Ruling expected today in biggest Viet fraud case

HANOI • A Vietnamese court is set to make a key ruling in the country's biggest fraud case, in a trial that has spotlighted Vietnam's ability to tackle financial crime at a time when foreign banks are heeding government calls to invest.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's High Court is expected to rule by today on whether to uphold a judgment that the key perpetrator of a 4.9 trillion dong (S$288 million) theft is responsible for returning some of the stolen money, rather than the individual's then employer, state-controlled VietinBank.

The perpetrator was sentenced to life imprisonment.

REUTERS

Merkel meets Chinese detainees' wives

BEIJING • German Chancellor Angela Merkel met the wives of two detained Chinese human rights lawyers during her trip to Beijing last week, in a rare move for a visiting leader, the women said yesterday.

Dr Merkel did not mention the meetings, though she said she brought up human rights during her talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Ms Li Wenzu, who last month attempted to march 100km to a detention facility to highlight her husband Wang Quanzhang's plight before she was thwarted by police, said she met Dr Merkel on Thursday. Dr Merkel also met Ms Xu Yan, whose husband, Yu Wensheng, was charged with "inciting subversion of state power" in January, a week after he was detained.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

One killed, 3 hurt by car driven by 90-year-old

TOKYO • A woman was killed and three others injured yesterday as a car driven by a 90-year-old driver ploughed into pedestrians in Japan.

The car mounted the kerb near a busy crossroads in Chigasaki city, south-west of the capital Tokyo, hitting four pedestrians, a local police spokesman said. He confirmed that the female driver was 90 years old.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE