Vietnam was admitted to the World Diabetes Association earlier this month, said Professor Ta Van Binh, director of the National Hospital of Endocrinology.

The Ministry of Education and Training on December 19 launched a US$880,000 project entitled "Strategic Development of Literacy Initiative for Empowerment Resource Support System (LIFERSS) in Vietnam" with support from UNESCO.

Some 500 delegates representing 7.3 million Vietnamese elderly people will gather in Hanoi for the third congress of the Vietnam Elderly Association (VEA) scheduled on December 27-30, announced VEA Vice Chairman and General Secretary Do Trong Ngoan.

Vietnam has planned to send 80,000 workers abroad in 2007, according to the Overseas Workers Management Department of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).

The US Congress will consider a budget for activities to overcome the consequences of Agent Orange (AO) in Vietnam, said a special envoy of Senator Patrick Leahy who is the Chairman of the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs at a press briefing in Hanoi, on December 17.

The Central Paediatric Hospital has successfully conducted a liver transplant on an 11-month-old child after 12 hours.

The sixth Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union’s Robot Competition (ABU Robocon 2007) will be held in Vietnam from August 24-29, 2007 for the first time, the Vietnam Television (VTV) announced on December 15.

Vietnamese nationals living in the UK have raised nearly VND15 million to support victims of the Agent Orange and Typhoon Durian.

A get-together with Catholic and Protestant clerics was held in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province on December 15 by the provincial Fatherland Front and the Department for Religious Affairs and Ethnic Minorities.

Editor-in-Chief Dinh The Loc appreciated contributors’ close cooperation with VOVNews over the past year at a gathering in Hanoi on December 15, which he said has helped VOVNews become a close friend of readers and listeners near and far.

In 2005, Vietnam provided a total sum of US$3.5 million in aid to victims of tsunamis and hurricanes in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and the US, although the country itself also suffered from great losses caused by natural disasters.

A Vietnam-Netherlands joint biogas programme has been nominated for an international prestigious prize on energy and environment.

Vietnamese experts and their Japanese colleagues gathered in Hanoi on December 13 to discuss matters relating to the clean development mechanism (CDM) with the aim of promoting the two countries' cooperation in applying clean energy.

The annual fourth Vietnam E-government Symposium took place at the International Convention Centre in Hanoi on December 13, focusing on information technology (IT) measures for developing an E-Government in Vietnam.

The Ford Foundation wishes to develop relations with Vietnam, said President of the foundation Susan V. Berresford at the organization’s 10th anniversary.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the revised and supplementary provisions of an agreement on the Vietnam-Sweden Health Cooperation on Health Policy and System Development for the 2002-06 period.

Young Hanoians have easily adapted to the rapidly-changing information technology trend, according to Dr. Kristin Braa, Executive Manager of the Norway-based Telenor Group's Research and Renovation Centre for Asia-Pacific.

The Vietnamese branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on December 11 commended the nation for its successful collaboration in a project on improving enforcement of laws relating to illicit drugs.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on December 11 issued a new report commending Vietnam’s efforts in eliminating gender discrimination.

Vietnam's marine preservation network has played a key role in ensuring marine ecological balance protecting biodiversity and creating a harmonious environment conducive to sustainable economic development.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has approved six projects in Vietnam for the 2007-08 period valued at almost US$1.5 million in total.

Vietnam has sent nearly 74,000 workers abroad over the past 11 months, achieving 97 percent of its annual target, according to the Department of Overseas Workers Management.

The 63rd Congress of the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA) is scheduled to be held in Hanoi from July 27 to August 3, 2007.

The Paris chapter of the Association of Vietnamese Students in France elected a 24-member executive committee for the 2006-2007 term with Nguyen Thanh Chung as president at its 2nd Congress on December 9.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will grant US$1.5 million from its Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to help expand learning opportunities for young people of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam, the bank announced on December 8.

At 7 am on December 9, the centre of a new storm named Utor was situated at 10.9 0 N latitude and 12.6 0 E longitude, 170 km east from the Philippines archipelago. The strongest wind force near of the storm was 103-133 km per hour gusting up to over 12 category, according to the Central Hydro- Meteorology Forecasting Centre.

One of the goals for labour export enterprises in future is to improve the quality of Vietnamese labourers at the recruiting stage as well as the quality of training. Besides, enterprises should pay attention to the rights and interests of workers, said Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Nguyen Thi Hang in an interview granted to a VOVNews reporter.

Vietnam has fulfilled obligations set out by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) since its adoption in 1979, stressed delegates at a conference in Hanoi on December 7.

Representatives from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the State Bank of Vietnam signed in Hanoi on December 7 agreements to provide loans totalling US$111 million to help Vietnam’s poverty reduction programme and natural recovery efforts.

A rehearsal on drug control for relevant Vietnamese forces with help from the US Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency opened in Ho Chi Minh City on December 7.