Vietnam demands China not take its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 back or dispatch any other rigs to Vietnam’s oil and gas Block 143 or any other areas belonging to Vietnam’s waters, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh has said.

 VietNamNet Bridge – More than 1,100 small irrigation reservoirs with a capacity under 1 million cubic metres need to be upgraded throughout the country to ensure the nation's safety during the flood season.

 Vietnamese internet service customers began experiencing disruptions and slower speeds on the evening of July 15 caused by a severed submerged internet cable just off Vung Tau’s coast.

 The national futsal team started training on July 14 in preparation for an international tournament in Hangzhou, China, next week.

A photograph by Do Tuyet Trinh has been selected as one of the best five at the Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2014 competition.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese monetary market and bank operations have been stable over the last two months, since the day China illegally deployed its oil rig in the Vietnamese territorial waters.

 Russian investigators have announced the arrest of two Moscow metro workers for safety breaches after a train derailed, killing 21 people.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam National Administration for Tourism has asked the Government to approve visa exemptions for visitors from the EU, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and North America.

The Minister of Transport, at a recent meeting, apologized to the public and blamed the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam chief, saying that the management agencies must be responsible for this case and they should not just blame the carrier.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The inventor of a special garbage incinerator and electricity generator, a farmer in Thai Binh province, has dismantled his work following a ban by the provincial science and technology department.

The State of the World’s Midwifery 2014 report released by the United Nations Population Fund  in Vietnam and the Ministry of Health, reveals that having midwives at the bedside of each pregnant woman in the world can save millions of lives.

 Citizens’ identification bill under review; PM inquires into fuel prices; Court sector asked to step up reform; Ha Nam province told to better receive feedback; Veteran diplomat shares memories about Geneva conference

As the central bank has threatened to impose stiff fines or punishment on bank shareholders who have share proportions higher than the permitted levels, many bankers are believed to be selling parts of their shares to reduce ownership ratios.

 The Vietnamese Embassy in China has said that 13 Vietnamese fishermen seized by China have been freed and are on the way back home.

At 18:30 on July 16, China’s oil rig 981 was 41 nautical miles from its previous position and out of Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, about 163 nautical miles southwest of China’s Hainan island.

 Vietnam will unceasingly create the best possible conditions for Japanese companies to operate efficiently in the country, President Truong Tan Sang told JBIC Governor Hiroshi Watanabe in Hanoi on July 15.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The national foreign language teaching program will not succeed unless the targets and implementation are changed, the component projects are redrawn.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang has instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to create a new Hanoi-HCM City air route that would reduce the current flying time.

Pham Tuan Huy, a student at the HCM City National University’s High School for the Gifted, has for the second time won the gold medal gold at the International Math Olympiad.

PetroVietnam Insurance Company will advance $1 million of compensation to Taiwanese Formosa Group for its losses in the riots at the Vung Ang Economic Zone in mid-May.

VietNamNet Bridge - According to CNN, Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi tops the five most gruesome destinations in Southeast Asia. 

VietNamNet Bridge - After sweeping through the Philippines at a Level 13, hurricane Rammasun is expected to hit the northern provinces of Vietnam such as Quang Ninh and Hai Phong on July 19.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is working on a plan to send a sapper unit and a second-level field hospital to south Sudan as part of its effort to perform UN peacekeeping missions.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Law enforcement forces uncovered 29,338 drug cases in 2013, arresting 44,983 offenders and seizing 797.1 kg of heroin, 69.7 kg of opium, 171.3kg of synthetic drugs and 390,000 tablets of ecstasy.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese tycoons have spent extravagant sums on their mansions, in a country with per capita income of just over $1,100 a year.