Surfers back in Vietnam

Vietnam's first international professional surfing event began at China Beach yesterday, a quarter of a century after American GIs rode the waves during breaks from the Vietnam War, Reuter reports from Danang. The competition, a four-star world qualifying series event of the Association of Surfing Professionals, has attracted 18 of the world's top 44 professional surfers, who will compete for four days for prize money totalling dollars 60,000 (pounds 40,000).