Society

Nearly 49,000 people in Ho Chi Minh City filed for unemployment benefits in the first four months of 2026, according to the city’s Employment Service Centre.

Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi has undergone visible upgrades after more than a month of repair works, with the project around 70 per cent complete and reopening scheduled for May 27.

Firefighters rescued four people trapped in a late-night blaze at a porridge shop in Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

Police in Phu Quoc Island have arrested a man accused of snatching a tourist’s mobile phone on a beach, less than four hours after the incident took place.

Nine people have been hospitalised in Quang Tri after eating cicadas, with doctors warning of poisoning risks linked to toxic fungi and allergic reactions.

A Vietnamese doctor provided emergency medical assistance to a passenger aboard a flight from Hanoi to Paris after the man showed alarming symptoms mid-air.

Police in Nha Trang Ward, Khanh Hoa Province, have detained a 35-year-old Russian man for investigation after he allegedly drove a motorbike while intoxicated and fatally struck an elderly pedestrian.

Vietnam has issued an alert after three deaths linked to Hanta virus infections were reported on a cruise ship, though no cases have been recorded in the country.

Traffic police across Vietnam handled more than 11,000 drink-driving violations during the four-day public holiday from April 30 to May 3.

Strong winds and heavy rain ripped the roof off a primary school in Dong Nai Province on May 4, damaging buildings but causing no injuries, authorities said.

A large marine animal believed to be a beaked whale weighing more than two tonnes has died after washing ashore on Gia Lai Province’s coast despite overnight rescue efforts by local fishermen.

A hailstorm and strong winds damaged hundreds of homes and large areas of crops in the central province of Nghe An with preliminary losses estimated at nearly VND 12 billion (USD 456,000).

A lorry driver in Hanoi has been fined after spilling mud onto a major street, causing safety risks and disrupting traffic.

A huge boulder and debris from a hillside collapse blocked National Highway 4D leading to Sapa early on Monday, temporarily disrupting traffic in northern the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.

Party chief and State President To Lam and a senior Vietnamese delegation will pay a state visit to Sri Lanka on May 7-8, aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

A lightning strike during a storm punctured a molasses tank at a sugar factory in Nghe An Province, spilling about 2,000 tonnes and causing heavy financial losses.

Ninety-five people were killed in traffic accidents across Vietnam during the four-day Reunification Day-May Day holiday from April 30 to May 3, traffic police said on Sunday.

Two fishing boats caught fire while moored at a fishing port in Khanh Hoa Province late on Saturday, destroying property on board.

A military helicopter evacuated two patients from Vietnam’s Truong Sa Special Zone to Ho Chi Minh City for emergency treatment during the Reunification Day (April 30)-May Day holiday.