The opening ceremony of the 2010 Festival for Ethnic Minority Pupils and Students was held in Hanoi on May 7 with the participation of 460 pupils and students, representing 37 ethnic groups from across the country.

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Nguyen Van Nhon of Da Lat, President of the Vietnam Episcopal Council, as coadjutor archbishop of Hanoi.

The Hanoi municipal People’s Committee on May 7 issued an urgent telegram asking leaders of districts and towns to establish steering boards for epidemic prevention and control and introduce effective measures again blue-ear disease in pigs.

Construction of an international Overseas Vietnamese village started on May 7 in the northern port city of Hai Phong.

A 102-storey building, the highest in Vietnam so far, will be built in Hanoi at an estimated cost of more than US$1 billion.

More than 2,000 dignitaries, monks, nuns and Buddhist followers attended a national Dharma conference which began on May 6 in the southern province of Kien Giang.

The first national ethnic minority congress will open at the My Dinh National Convention Centre in Hanoi on May 12 with the participation of 1,702 ethnic minority representatives.

The Embassies of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in Vietnam jointly held a ceremony in Hanoi on May 6 to mark the 65th anniversary of the victory over fascism (May 9, 1945).

Dien Bien is striving to push through administrative reform with the aim of quickly escaping from poverty and moving towards prosperity.

Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) on May 6 said that the foundation is willing to continue its support for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) to create laws and policies relating to the construction industry.

France’s city of Lyon and the French Development Agency (AFD) will provide Hanoi with €340,000 in non-refundable aid to help the capital city light up major locations to herald its millennial birthday.

When taking a trip to the town of Truong Sa Lon in the Truong Sa (Spratly) island district of the southern coastal province of Khanh Hoa, visitors are often surprised to see that life here is very similar to any other town in the country.

Eliminating child labour remains a challenge because authorities in many provinces and cities do not keep track of the local children’s situation, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

A website providing information about poverty reduction in the country’s 62 poorest districts officially made its debut in Hanoi on May 6. 

Economists, law makers and social scientists have gathered in Hanoi for a two-day seminar to explore issues related to the informal economic sector.

The Quang Binh provincial People’s Committee and the Schneider Electric Vietnam Company have signed a contract to build a solar-power station.

The capital city Hanoi experienced 68 traffic accidents including 58 deaths and 21 injuries and suffered from 6 severe traffic jams in April, announced the city’s police department.

A primary school worth over US$120,000 funded by Boeing Group was inaugurated in Muong Phang commune, Dien Bien district, Dien Bien province on May 5.

The 2010 annual OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC) Global Meeting opened in Hanoi on May 5.

Firefighters have extinguished a fire that broke out in the U Minh Ha forest in southernmost Ca Mau province’s Thoi Binh District on May 2. About 90ha of trees were destroyed in the three-day blaze.

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) presented the insignia “For Peace and Friendship among Nations” to former Caracas guerrilla Noel Quintero of Venezuela on May 4. 

Forty-six doctors and nurses from Military Hospital 175 and Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital on May 4 began a two-day mission in Cambodia to provide eye care and surgery for poor patients.

Blue-ear pig disease has spread to Hanoi and 10 northern and central provinces with more than 50,000 pigs infected by the virus, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on May 4.

The Vietnamese Government praises the anti-tuberculosis operations run by the Global Stop TB Parternership in Vietnam and calls for more support from the International Community and the TB Partnership for Vietnam and other countries.  

The central provice Nghe An is holding a number of activities to mark the 120th birthday of late president Ho Chi Minh from May 2-18.

Representatives from the University of Technical Education (UTE) in Ho Chi Minh City and the US Texas Tech University (TTU) have signed a memorandum of understanding on undergraduate education programme.

The Minister of Transport, Ho Nghia Dung, met with visiting Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Seiji Maehara, in Hanoi on May 3.

Vision Ethique- a French Travel Company, has coordinated with the Vietnam Culture Centre in France to introduce Vietnam tourism in the presence of many French people and overseas Vietnamese living in Paris.

Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and the Military Zone 5 signed an agreement on May 3 for promoting information dissemination on national defence and security.

The Vietnam Pharmaceutical and Medical Association (VPMA) in Russia held its second congress in Moscow on May 1.