Losses during last year’s rainy season should be considered as living lessons for this year’s efforts to prevent and control floods and storms. Those acting irresponsibly and cause the loss of lives and property will be severely punished according to the Prime Minister’s decision.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet has urged relevant agencies, armed forces and people to raise alert and be prepared to cope with natural disasters this year.

The Smile for Children organization under the Semin Facial Deformation Help Community, in coordination with the Seoul National University’s Bundang hospital and SK Telecom, will provide free operations on harelip and cleft palate children in Nghe An Pediatric Hospital from May 26 to June 3.

New website http://vietnamnetjobs.com was launched on May 21 to create more chances for job hunters and recruiters to meet their need.

A wide range of activities have been held in many countries to mark the 117th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s birthday (May 19).

Vietnam always shows special interest in the welfare of ethnic minorities so as to ensure that the country’s current economic growth benefits all sections of the population.

Nearly 2,000 polling stations opened at 07.00am on May 20 for Hanoi voters to elect deputies to the 12th National Assembly. The atmosphere of the national festive day prevailed in every corner of the capital city.

Though miles away from the homeland, the Vietnamese community in France has always paid attention to changes in Vietnam over the past 30 years. Vo Si Dan, President of the Association of Vietnamese living in France, granted an interview to VOV.

The Energy Conserving Centre aims to implement the National Strategy Programme on economical and effective use of energy in Hanoi and neighbouring provinces. This is the third center to have opened in Vietnam, after two others were established in Ho Chi Minh City and Tien Giang province.

Ho Chi Minh City, which received 2.35 million foreign visitors and 3.6 domestic tourists in 2006, mapped out a plan to attract 3.65 million foreigners and 6 million Vietnamese by 2010.

As many as 300,000 rural workers annually benefit from vocational training projects, most of them young people and social beneficiaries. The government has set a target for 50 percent reduction in the number of agricultural workers by 2010, and plans to use vocational training to achieve this.

Australian organisation Hands of Hope has granted more than US$62,500 in aid to provide free medical checks-up and treatment for 730 disabled children in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

As the election of deputies to the 12th National Assembly, which takes every five years, is drawing near, Hanoi voters are studying the list of candidates carefully to select competent, virtuous and devoted ones to the country’s most powerful State agency to meet their requirements. Let’s see what they have in mind from VOVNews reporter Pham Hoa.

The Vietnam Ministry of Post and Telematics has reviewed the 10-year development of the Internet in Vietnam and worked out a strategy for its future development.

There will be likely ten storms in the East Sea this year including six typhoons which will directly affect Vietnam’s territory, said Mr Bui Minh Tang, director of the National Centre for Meteorological and Hydrological forecast.

Localities have been urged to make better preparations in order to control the possibility of future bird flu outbreaks, after two new cases were found earlier this month, in central Nghe An province.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged all local authorities to intensify their efforts in combating drug related crimes, as a new four-month anti-drug crackdown is soon to take place across the country.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on May 15 gave a five-year prison sentence to a 42-year-old resident for disseminating slanderous and libelous information against the State of Vietnam.

The 14th Vietnam International Exhibition on Medical Equipment and Pharmacy (Vietnam Medipharm 2007) will be organized in Hanoi from May 22-25 to introduce the latest medical achievements of Vietnam and the world.

The first cornea transplant was successfully completed on May 14 in Vietnam, said doctor Pham Ngoc Dong from the Cornea Department at the Central Eye Hospital.

Food hygiene and safety issues have once again rung alarm bells after State management agencies uncovered violations of food and foodstuff production and trading during the recent month of action on food hygiene and safety.

Vietnamese children have been enjoying a lot of interests from national development. However, many of them live in hunger and poverty and do not have the chance to go to school and get full access to basic social services such as health care and entertainment.

The Ministry of Construction, in coordination with relevant ministries, has drafted a policy that enables foreigners residing in Vietnam to purchase houses.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), in its 2007-2010 plan, aims to send 320,000 Vietnamese workers abroad and increase the proportion of trained guest workers to 65 percent by 2010.

Officials from the Nghe An Provincial Animal Health Department has declared a new outbreak of bird flu that affected three duck farms in Nghe An earlier this month.

More than 6,000 State employees, staff, students and foreigners working in Ho Chi Minh City joined a walk on May 12 to support Agent Orange victims and disabled people.

The Hanoi job trading floor made its debut in Hanoi on May 12. The new trading floor is considered a new, practical and effective model in employment activities, helping to bridge businesses and job seekers.

Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan were sentenced to five and four years in prison respectively at a trial in Hanoi on May 11 for spreading propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The People’s Court in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang on May 10 handed down two to four years in prison to five people for “causing public disorder”.

The number of children makes up about 41 percent of Vietnam’s total population, including nearly 32 million children from 16 years old downwards. These children are benefiting from the development of the country. However, many poor children have not yet had access to social services.