Hue city in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue held a meeting and a parade on April 7 to mark the World Health Day. 

The border liaison offices (BLO) between Vietnam and Cambodia have effectively helped functional agencies from the two countries discover and arrest drugs smugglers at the border.

Raising cigarette taxes could be the most effective way of reducing the high smoking rate in Vietnam, according to participants at a seminar on smoking prevention held in Binh Duong province last week.

Power companies and banks around the country are thoroughly checking automatic teller machines (ATM) for electric shock.

Quang Ninh province has officially confirmed a new outbreak of the bird flu epidemic in Tien Phong commune, Yen Hung district.

The Vietnam Acupuncture Association (VAA) held its 7th congress in Hanoi on April 7 to devise working activities for the 2010-2015 period.

US war veterans say they will take action to bring justice for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin.

The campaign for voluntary blood donations has received a positive response from all sections of people. However, there remains a lot to be done before it becomes a nationwide movement.

Vietnam’s Mai Dong Water Company and Laos’s Vientiane Water Supply Company have signed an investment agreement worth US$5 million to build a water purification and bottling plant in the Laotian capital of Vientiane.

The head of an international commission on nuclear disarmament on April 6 expressed the wish that Vietnam would lend a “constructive and helpful voice” to promoting nuclear disarmament.

A national-level commemoration of the first rulers of Vietnam, the Hung Kings, will be held in ten days in the northern province of Phu Tho and in two days in other provinces and cities throughout the country this month.

All sample tests concerning disposable food containers made of polystyrene show that they were safe to use, said Nguyen Cong Khuan, director of the Food Administration of Vietnam (FAVN).

An additional 86,000 US veterans who were exposed to herbicides during the war in Vietnam or their spouses will be entitled to allowances paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The total value of signed official development assistance (ODA) agreements for education and training in the 1998-2009 period reached more than VND26 trillion, reports the Ministry of Education and Training.

A project to enhance the capability of public and private reproductive health services in Vietnam was introduced at a seminar in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on April 5.

Two giant halves of the world’s biggest woollen blanket, one made in France and the other in Vietnam, will be joined together in October, announced Anna Owhadi-Richarson, president of the friends of Da Lat association (AD@IY).

Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) is the Party’s and State’s main official communications channel for disseminating knowledge and information, said Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Vu Huy Hoang.

The US-based charity organisation, the Friends of Hue Foundation (FHF), in coordination with the local authorities on April 5 put community houses into operation in Loi Nong street and other surrounding streets in Thuy Chau ward, Huong Thuy town, Hue City.  

The Institute of International Education (IIE) on April 5 announced the 2010 GE Foundation Scholar-Leaders programme for excellent students from leading universities across Vietnam.

Operation Smile Vietnam (OSV) and AIA (Vietnam) Life Insurance Co Ltd are funding free medical check-ups and surg+eries for children with hare lips, cleft palate and facial deformities.

The Russian Women’s Association wants to share experience with its Vietnamese counterpart within the framework of the Women’s International Democratic Federation, said the Russian association’s vice chairwoman Galina Gulko while receiving a Vietnamese women delegation.

The second section of the new Thu Thiem tunnel was carried to its position safely in Ho Chi Minh City at 12.45pm on April 5 after five hours of being towed along the Sai Gon River.

The president of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, Huynh Dam, sent a letter of congratulation to the Association of Vietnamese in France, on the occasion of its 12th congress.

A seminar was held in Quang Ngai province on April 5 to discuss the consequences of Agent Orange/Dioxin on the environment and people’s health.

The Russian police on April 4 arrested two people suspected of murdering a Vietnamese businessman in Ufa, the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia.

Over the past three months, nearly 17,000 workers have engaged in a labour export programme, according to the Overseas Labour Management Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

More than 300 pigs in Hai Duong have been infected with the blue-ear disease, resulting in nearly 40 pig deaths.

The central province of Thanh Hoa held a requiem ceremony for fallen soldiers at the provincial cemetery to mark the 45th anniversary of the Ham Rong bridge victory.  

A training workshop on preventing domestic violence opened in Hanoi on April 2 for staff of the Centre for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender – Families – Women and Adolescents (CSAGA), who will disseminate the knowledge across the country.

The Ministry of Health has announced that it will test samples of all disposable plastic food containers for toxic substances.