Red Cross societies at all levels nationwide raised more than VND1.44 trillion (US$78 million) in 2009 to support the poor and victims of Agent Orange and natural disasters, VND402 billion more than the previous year. 

An international conference to improve the management of construction projects in Vietnam was jointly held by the Ministry of Construction and the World Bank in Hanoi on January 27. 

The A/H1N1 influenza has broken out at a primary school in Dong Xa commune, Na Ri district of the northern mountain province of Bac Kan, according to the Ministry of Health.

The northwestern mountain province of Dien Bien announced on January 27 that bird flu has recurred in its Thanh Hung and Thanh Yen communes.

A workshop to discuss how to deal with natural disasters was held in Hanoi on January 27 by the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control.  

A delegation of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese on January 27 granted VND900 million, EUR2,000 and US$1,500 to the People’s Committee of Bach Thong district in northern Bac Kan province to help build the Phuong Thong kindergarten.

The Israeli Embassy in Vietnam will present 200 Tet gifts worth more than VND40 million to disabled children in Hanoi and Hung Yen province on January 28-29.

The Silver Shores joint venture opened an international tourism centre in Da Nang’s Ngu Hanh Son (five marble mountains) district on January 26.

Japanese experts will be assisting farmers in the central province of Quang Nam in a project for implementing organic farming practice.

The Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Agency has started legal proceedings against Huynh Ngoc Si, former director of the ODA-funded East-West Avenue project in HCM City, on charges of taking bribes.

The first phase of the Binh An roadside station was launched in Thang Binh district, the central province of Quang Nam on January 26 with technical assistance from Japan.

The Vietnam-Slovakia Friendship Association on January 26 hosted a meeting of Vietnamese who once studied and worked in Slovakia to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

An exhibition of fine art works inspired by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) will be held at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum from January 29- February 7 to mark the 80th anniversary of the CPV.

10 outstanding farmers, representing 50 million farmers nationwide, will be honoured at a ceremony to be held on January 31.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has provided aid to help the northern province of Nam Dinh implement its community management model (CMM).

The Fatherland Front Committee in Ho Chi Minh City has spent VND500 million buying Tet gifts for poor people who were recently affected by floods and storms in the south-central province of Phu Yen.

Vietnam’s first International Advertising Equipment and Technology Exhibition, VietAd 2010 will open on August 5 in Ho Chi Minh City.

More than 5,700 people in the northern province of Bac Kan will have access to clean water thanks to projects funded by the French Red Cross Society (FRCS).

The Hindi language will be widely taught to Vietnamese students as soon as possible, said Indian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Jitendra Nath Misra at the seminar “Hindi awareness in Vietnam”.

The Vietnam Red Cross Society’s Central Committee (VRC) on January 25 decided to provide their first relief to Haiti’s people, worth total US$20,000, in response to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ appeal.

Nearly three weeks before the start of the Lunar New Year festival (Tet), many popular holiday tours have been booked solid. In particular, the number of visitors to foreign countries, like Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, has risen strongly.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Germany held a meeting with nearly 100 outstanding Vietnamese businesses in the country on January 23 to welcome the Lunar New Year festival (Tet).

Three individuals of “Saola” (Pseudorys nghetinhensis), a forest-dwelling bovine, have been found by forest rangers in the western Truong Son Mountains, Lam Thuy district in the central province of Quang Binh.

In the Mekong Delta, leaders of the bureau office of Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) on January 24 paid a Tet visit to radar station 605 and Van Hoa ship 792 of the M27 Corps, Zone E of the Vietnam People’s Navy.

To welcome the Lunar New Year festival (Tet), the Vietnamese Student Association in France will hold a number of cultural events, including a special programme themed “Hello Spring 2010-Young Talent” to be held at the Gymnase Marie Bell Theatre in Paris on February 21.

Essential products for the upcoming traditional Lunar New Year festival (Tet), such as confectionery, dried fruits, wine and beer are flying off the shelves.

A “Vietnamese Days in India” programme will take place on the occasion of the upcoming official visit to India by Chairman of the Vietnam National Assembly, which is slated for February 23-27.

A friendship exchange was held in the northern province of Bac Ninh on January 23 to mark the 60th anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic ties (January 18) and Vietnam-China Friendship Year 2010.

“The Party with Youth- Youth with the Party” forum was held in Hanoi on January 23 by the Hanoi Police Youth Union to mark the 80th anniversary of establishment of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in the lead up to the 11th National Party Congress.

A balloon was put on a trial run in Nha Trang by the Hon Tam Nha Trang Sea Joint Stock Company on January 23.