Ha Long Bay in northern Quang Ninh province has not been regarded as a world heritage site affected by environmental pollution.

According to latest information from the National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre, at 16 pm on August 3, the centre of Typhoon Prapiroon, the third of its kind in Vietnam this year, was some 440 km far from the coastline of the north-eastern provinces of Quang Ninh and Hai Phong.

Singapore's new trade counselor in Vietnam Chiong Woan Shin has announced an "infrastructure road show" to introduce its expertise in urban planning to Vietnamese authorities and enterprises.

Twenty-seven young Viet kieu (overseas Vietnamese) from six countries and territories on August 2 laid flowers at President Ho Chi Minh’s Statue in downtown HCM City during the opening of a Viet kieu youth camp.

Forty youth delegates from APEC member economies gathered in Hanoi on August 2 for a three-day forum to discuss socio-economic, environmental and institutional issues for sustainable development.

The Central Highlands is expected to expand its forest coverage to 58 percent of its land area by 2010 with an annual wood output of around 500,000 cu. m, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

One of the major solutions for successfully controlling bird flu and foot and mouth epidemics in Vietnam is to intensify information dissemination from the grassroots to provincial levels to raise the communities' awareness.

The Vietnam Women’s Union launched a component of a US$ 3.8-million reproductive health project financed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) at a workshop in Hanoi on July 31.

Vietnamese labour export enterprises are required to develop human resources to meet higher labour standards by providing workers with a basic knowledge of foreign languages, skills, laws and cultures.

An internationally renowned research group will assist Vietnam and 12 other countries to conserve tigers, said the World Conservation Union (IUCN) following a study of the tiger’s living environment.

Experts from the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) have joined their counterparts from other ASEAN countries in a drill called "ACID 2006" to deal with cyberspace incidents.

Policy makers, National Assembly deputies and delegates from the People’s Committees at the municipal and provincial levels gathered in Hanoi on July 31 to discuss a training project on anti-HIV/AIDS Policy.

Northern and north-central provinces have experienced heavy downpours over the past few days due to a tropical low pressure, which could trigger landslides and flash floods in mountainous areas, the Central Hydro-Metrological Forecasting Centre has warned.

The French Development Agency (AFD) will provide the Trade Ministry's Department of Market Management with 350,000 euros to implement a project to train marketing managers to enforce intellectual property rights.

The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong plans to invest US$87.5 million in promoting socio-economic development and improving the material and spiritual lives of around 30,000 ethnic minority people in its border districts between now and 2010.

By 2010, 85 percent of the population in rural areas will have access to safe water, 70 percent of the households will have sanitary latrines and breeding facilities, and 30 percent of the craft villages will have waste treatment systems.

New Zealand troops who served during the war in Vietnam have suffered significant genetic damage from exposure to Agent Orange, sprayed by the US army in Vietnam in the 1960s, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported from a recent study.

The fisheries sector needs more than US$50 million to implement 29 preferential projects under a plan to conserve marine biodiversity until 2015, according to the Ministry of Fisheries.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on July 28 urged newly appointed Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan to raise the quality of Vietnamese education to regional and international standards.

The southern province of Binh Duong on July 28 held a meeting with religious dignitaries and followers in the area.

A lack of adequate and accurate information in a long time has given rise to a high rate of unprotected sex activities. This partly explains why the unwanted abortion percentage among Vietnamese young people remains high and most of HIV/AIDS carriers are young people.

International cooperation has had important positive impacts on tuberculosis (TB) eradication in Vietnam over recent years, said the management board of the national tuberculosis control programme at a conference in Hanoi on July 27.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has instructed local authorities to finish two vaccination drives for their poultry stocks by October.

Central Quang Tri province has developed a long-term scheme which aims to eradicate poverty in social policy beneficiaries’ families by 2010. Under the scheme, the living standards of these families are expected to be equivalent to or higher than the average level of local people.

The Vietnam-Thailand Science and Technology Days are taking place in Hanoi with a series of activities related to scientific and technological issues.

Vietnam's The Gioi (World) Publishers will cooperate with Casa Asia - Asia House - of Spain in exchanging information, publications and research documents to boost mutual understanding and relations between the people of Vietnam and Spain.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong called on the northern and southern Evangelical churches to strengthen solidarity between Protestants and followers of other religions to promote national unity and build a prosperous country.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has decided to provide the northern mountainous provinces of Bac Kan and Cao Bang with VND15 billion to overcome flood consequences.

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has successfully produced a test kit to diagnose dengue fever in four hours, an important stepping-stone in the search for a dengue vaccine.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong received a delegation of heroic Vietnamese mothers, war invalids and revolutionary veterans from Tam Ky town, central Quang Nam province, in Hanoi on July 25.