(VOV) - Vietnam has achieved tremendous results in poverty reduction, socio-economic development and has come a long way in conquering new challenges in its status as a middle-income nation.

(VOV) - The Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) has presented 1 million gifts to disadvantaged families, Agent Orange/Dioxin victims and people in remote areas in the lead up to the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet).

The Health Ministry was at the bottom of the ministerial-level public administration reform index 2012 (PAR INDEX 2012) with 64.78 percent, announced the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Government’s regular January meeting in Hanoi on January 25.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung presented the Ho Chi Minh Order to Dr. Thai Phung Ne, a leading Vietnamese hydroelectricity expert, in Hanoi on January 25.

As many as 100 needy children in Hanoi’s outlying districts of Soc Son and Ba Vi received New Year gifts, each worth VND500,000 (US$23 USD) at an annual programme on January 25.

(VOV) -Vietnamese representatives have won a gold, three silver, and one bronze medal at the 2014 International Youth Invention Exhibition (IYIE) held in Taiwan on January 21–22.

(VOV) -Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam David Joseph Devine has presented prizes to Hanoian “Explore Canada from A to Z” competition winners in a ceremony on January 24.

(VOV) -Vietnam’s Embassy in Italy celebrated Lunar New Year 2014 with overseas Vietnamese and Italian friends on January 24.

(VOV) - Two hundred returning overseas Vietnamese people (OVs) gathered in central Danang City to celebrate the Lunar New Year on January 24.

(VOV) - A Japanese diplomat and a senior representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have been honoured for contributions to Vietnam’s natural resource management and environmental protection efforts.

The Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City’s Party Committee Le Thanh Hai led a delegation to pay a pre-Tet (Lunar New Year) visit the southern office of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Central Committee (VBFCC) on January 24.

Police in the southern province of Tay Ninh on January 24 arrested five local people for involvement in a human trafficking ring.

(VOV) -Vietnam’s first domestically produced submarine, built by a private company based in northern Thai Binh province, has successfully completed a test run begun on January 6.

(VOV) - Germany’s Vietnamese residents prepare for the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday by gathering for a special party on New Year’s Eve.

Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan has thanked foreign consulates, organisations and businesses for their significant contribution to the city’s development, asking for intensified cooperation in the time to come.

The Prime Minister has requested ministries, agencies and localities to combat avian influenza by cracking down on cross-border smuggling of poultry and poultry products, in the face of rising new virus strains in regional countries and territories.

(VOV) - President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan on January 24 paid a pre-Tet visit to the Hanoi Archbishop.

State President Truong Tan Sang has praised overseas Vietnamese (OVs) throughout the world for their significant contributions to socio-economic development and charitable activities in the homeland.

The southern province of Tay Ninh will establish a board to manage its international and national border gates before February 15.

The Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association has made efforts to help correct the opposition’s slanderous allegations against the two countries’ traditional friendship.

A delegation of senior officials from the five Cambodian provinces of Kampongthom, Mudulkiri, Kampongcham, Kratie and Stungtreng visited the southern province of Binh Phuoc on January 23 on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

(VOV) -Radio the Voice of Vietnam’s (VOV) annual Lunar New Year (Tet) gathering has heard the broadcaster effectively connects the overseas Vietnamese (OV) community and their homeland.

(VOV) -The World Bank (WB) on has approved US$60 million in credit to help strengthen Vietnam’s social assistance system via management and service innovations nationwide.

(VOV) - The Vietnam Fatherland Front’s (VFF) Central Committee held a January 23 get-together for 50 outstanding overseas Vietnamese representatives returning home ahead of the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet).

(VOV) -The Vietnamese Embassy in India hosted a traditional get-together on January 22 to welcome in the Lunar New Year.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has instructed the East Sea and Vietnam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes be taught at all levels.

(VOV) - The capital city has decided to commute penalty and grant amnesty to 230 inmates on the occasion of the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

(VOV) - A senior Vietnamese health official has eased Hanoians’ worries about a recent A/H1N1 flu outbreak, saying it is seasonal flu and not as dangerous as expected.

(VOV) - More than 700 overseas Vietnamese from 30 countries and territories met in Ho Chi Minh City on January 21, celebrating the Lunar New Year (Tet).

(VOV) - Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour Tran Thanh Hai has affirmed the solidarity, friendship and cooperation between Vietnamese workers as well as trade union and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korean (DPRK) people and labourers in particular.