched or not within 60 days after a petition is received.

This is the third time local producers have filed a petition against imported products. The two previous cases were brought against float glass and vegetable oil imports.

Most stainless steel items enjoy a zero import tariff. Only stainless steel with a circular cross-section is subject to a 10% duty, according to Circular 193 dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

In October last year, the finance ministry brought forward the amended version of Circular 157 dated November 14, 2011, with the duty on cold-rolled stainless steel imports raised from 5% to 7%. Such an adjustment was made after Posco VST, the largest cold-rolled stainless steel producer in Vietnam, had complained about poor sales.

The company had been struggling to maintain the most competitive prices for its products as imported products were levied a tariff of only 5%. Although the tariff on stainless steel was increased from 0% to 5% on January 1, 2012, the import volume in the first five months of the year only dropped 11.62% year-on-year.

Binh Dinh to set up advisory group for oil refinery plan

The central province of Binh Dinh plans to set up a consulting group for the US$27-billion oil refinery project in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone proposed by Thai firm PTT.

This is one of the major contents in Document 1839/UBND-KTN issued by Binh Dinh Province’s government at the Prime Minister’s request.

The tentative consulting group should comprise representatives of the central development research fund, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), economists and former oil business executives. The economic zone management authority of Binh Dinh is assigned to work with the provincial Department for Foreign Affairs on the consulting group’s establishment.

As per the document, the local authorities ask the management authority to consider their proposal to ask PTT to map out the investment plan as required.

The foreign affairs department is told by the local government to propose contents for the document to be sent to PTT, including the content of Dispatch 652/TTg-KTN issued by the Prime Minister on May 10, 2013. The Government in the document requests PTT to clarify a number of contents in the investment report and draft invitations to call for organizations and individuals to join the consulting group.

Binh Dinh vice chairman Ho Quoc Dung earlier said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai had signed a document allowing for the deployment of the oil refinery project in Nhon Hoi.

Dung deemed this as the important step to officially affirm the project’s feasibility.

The Government in the document tells Binh Dinh to request PTT to draft the investment plan and submit it to the Ministry of Industry and Trade before transferring it to the Prime Minister for approval. The province is also told to help the Thai investor submit an environmental impact assessment report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The project owner will spend 12 months drawing up the tender invitation document, five months calling for bidders and six months considering the bidding results while the feasibility study and other procedures on investment preparations should be completed later.

Nhon Hoi oil refinery plant, which is expected to start construction in 2016 and commercial production in 2019, will be developed on 2,000 hectares with a designed capacity of 660,000 barrels a day.

The plant will import some 45% of crude oil from the Middle East, 25% from Africa and the remainder from South and Central America, with its products for domestic sale and export.

SOEs pose threats for domestic economy

A report from the NA’s Economic Committee on public debt has raised grave concerns over state-owned enterprises (SOEs) showing poor business performance.

Since 2010, the laws has stated that debts incurred by state-owned enterprises are not the responsibility of the government. However, in fact, many SOE’s that have suffered losses have received financial support from the government.

In 2010, SOEs’ foreign debts guaranteed by the government accounted for 14.3% of the country’s total foreign debts.

When Vietnam began economic reform in 1986, over 50% of banking resources went to state-owned sector. Though the rate has gone down in recent years, it is still around 30%.

The financial advantages enjoyed by SOEs also means that they are more highly leveraged than other firms. The ratio of debt to equity in the SOEs in 2009 was 2.52, 1.78 times higher than private firms and 1.39 times higher than FDI companies.

The report also showed that government backed SOEs during difficulties, taking over the huge debts.

For example, Vinashin’s debts reached VND86 trillion (USD4.1 million), but the company was rescued with various support and stimulus packages.

In 2010, the Ministry of Construction also asked the Ministry of Finance to save several member companies under Song Da Group, who had hundreds of billions of VND in foreign debts.

According to many, SOEs are one of main causes for the state budget deficit, and to set off the deficit the state resorted to issuing bonds and increasing the public debt.

Meanwhile, the state-owned sector has not shown any improvement, with many enterprises seemingly going the way of Vinashin and Vinalines.

Authorities consider policy for property insurance contracts

The Ministry of Construction is considering the implementation of property insurance contracts so customers who have made payment for unfinished homes would be compensated if investors go bankrupt.

Real estate companies have encountered troubles stemming from high inventories as well as lack of customers and capital.

Another problem the sector has seen is investors who gather capital for housing projects but use the funds for other business ventures. In some cases the projects were discovered to be illegal and the investors fled, leaving customers with no apartment and no way to recoup their investment.

In the last three years lawsuits and accusations have increased across the country, with hundreds of strikes held, some outside the offices of the Ministry of Construction.

A representative of the Vietnam Real Estate Association said, “There are families that have fallen apart because the husband poured all the family’s money into an incomplete apartment project that did not materialise.”

At a conference addressing housing and real estate law in Hanoi, deputy minister of construction, Nguyen Tran Nam, said, “It seems like there is a misunderstanding of the difference between capital mobilisation and contract payment. Vietnamese people rarely consult lawyers and the court is ill-equipped in dealing with these matters, which leaves the government as the de facto arbitrator in many cases.”

The Ministry of Construction said they are studying the ways in which South Korea applies insurance policies for contracts for the sales of apartments. The ministry said that people who make payments on apartments before construction is complete should be protected.

“Real estate investors will be forced to purchase insurance, and if the investors go bankrupt, if the project becomes stagnant or the capital is put to other uses, customers will be compensated.” Nam said.

Thua Thien – Hue works on tourism planning to 2025

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has hired Singapore-based Akitek Tenggara company as a consultant in devising a tourism development scheme for the 2013-2025 period.

According to Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Cao, the scheme must create a new vision for the sector and specify directions and measures to turn the province into a top destination in the region using foreign and domestic models of sustainable tourism development.

The scheme should also make full use of the local natural and social advantages as well as potentials of the province.

Chairman Cao said Thua Thien-Hue and the Singaporean partner have agreed to focus on devising 14 key projects as part of the planning. Among these, priority will be given to five projects with the hope of creating a breakthrough in the province’s tourism development.

Playing the central role will be a plan combining urban and rural development, paving the way for developing countryside tourism following the green economy model. The other priority plans aims to develop the cruising industry, cruising tours on Huong (Perfume) River, the Hen islet and the Lang Co-Chan May green city.

The provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism is authorised to work with the Singaporean consultant on the plan, in order to submit it to the provincial People’s Council for approval at the upcoming session.

Hanoi builds over 1,000 social housing units

The Vietnam Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD) and the BIC Joint Stock company (BIC) on May 28 started the construction of a social housing project in Hanoi to partly meet housing demand in the city.

The project covers 2.2 hectares in the new south western urban area Linh Dam, providing 1,037 apartments, equivalent to 75,815 square metres.

The project will cost 710 billion VND (33.8 million USD), which is the first instalment of a 10,000 billion VND concessional loan (476 million USD) that the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and HUD signed earlier this year.

According to Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung, the building sector needs to perfect its mechanisms and restructure construction projects to meet people’s high demand for housing.

The Government has proposed many measures to thaw out the “frozen” property market to give people access to social housing and deal with social security issues, Dung added.

This is the first project implemented in line with Government Resolution No.02 that eases difficulties in Vietnam’s property market.

The ministry calls upon all enterprises, especially state-run companies to pioneer the social housing development movement.

The social housing project matches the State and Party’s policies, helping realise the 2020 national strategy on housing development with a vision towards 2030, according to HUD Chairman Nghiem Van Bang.

RoK enterprises seek opportunities in Da Nang

A delegation of 11 Republic of Korea (RoK) businesses attended an exchange with their counterparts in central Da Nang city on May 28 to seek business and investment cooperation opportunities.

The exchange was jointly held by the Da Nang branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI Da Nang), the Da Nang Investment Promotion Centre, and the Hwaseong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) of the RoK.

During the event, the RoK businesses, operating in the fields of garment, electronics, mechanical engineering and hydraulic devices, introduced their products and establish cooperation ties with local firms.

The RoK now ranks second among 30 countries and territories investing in Da Nang city, with 27 projects worth over 700 million USD in total.

Thua Thien-Hue supports FDI enterprises

The People’s Committee of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on May 28 held a seminar to seek way to support foreign-invested businesses operating in the locality.

According to Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Phan Ngoc Tho, the province has tried to create a favourable investment and business environment for FDI firms.

Towards the target of attracting from 10 – 15 FDI projects with total registered capital at 150 million USD this year, the province is focusing on completing a land use plan, accelerating reforms of administrative procedures, particularly those related to FDI management, and increasing investment promotion activities.

Up to date, there have been 66 FDI projects worth nearly two billion USD operating in Thua Thien-Hue province. During the first quarter of 2013, local FDI enterprises earned 110 million USD in revenues, up 48 percent over the same period last year. They contributed 273 billion VND (some 13 million USD) to the state budget, an increase of 5 percent.

The province’s FDI projects are getting bigger in scale, and more diverse in fields, including garment and textile, tourism, food processing and beverage.

Pink books for CapitaLand project

CapitaLand’s first residential development in Vietnam, The Vista, has been granted first batch of housing ownership certificates, normally known as pink books.

The books were welcomed by The Vista home purchasers in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2. The Vista is jointly developed by CapitaLand as the lead developer, Thien Duc Trading Construction and Phu Gia Investment.

The construction was completed on schedule and the apartments were handed over to home purchasers from end 2011.

“With the pink books, home purchasers can enjoy their legal rights in accordance with the Land Law and the Law on Residential Housing, such as right to assign, right to lease, right to inherit, right for capital contribution,” said a company release.

Yip Hoong Mun, deputy CEO of CapitaLand Vietnam, said: “The Vista marks several milestones achieved by CapitaLand in Vietnam. When The Vista was officially launched in October 2007, it received overwhelming response from the Vietnamese. “Notwithstanding the challenging market, the project was completed as scheduled in September 2011 and has since been handed over successfully to homebuyers. And now the first batch of pink books has been issued. In addition, we are regularly organising various activities for residents, neighbors, and public, such as Vista Christmas Bazaar, Vista Tet Bazaar, Earth Hour event. The Vista is more than just a residence, it is also a community for our residents,” Mun said.

Located in An Phu Ward, the 2.3 hectare prime residential precinct is close to the city centre, The Vista comprises 750 luxurious apartments across five 28-storey towers overlooking the Saigon River.

The development also comprises approximately 8,500 square metres of commercial space including a retail podium, named The Vista Walk.

In addition, The Vista has Vista Tower with 100 serviced residence units under Somerset Vista and more than 11,000 square metres of office space, kindergarten and health clinic.

Vietnam is one of CapitaLand’s key markets in Asia. The real estate market in Vietnam is supported by the country’s strong economic growth, rapid urbanisation and a young and growing population. CapitaLand is committed to being a long term real estate developer in the country.

In the residential sector, CapitaLand has a portfolio of close to 6,000 quality homes across six residential projects in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

In the serviced residence sector, its wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited, has a portfolio of more than 1,800 apartment units in 12 properties across the four major cities, making it the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in the country.

Monetary policy under greater pressure

The government will help ignite the economy by cutting the lending rate to allow credit growth to reach 12 per cent in 2013, after a low level in 2013’s first five months.

The prime minister has just released Instruction 09/CT-TTg on financial and budget management in 2013, under which the State Bank is required to continue reducing lending rates, for credit growth of 12 per cent for the whole year. It should also focus on lending in priority sectors, carrying out restructuring plans for credit institutions and stepping up addressing the bad debt problem.

According to the State Bank’s Monetary Policy Division, up till May 22, credit growth rose by 2.29 per cent year-on-year. It is expected to reach only 3 per cent by the end of May.

Despite improvements during the same period of 2012 when credit growth stayed negative, this level is considered low compared to the 12 per cent target for this year.

Since March 2012 till now, the State Bank has cut interest rates eight times and consecutively lowered the ceiling Vietnam dong rate. In early May, the State Bank governor called for banks to consider reducing lending rates for old loans down to 13 per cent per annum.

In fact, many experts said to lower lending rates to support enterprises, the government and the National Assembly should consider tightening targeted inflation to 7-8 per cent, instead of 6-6.5 per cent as currently.

Phone handset exports to UAE increase sharply

Vietnam earned US$1.02 billion from exporting phone handsets to the United Arab Emirates in the first 4 months of this year, 4 times higher than last year’s corresponding figure.

The export of the products to this Middle East market rose 207% to US$204.6 million in April alone, according to the Vietnam Customs.

Vietnamese exports to the UAE have maintained high growth over the years, says the Africa, West Asia and South Asia Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Phone handsets took the lead among the export items to this market, with the value increasing from US$108.3 million in 2010 to US$363 million in 2011 and US$1.5 billion, in 2012.

Novel automobile- motorbike products on show

Nearly 300 items relating to the automobile- motorbike industry are on display at an international exhibition which opened in Ho Chi Minh City on May 30.

The 9th Saigon Autotech and Accessories Show 2013 involves some 250 domestic and foreign manufacturers, including those from Taiwan Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China and India.

This year’s event sees an increase of 40 percent in the number of booths displaying accessories, assembling, and maintenance equipment, automobile interiors, and other things.

Visitors to the four-day event will see a host of novel automobile models of all types, including BRZ, Subaru XV 2.0i premium, Legacy 2.5GT sedan, Outback 2.5i SUV and 7-seat Tribeca 3.6R.

There is a large space for high-end and bizarre types of motorbikes like Harley Davidson, Rebel and Ducati.

Visitors will also have the chance to enjoy stunt performances by record holder Rus Swift from the UK.

The organisers will hold trade exchanges and field trips to Vietnamese factories for participating foreign businesses who want to study the Vietnamese market and seek cooperation opportunities with local partners.

EuroCham announces Vietnam’s BCI in Q2

Results of the 11th quarterly EuroCham Business Climate Index (BCI) survey announced on May 30 showed that business confidence and outlook among European businesses in Vietnam continues to improve – even if hesitantly.

This quarter the Business Climate Index has risen to the mid-point- from 48 to 50 points – following three quarters below 50.

This is the second consecutive increase, and it seems to suggest that European companies are regaining trust in the Vietnamese market.

The key indicators of this development are the improved business outlook, the increase of revenue/orders and the optimism about the overall economic outlook.

However, it is important to keep in mind that the BCI remains at 50, far below the highpoint of 79 in 2011 and that the improvements over the last two quarters remains limited, with an increase of 2 points per quarter.

More than half of the businesses that participated in the survey are active in the services industry, a quarter in manufacturing and the rest in trading and other activities.

Looking to the future, the business outlook for respondents has seen a significant improvement with members having positive expectations rising from 30% to 43%, a development which may be linked to the ongoing EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. Yet, this still means that 57% assess their outlook as either ‘neutral’ or ‘negative’.

Reported investment plans also seem to be improving. More companies are intending to ‘significantly increase investment’, having doubled from last quarter’s 7% to 13%.

Overall, investment plans look more positive than they did a year ago, with 76% of respondents either expecting to keep or increase their investment levels versus 72% one year ago and the number of respondents expecting to cut investments further declined to 19% from last quarter’s 24%.

This again indicates a returning faith in Vietnam’s medium term future and that Government initiatives are inspiring increasing confidence and optimism.

When asked about their expected number of orders and revenue in the medium-term the answers have also slightly improved.

Whilst the share of companies expecting revenue to increase improved from 45% to 53%, those expecting a drop in orders fell further from 23% to 16%, which is a significant improvement. In other words, 84% of respondents consider their orders/revenue to remain constant or to improve.

This positive development has also had a positive impact on recruitment plans, with 39% expecting to increase head-count versus 14% expecting to decrease – a very positive ratio.

Comparatively, the numbers at the same time last year were 33% and 19%, respectively. Government initiatives and the prospect of a strong FTA between EU and Vietnam seem to have led to an increase in confidence in the Vietnamese economy.

Concerns about inflation are declining, with 65% of companies expecting inflation to have no, or limited impact on their business in the medium-term, as compared to 55% last quarter and up from 43% a year ago.

Members were also asked to indicate what they think the rate of inflation will be and the average came to 5.13%, which is extremely close to last quarter’s estimate of 5.12% and down half a percentage point on last year’s 5.63%.

Respondents’ appreciation of the macroeconomic situation is also improving. Whereas last quarter a considerable 57% expected a further deterioration in conditions (and a staggering 72% the quarter before), this has now fallen below the midpoint to 48%.

In other words, 52% of the respondents believe that the economy will stabilize and improve in the future, something which has not been seen in our Business Climate Index since 2011.

US imposes anti-subsidy tariff on Vietnamese frozen shrimp

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced on May 29 that it will impose anti-subsidy tariffs of nearly 63% on frozen shrimp imported from China, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In its preliminary decision, the DOC will impose countervailing duties on products imported from Thailand (2.09%), from China (5.76%), from Vietnam (7.05%), from India (11.32%) and from Malaysia (62.74%).

In 2012, five Asian countries exported around 258,000 tonnes of frozen shrimp worth US$2.3 billion to the US.

Many products from these countries have been subject to different anti-dumping tariffs for several years.

Indonesia and Ecuador – two major shrimp exporters – are exempted from anti-dumping tariffs as the DOC has found no evidence of state subsidies.

The preliminary decision was based on the results of DOC investigation into the recent petitions by shrimp producers and packagers under the US-based Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries. The final decision will be made in late September.  

Vietnamese
exporters have described the US Department of Commerce (DOC)’s recent
levy of anti-subsidy duties on frozen shrimp imported from seven
countries including Vietnam as absolutely unreasonable.

The
General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and
Processors (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe said the DOC’s decision was only
based on Vietnam’s policies to develop its fishery sector without giving
any persuasive factual evidence.

Moreover, the DOC is yet to
take into account borrowing interest rates and aquatic feed prices in
Vietnam, which are far higher than those in other countries, he added.

Under
the DOC’s preliminary decision, products of Minh Quy company are
subject to a 5.08 percent anti-subsidy duty while the rate for Nha Trang
Seafood is 7.05 percent, which is extremely high, according to domestic
seafood processors and exporters.

If this rate remains until the
final decision is made in late August, Vietnamese shrimp firms will find
it difficult to ship their products to the US.

The VASEP General Secretary said Vietnamese companies will continue campaigning for more reasonable duty rates.

Price stabilization programme needs better co-ordination

The price-stabilized-product system should be developed nationwide and co-ordination among enterprises in creating a “goods reserve” should be improved, a conference was told on May 29.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade recently held the conference to evaluate the price stabilization programme and to discuss how to expand it.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said the programme and related policies to aim to control the consumer price index and prevent speculation.

Under the programme, she said, essential commodities such as rice, sugar, oil, meat, eggs, vegetables and seafood products were sold at 5-10 percent lower than market prices.

However, price-stabilized products have not reached residents in remote rural areas, said Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade deputy director Nguyen Van Dong.

Dong said the distribution network should be enhanced in traditional markets, rural areas and industrial zones to better serve low-income earners and ensure they enjoy the benefits of the programme.

Van Duc Muoi, director of Vissan, said enterprises need to be provided with preferential loans to manufacture and store goods for the price stabilization programme.

“It is also important that enterprises co-ordinate with each other to ensure stable raw material sources for production and a smooth transition between production and distribution,” Muoi said.

Director of the Domestic Market Department Vo Van Quyen said many localities now provide support to manufacturing enterprises, instead of mainly retail enterprises as in previous years.

“The price stabilization programme was not non-market,” Quyen said. He pointed out that enterprises have accessed Government loans to reserve necessary goods during economic difficulties.

HCM City Department of Industry and Trade deputy director Le Ngoc Dao said the price stabilization programme should encourage the participation of other economic sectors besides the Government.

She said that this year the city called for credit institutions and commercial banks to join the programme to help enterprises get access to loans at reasonable interest rates (about 6 percent for short term and 10 percent for long term).

Thoa told the conference that the ministry would have policies to encourage enterprises to join the programme by themselves without receiving loan support from the Government.

During 2012 and Tet holiday, a total of VND1.803 trillion (US$85.86 million) was provided to 45 out of 63 provinces and cities to participate in the price stabilization programme.

About 300 enterprises got involved in the programme, 20 percent of which did not get loan support from the Government, the ministry’s report showed.

Exhibition promotes energy efficient technology

The fifth International Energy Technology – Environment Hanoi 2013 (ENTECH) kicked off in Hanoi on May 29 on the theme of “Energy Efficiency – Environment, Business Efficiency, Sustainable Development.”

The three-day exhibition is showcasing energy-saving and environmentally-friendly technologies and products of nearly 100 enterprises from Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, China, and Japan.

ENTECH aims to create favourable conditions for local businesses to access advanced technological solutions, gradually replace low productivity devices with better ones, thus reducing expenses and improving their competitiveness.

The event is also a good chance for enterprises to publicize their hi-tech products and devices that save energy, and cleaner manufacturing technologies.

Technologies and products on show include lighting systems; electrical and heating equipment, gas systems, home appliances, renewable and new energy; clean manufacturing technologies; and environment technologies.

A workshop on energy saving solutions for small-and medium-sized enterprises will also be organized within the framework of the exhibition.

Binh Duong, Italian localities seek business partnerships

Italy’s Fordenone and Emilia Romagna provinces will invest in high-tech agricultural production, processing and industrial projects in Binh Duong province.

The commitment was made at the signing of a cooperative agreement between Binh Duong province and the two Italian regions in Binh Duong on May 29.

The signing was witnessed by Le Thanh Cung, chairman of the provincial administration, Alessandro Criani, governor of Fordenone, and Albertto, President of the Emilia Romagna Chamber of Commerce.

Binh Duong welcomes Italian investors and creates the best possible conditions for them to operate in the locality, Cung assured his Italian guests.

Albertto said Italy currently has five projects in Binh Duong that are operating efficiently.

He said 90 Italian automobile, high-tech, and processing businesses are keen to invest in Vietnam and consider Binh Duong a key destination for carrying out their projects.

A delegation from two Italian regions and representatives from the Italian Chamber of Commerce also visited the My Phuoc Industrial Zone and Binh Duong industry-services and urban area complex.

Binh Duong is one of the leading Vietnamese localities in attracting foreign investment. It has so far licensed 2,160 investment projects capitalized at more than US$18 billion from 35 countries and territories.

Seafood exports hit US$500 million in May

Vietnamese seafood exports in May are estimated at US$479 million, bringing the total five-month export value to over US$2.2 billion, down 5.6 percent against last year.

Seafood experts attribute the decline to difficulties with input materials, as well as anti-dumping tariffs and barriers set by the Japanese and Republic of Korea markets.

Australia and Canada have recently warned about the quality of Vietnamese seafood products as they found residues of antibiotics such as Fluoroquinolone, which is banned in seafood batches shipped to their markets.

As a result, exports to three major markets – the US, Japan and the RoK – have dropped significantly compared to 2012. Meanwhile, exports to China and Thailand have increased by 41% and 19 %, respectively.

However, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) reports that, despite recent market recovery, the aforementioned factors will continue affecting the fisheries sector in the next few months.

It will be difficult for exports to rebound in the second quarter of this year and experts forecast that they may even decrease slightly.

Many export businesses still hope that shrimp exports to Japan – the leading importer of Vietnamese shrimp – will increase again after this country has removed regulations to test for Trifluralin residues in Vietnamese shrimp.

To promote exports in the coming months, experts suggest the fisheries sector find ways to reduce indirect costs and those related to services, and businesses pay more attention to quality, food hygiene and safety in order to expand their export markets.

Businesses seek opportunities in South America

A large number of Vietnamese and Argentinean businesses attended a business forum in Buenos Aires on May 28.

The forum was held during a fact-finding tour by a delegation of 12 Vietnamese businesses operating in the fields of construction, infrastructure development, water supply, and waste treatment, as well as food, farming and plastic products.

President of the Argentinean Chamber of Commerce (CAC), Carlos Raul dela Vega, Director of the Argentinean Foreign MinistryExports Promotion Agency, Agustin Wydler, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) official Nguyen Vu Kien and Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Nguyen Van Dao spoke highly of the potential for economic cooperation between the two countries.

They agreed that the global economic crisis has created an opportunity for both sides to support each other and increase mutually beneficial cooperation within the framework of South-South Cooperation in trade, investment, and other fields.

Argentinean participants emphasised that Vietnam is a potential market of around 90 million consumers and with high and steady economic growth.

Vietnamese businesses met with their Argentinean counterparts at the forum to seek cooperation opportunities in technology transfer, product development, product distribution and joint venture partnerships.

On the same day, the Vietnam-Argentina Centre held meetings among business representatives from the two countries.

Carlos Castelli, President of the Blue Star Group, which has 530 shops in Chile, Mexico, Peru and Argentina, said his group plans to open its first shop in Vietnam in the near future.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Argentina has gradually increased to US$1 billion in 2011, and it reached nearly US$244 million in the first quarter of this year, up 33 percent over the same period in 2012.

US measurement company enters Vietnam market

Agilent, the world’s premier measurement company in the US, has decided to open two offices in Hanoi and HCM City to provide local customers with sales, applications and support services.

In a press release, the US-based multinational company says these offices will have specific centers to deliver greater levels of engineering and support expertise for customers and partners.

As one of the fastest developing infrastructure and business regions in the world, Vietnam is a critical component in Agilent’s key emerging markets strategy,” said Dr. Nick Roelofs, president of Agilent’s Life Sciences Group.

“We look forward now to directly participating with customers to deliver the products and solutions in electronics, chemical analysis and life sciences that will help accelerate their work and ultimately contribute to the growth of Vietnam.”

Soon-Chai Gooi, president, Order Fulfillment and Supply Chain of the company, describes the Vietnam expansion as a major milestone for Agilent.

“Each office will be fully staffed to provide the high level of service that Agilent is known for to help our customers excel with the latest measurement technologies for electronics, life sciences and chemistry,” said Gooi.

“Our customers and partners in Vietnam can now look forward to faster response times and the highest quality of service which Agilent is renowned for worldwide.”

Agilent Technologies Inc. is the world’s premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences, diagnostics, electronics and communications.

It employs 20,500 workers in more than 100 countries. It obtained net revenues of US$6.9 billion in its fiscal year 2012.

HCM City forum fosters Vietnam-EU business links

Vietnamese and European Union experts made proposals at a joint forum in HCM City on May 29 to facilitate business operations and raise bilateral trade ties.

Experts from the European Union Delegation to Vietnam introduced new approaches to the value chain to capitalise on the free trade agreement (FTA) once it is signed between Vietnam and the EU.

They also presented new ways of developing business strategies to Vietnamese businesses to effectively penetrate the demanding EU market.

A Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) representative said with the ministry’s assistance, Vietnamese businesses have kept abreast of the generalized system of preferences (GSP) of the EU in the 2014-2016 period.

Accordingly, exports such as footwear, handbags and umbrellas will no longer enjoy GSP as of January 1, 2014. Technical specifications and food safety are major barriers to Vietnamese commodities to be exported to the EU.

Vietnamese businesses were advised to log on to the EU trade portal to seek accurate information about their partners and markets.

In 2012 the EU overtook the US to become Vietnam’s largest goods importer and second largest trade partner, with two-way trade reaching US$29.1 billion, an increase of 19.77 percent over 2011.

In the first quarter of 2013, two-way trade value rose 26.18 percent to US$6 billion, including US$4.34 billion worth of Vietnamese exports.

RoK enterprises seek opportunities in Danang

A delegation of 11 Republic of Korea (RoK) businesses attended an exchange with their counterparts in Danang city on May 28 to seek business and investment cooperation opportunities.

The exchange was jointly held by the Danang branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI Danang), the Danang Investment Promotion Centre, and the Hwaseong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) of the RoK.

During the event, the RoK businesses, operating in the fields of garment, electronics, mechanical engineering and hydraulic devices, introduced their products and establish cooperation ties with local firms.

The RoK now ranks second among 30 countries and territories investing in Danang city, with 27 projects worth over US$700 million in total.

Heavy fine for those illegally sending laborers to Angola

Any enterprises illegally sending laborers to Angola will be heavily fined and required to repatriate laborers, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Hoa said on the sidelines of a seminar on labor export held last week in Hanoi that the ministry has yet to allow any enterprises to send workers to Angola.

Vietnamese who are currently working in Angola are health, agricultural and educational experts sent to that country under a labor cooperation agreement signed between the governments of the two countries years ago. Meanwhile, sending workers to Angola has not been allowed.

The Overseas Labor Management Department and the Consular Department will publicize the warning so that workers can take prudence if working in Angola.

“There are currently 30,000-40,000 Vietnamese working and living in Angola. The ministry has received some labor export contracts from Angola but none of them have met requirements,” Hoa said.

Meanwhile, the number of people going to work in Angola has not declined as Vietnamese workers are attracted by high income with an average of US$900-1,000 per month or even US$1,500-1,700. However, such income is precarious as the jobs are not stable.

At the seminar, the Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply with assistance from international organizations issued the code of conduct (CoC-VN) for labor exporting enterprises which will be used to score and evaluate the prestige and quality of enterprises concerned.

VND550 billion for Hiep Phuoc IP expansion

Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park Joint Stock Company (HIPC) will invest an additional VND550 billion to expand the park by nearly 600 hectares to make room for industries specializing in mechanical products, home appliances, seaport services and foodstuff processing, said Doan Hong Tam, general director of the company.

HIPC will sign an agreement with Vietinbank for a loan of VND550 billion on June 4 to develop the second phase of the facility, Tam told the Daily yesterday.

As much as 93% of the first phase of Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park (IP) has been occupied by 96 enterprises. HIPC next week will license two more mechanical companies, taking the total number of investors in the park to 98.

IP developers now are in a fierce competition to access bank loans as they are no longer subject to preferential lending rates as before, Tam said.

Under the HCMC IP development zoning plan by 2020 with a vision to 2025, the city will continue constructing high-tech IPs, attracting manufacturers to already-planned IPs and industrial clusters, developing supporting industries and minimizing labor-intensive schemes.

The city has 14 IPs and export processing zones (EPz) with more than 1,200 valid investment projects using nearly 260,000 workers. As per the plan, the city will have one hi-tech area, 20 concentrated IPs, EPZs and local industrial clusters on a total area of roughly 8,000 hectares in the next ten years.

Many IPs in the city have focused on investment in 2016-2020, including Bau Dung, Hoa Phu, Le Minh Xuan 2, Le Minh Xuan 3, Phu Huu, Vinh Loc 3, Xuan Thoi Thuong and Hiep Phuoc’s the third phase.

CBU auto imports up sharply

A slight recovery of the local automobile market over the past two months is enough to fuel an increase in the import of completely built-up autos this month, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The nation has imported an estimated 4,000 automobiles this month worth a combined value of US$60 million, the highest compared to four months earlier, GSO reports.

The auto import volume and value have been rising. For instance, the country only imported 1,000 units with a total value of US$38 million in February, which then increased to 3,000 units worth some US$48 million in March.

In April, even though the auto import volume was unchanged at 3,000 units, its value grew to US$50 million.

The aforesaid results show that the import value of completely built-up cars has been on the rise, which is described as a considerable market movement by local traders. The auto market has changed for the better since March versus previous months, according to local assemblers and completely built-up auto importers.

Local traders believe the market growth is partly due to the Government’s moves to slash tax and registration fee. On the other hand, the great effort of auto makers in launching plenty of new products and offering discounts to stir up local demand has also helped improve the situation.

Similarly, the Vietnam Auto Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) reported the auto market this month posted higher growth than expected. The association, however, insisted the growth rate is still slim.

As such, the number of imported completely built-up cars amounted to an estimated 14,000 units from January-May with a combined value of around US$247 million, up 13% in volume and 3.5% in value over the year-ago period. With such a positive trend, local traders expect the number of imported completely built-up cars to rebound slightly or to equal to this month’s result.

More completely built-up cars are forecast to be imported in the final months of the year when local auto demand traditionally picks up.

With more than 8,780 cars sold last month or a year-on-year sale growth of 26%, VAMA predicts this year’s sale volume at about 103,000 units, 3% higher than estimates in previous months.

People’s credit funds need changes to survive

The Central People’s Credit Fund and nearly 1,200 similar funds across the country are suffering from several shortcomings and need changes for sustainable development.

Speaking at a workshop themed “Improving and developing people’s credit funds” held in Hanoi last week, Phi Trong Hien from the central bank said many people’s credit funds do not strictly comply with the credit process, leading to great risks.

Moreover, most people’s credit funds have poor facilities, low equity and human resources with limited skills, hindering their expansion for sustainable development.

Nguyen Tien Huan, chairman of the people’s credit fund Quang Trung in Hanoi’s Ha Dong District, proposed establishing criteria on objectives and principles for operation of people’s credit funds. Adhering to such objectives and principles, people’s credit funds will be able to grow in a sustainable way, he said.

Participants in the workshop suggested turning the Central People’s Credit Fund into a cooperative bank, operating in accordance with the Law on Credit Institutions and relevant laws. The cooperative bank will expand its network to the localities where there are many people’s credit funds to support them and increase the credit access.

Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR

This week, The Edinburgh Reporter sends our congratulations to Spartans for winning their first trophy in two years and also Hibs for retaining the East of Scotland Shield against Hearts at Tynecastle.

Commiserations go to Spartans Women who lost out to a strong Glasgow City side in the final of the Scottish Premier League Cup.

Rugby by John Preece

It was announced this week that Scotland’s new head coach will be Vern Cotter. The New Zealander is currently the head coach at French Top 14 club, Clermont Auvergne. Cotter was signed up several months ago, but out of respect to Clermont, the capture of one of the World’s top coaches was not announced until after the season’s end. However, Cotter is still contracted to Clermont for the 2013-14 season and will not join formally the Scotland set-up until the end of the coming season. As a result, Scott Johnson will continue in the role as interim head coach before he takes on the role of Director of Rugby. Not ideal, but not a bad sub.

It’s the Women’s turn this weekend to fight to retain their FIRA (the International Federation of Amateur Rugby. It’s French!) Grand Prix status in their Sevens Tour. They have to finish in the top ten of both of the upcoming tournaments – Brive, then Marbella two weeks later – to retain their place and their 2014 ranking, and World Cup qualification, will depend on their final placings.

Edinburgh have lined up two English Premiership teams for their pre-season warm-up matches at the end of August. For the really keen, the first match is against Northampton Saints at Franklin Gardens on the 23rd August. Last season, the Saints travelled up to Murrayfield (photo) and hammered Edinburgh 54-3, so it would be reasonable to expect a similar scoreline for them at home. Here’s hoping Edinburgh can get off to a better start this time around.

The second match is against Newcastle Falcons a week later at ‘a venue to be confirmed’, according to Edinburgh Rugby. This match may well be played at one of the Borders’ clubs, with Murrayfield being held ‘in reserve’ if nothing comes of the plan. Newcastle have recently been on a recruiting drive in anticipation of promotion to the Premiership (successfully anticipated) and a number of former Edinburgh and Scotland players will be returning home, so to speak.

Looming large on the horizon is the draw for the 2013-14 Heineken Cup. Edinburgh will enter the draw in tier three. The tier for each team is determined by maths too probably complicated to go into, but is based on performance over the last four years in the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup. The draw will take place on the 5th June at 2:30pm and will be streamed live on www.ercrugby.com for the terminally dedicated. Edinburgh went through to the semi-finals two seasons ago, but failed to win a match last year. Hopefully, the new coaching team and new players will be able to inspire a better performance in this year’s tournament.

International Football

Six capital youngsters, Bradley Donaldson, Ross Caldwell, Danny Handling and Alex Harris from Hibs  and Jordan McGhee and David Smith from Hearts have been selected for the Scotland Under-20 squad for the SDO Den Haag youth tournament.

The Scots started the tournament in style with two gaols from Handling in the first three minutes against Brazilian club side Cruzeiro at the Kyocera Stadium and eventually ran out 3-1 winners.

The youngsters then played two games on Saturday, losing 1-0 to FK Senika before drawing 1-1 with Club Brugge to set up a semi-final with Mexico.

Edinburgh Football

Hibs amazing record in the East of Scotland Shield continued on Friday night at Tynecastle as the Easter Road Under 17s convincingly beat city rivals Hearts 3-0 to win the old trophy for the ninth consecutive season.

A sizeable crowd saw Hibs take the lead on the half hour mark thanks to a well taken volley from striker Lewis Allan. Jordan Sinclair added a second with a 25 yard free kick before substitute Dominic Docherty sealed victory with a header.

The following day, Hibs fans beat Hearts fans 3-0 in a charity match at Tynecastle.

Off the field, Hearts confirmed that out-of-contract Lithuanian international Arvydas Novikovas will leave the club in the summer. The 22 year-old, who has been capped 12 times, scored three goals in 37 appearances last year, and joins Darren Barr, Danny Grainger, Gordon Smith, Mehdi Taouil, Fraser Mullen and Denis Prychynenko on the list of players who will be seeking pastures new as manager Gary Locke continues his rebuilding programme.

Former Liverpool player Danny Wilson has signed a three year deal with the Gorgie club, and former Rangers star Kris Boyd has confirmed that he has spoken to Locke about the possibility of a contract. Speculation regarding Blackburn Rovers striker David Goodwillie joining Hearts on loan continues.

The club hopes to hear whether Andy Webster will accept a new deal after his contract ran out on Friday.

Earlier in the week, the club unveiled the new home strip for next season which will be made by Adidas. The maroon top is complimented by white bands on the sleeves and the shorts and socks will be all maroon.

Across the city, Hibs confirmed that Welsh international Owain Tudor-Jones has joined the club on a two year deal from Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and on-loan full back Ryan McGivern has accepted a two year contract after being freed by Manchester City.

The pair will join their team-mates when pre-season training resumes on 17 June, only 22 days after the Scottish Cup Final. The club will find out who their European opponents will be when the draw is made on 24 June.

Hibs have announced a four year deal with sportswear brand Nike as the clubs Official Technical Partner.

East of Scotland Football

Congratulations to Spartans who secured their first silverware in two years after beating Berwick Rangers Reserves at St Marks Park on Saturday in the final of the Kings Cup.

Rangers took an early lead when Kenny O’Brien scored from the edge of the box, and although the linesman raised his flag, he was over-ruled by the referee and the goal stood.

Spartans equalised in the 35^th minute thanks to an Ally MacKinnon header from a Kevin Motion cross, then three minutes later Rangers’ Grant McNicol was sent off for a foul on Andy Martin.

The Ainslie Park side took the lead just after the break when once again MacKinnon got onto the end of a Motion cross and headed the ball home from two yards.

With 13 minutes remaining, Jack Beesley found Keith Macleod unmarked on the penalty spot and the striker took a touch before spinning round and firing the ball into the corner of the net.

Berwick had the chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a late penalty, but Josh Morris’s powerful effort struck the post and ended up in the arms of keeper Iain McTurk, who was playing his last game for the club before heading to America to play college soccer.

Women’s Football

Commiseration to Spartans Women who lost in the final of the Scottish Premier League Cup to on-form Glasgow City on Wednesday night at Recreation Park Alloa.

A hat-trick from Ruesha Littlejohn combined with a fine header from Suzanne Lappin and a penalty from City captain Leanne Ross secured the trophy and maintained the Glasgow sides 100% record this season.

The Reporter sends out congratulations to Hibs’ players to Claire Emslie, Caroline Weir and Siobhan Hunter who all won their first caps in Scotland’s 3-2 win over Iceland.

Boxing

Lochend boxers Aston Brown (75kg) and Josh Taylor (64kg) travelled to Minsk with Team Scotland to participate in the AIBA Elite Senior European Championship, arguably one of the toughest boxing tournaments in the world.

Hockey by John Preece

Not so much a round-up as a heads-up. Scotland Men’s and Women’s teams will be in action at Peffermill in Edinburgh on a variety of dates starting on 10 June 2013. Wales, Ireland, South Africa and England ‘B’ (Photo Scotland v England ‘B’) are all coming up to play in some sort of tournament/friendlies/something-not-particularly-well-announced-by-Scottish-Hockey. Fixture details can be sought out on their website here and it is likely that entry will be free, but, again, that has not yet been announced by the SHU. For a fast, exciting, end-to-end sport, it is hard to beat International standard hockey. Only 35 minutes each way, play barely stops moving, and, with the ball travelling at up to, and occasionally over, 100mph, rolling substitutes are essential.

Speedway

The Scotwaste Monarchs lost 5-4 to eventual winners Somerset Rebels in the semi-finals of the Premier Pairs on Friday night in Somerset. This was the first time the Monarchs had reached the semi-final stage since 2002.

The Armadale based team are at home to Redcar Bears on Friday 7 June then return to Somerset the following Tuesday.

 

DURHAM took a big gamble yesterday by bringing Dale Benkenstein back from injury three months ahead of schedule.

And the South African could now feature in Thursday’s County Championship match at Somerset.

When the limited-overs captain dislocated his shoulder for the second season running at The Oval on May 13 he was told he would need an operation and revealed he was “hoping” to be back in September “if needed”. It hardly sounded optimistic.

But complications caused the scheduled surgery to be cancelled a fortnight ago, and Durham will now seek to postpone it until the end of the season.

That has prompted a rethink, with the medical team who initially advised that “conservative treatment” was not an option deciding it now is. The view is that the time off since sustaining the injury diving in the outfield has allowed it to settle down.

So Benkenstein was part of the Durham second team which played the MCC Young Cricketers in a Second Eleven Trophy match at Brandon yesterday. He made six in a two-wicket win.

“Dale still needs an operation at some stage but it is hoped we can delay it until after the season,” Durham physio Nigel Kent explained. “He will continue to do rehab and modify his diving technique throughout the rest of the season.”

In four-day cricket at least, Durham will probably do their best to “hide” Benkenstein in the field, as they used to when the less-than-agile Ian Blackwell was suffering the shoulder problems which ultimately ended his career.

They could limit Benkenstein’s involvement in the YB40 competition, which they traditionally use to rest key players anyway. Benkenstein dislocated his left shoulder in training almost a year to the day before doing so again versus Surrey. There have been other occurrences inbetween time, but he is so matter-of-fact about them, it is hard to know how many.

Even at The Oval his injury did not stop him finishing the game, batting in the final innings as Durham recorded an important five-wicket win.

Last year’s problem caused him to miss two Championship games and three one-day matches. On his return he was unable to find the form which has made him Durham’s most prolific run-scorer in First-Class cricket. His 2012 tally of 583 First-Class runs was easily his poorest return in eight seasons with the county, though it could be the swinging conditions in which all Durham batsmen struggled played a bigger part than his physical condition.

Although this season’s statistics have not been overwhelming – averaging 29.66 in the longer form of the game – he made important unbeaten half-centuries against Yorkshire and Surrey. The first ought to have set up a win, the second did. In the latter he became the first man to make more than 9,000 First-Class runs for Durham.

The Riversiders’ fixture list has been mercifully light since Benkenstein’s latest injury and their record reasonably good, so it would be harsh to portray the move as a panic measure.

Durham drew their only Championship game since, though that had far more to do with the weather than opponents Middlesex. Since losing his opening game as stand-in 40-over captain, Mark Stoneman has recorded back-to-back wins.

But Stoneman has only played three senior Twenty20 matches in his life, and was due to hand the captaincy to Paul Collingwood in that competition, which begins on June 28, adding to the four-day skipper’s workload.

And if there is a concern about the make-up of Durham’s Championship side it is the lack of top-order experience. Benkenstein was promoted to No.4 partly to address that this year.

Benkenstein, 39 this Sunday and under contract until the end of next season, is a serious contender to replace head coach Geoff Cook on his retirement from playing.

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“43-61634-33423681”,
function(article){
tm.siteLife.display.displayCommentCount(
article,
‘sitelife-commentsWidget-middle’,
false,
‘Comments’,
true,
false
);
}
);
})();//call anonymous function
//]]