VIETNAM TODAY

The UN Development Programme has praised Vietnam as one of more than 40 developing countries which have made outstanding progress in human development in recent decades.

The Vietnam - Germany Friendship Association and Germany’s Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung on July 3 co-organised a seminar to talk the future of European and the Euro crisis.

More than 800,000 high school graduates nationwide sat for the first wave of university entrance examination on July 4.

A book tracking the costumes worn by Vietnamese people from all levels of society throughout the last 1,000 years has been launched in Hanoi recently.

Vietnam is forecast to incur a trade deficit of USD9 billion this year, one ministry said.

Western powers called for restraint and a swift return to democracy in Egypt after the army toppled president Mohamed Morsi.

Hanoi authorities have announced that they will supply 15,500 apartments for low-income people by 2015.

Vietnam on July 3 returned the last remaining 11 kilogrammes of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute to Russia, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) announced in Hanoi the same day.

South Africa said Wednesday it would lobby to relax a ban on international trade in rhino horn to allow a one-off sale of stockpiles to address a poaching bloodbath.

Around 5,000 volunteers and 150 singers and artists will tour Vietnam in the first ‘Red Journey’, holding blood donation campaigns in 15 cities and provinces from July 7-28.

Students from across the country have flocked to Hanoi beginning on July 3, causing serious traffic jams.

Vietnamese modern dancer Nguyen Thanh Chung has won a prize of the Republic of Korea's Dance Association in the Korea International Modern Dance Competition.

The death toll from a strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake that struck the Indonesian province of Aceh has climbed to 22, a disaster agency official said.

A landslide along about 2 kilometres of the Huu Thao Dyke, in Phu Tho Province, has put thousands of households in danger.

A two-month crackdown on speeding coaches has been launched nationwide in an attempt to prevent deadly traffic accidents.

Though the economy appears to be recovering, investors are becoming more cautious as they face further risks from the financial market.

Pakistan could end the Afghan war "in weeks" if it were serious about peace, and is complicit in US drone strikes despite its denunciations of the anti-militant campaign, Afghanistan's army chief says.

Head of the Economic Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam Vuong Dinh Hue is leading a delegation to visit China from June 30 - July 6.

Vietnam and the European Union kick-started the fourth round of free trade agreement negotiations in Brussels on July 2, hoping to form a cornerstone of a complete pact.