Nearly 500 Buddhist monks, nuns and followers from Hanoi’s My Duc district held a requiem for martyrs at the Truong Son Cemetery in the central province of Quang Tri on August 24.

The capital city plans to expand pre-school networks with the aim of improving educational standards and reducing malnutrition among young children, said the municipal Department of Education and Training. 

Fourteen international airlines have signed in a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in promoting and opening new routes to Hue, Vietnam’s former Imperial Capital and a World Heritage Site recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). 

A massive fire flared at the EACC trade centre in Wolka Kosowska, Poland, on the early morning of August 22, causing heavy losses for Vietnamese traders. 

The Danapha-Nanosoma Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company (Danosoma) on August 23 broke the ground on a pharmaceutical factory with technology and equipment provided by US partner Affordable Quality Pharmaceuticals (AQP).

August 23 alone witnessed 118 more people testing positive for the A/H1N1 virus, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 2,014 so far, of whom 2 have died, reported the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has announced an additional 300 postgraduate scholarships to be funded by the state budget in 2009.

The Phong Dien Fuhrlaender Vietnam Joint Stock Company will build a wind powered turbine factory at a cost of US$25 million in Tuy Phong district in the southern province of Binh Thuan.

The Vietnamese Robocon team on August 22 won third prize at the Asia-Pacific robot contest 2009 in Japan, which was sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.

Vietnam confirmed 49 more cases of A/H1N1 influenza on August 22, raising the total number of flu patients in the country to 1,896 with two deaths, according to the Health Ministry.

A summer camp with a purpose, “Volunteer for the World Heritage”, was launched on August 21 in Ha Long City of Quang Ninh province.

The US army officer convicted for his part in the notorious My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War has offered his first public apology, a US report says.

The Ministry of Justice in coordination with the Vietnam Office of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) held a seminar in Hanoi on August 21 to discuss a draft of the Adoption Law.

A seminar entitled “youth with HIV/AIDS” held in Hanoi on August 21 by the General Office for Population and Family Planning under the Ministry of Health attracted representatives from 14 provinces and cities across the country.

A Vietnamese Robocon team arrived in Japan on August 20 to attend ABU Robocon 2009 TOKYO sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.

The starting of the new school year is drawing near. This is the “busiest” time on the market for school materials with the sales volume rising considerably at stationery shops and a slight increase in the prices of essential aids to learning as compared to last year. 

The National Steering Board of the 2009 “Make the world cleaner” campaign has agreed on specific events and plans for this year.

Fifty Vietnamese students with disabilities this week began a 12-month software engineering and information technology management training programme this week and 33 others with visual and hearing impairments enrolled for a three-month IT course under a initiative funded by the US Government through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). 

International lawyers were invited to a workshop in Hanoi on August 19-20 to compare notes on a bill on access to information, which is set to be finalised by early September. 

The improvement of population quality is one of the major goals in Vietnam’s Population Strategy through 2020, demographer Duong Quoc Trong said at a press conference in Hanoi, on August 20. 

The lack of specialised teachers is the biggest hurdle in the integration of disabled children into pre-school education.

The Republic of Korea’s Booyoung construction company will provide 3,000 digital pianos to Vietnamese primary schools. 

Vietnam confirmed 67 more cases of A/H1N1 influenza, raising the total number of flu patients in the country to 1,743 with two deaths as of 5 pm August 20. 

The 8th National Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology opened in the coastal city of Nha Trang, in the central province of Khanh Hoa on August 20. 

The Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology (FPT) will grant 300 scholarships to children affected by Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin in the war-torn central province of Quang Tri through 2012. 

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) met in Hanoi on August 20 to review tourism activities in the past seven months and discuss ways to boost the industry in northern Vietnam.

Many of the Vietnamese community in Laos attended an art festival in the capital city of Vientiane on August 18 to commemorate the 64th anniversary of Vietnam’s August Revolution and National Day.

A Berlin newspaper on August 18 ran an article entitled “harmful heritages” on Vietnamese Agent Orange victims by journalist Carsten Stormer.

The East Meets West Foundation (EMW) on August 19 presented 250 scholarships to poor students in seven central localities, including Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Quang Nam , Thua Thien-Hue, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Da Nang.

A seminar on boosting community health through improving personal and environmental hygiene was held in Hanoi on August 19 under a project funded by the Unilever Vietnam Fund.