As many as 160 forest fires were reported across Vietnam in the last six months, destroying about 756ha of forest, according to the Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department under the Public Security Ministry.

Thousands of people have been sent to deal with huge forest fires in two central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh on June 29.

It is forecast that climate change will increase the risk of forest fires next year, therefore concerned organisations should be vigilant and prepare for fire prevention and control.

The current international system is such that nothing could be done to compel Indonesia to deal with its forest fires, which is affecting the region, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said.

Thousands of schools in Malaysia and Indonesia were forced to close on September 19 as air quality has reached unhealthy level due to haze from forest fires.

Malaysia may have to pass a law forcing its companies to tackle fires on land they control abroad, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on September 18 as forest fires in Indonesia spread haze across the region.

Many forest rangers in the central province of Quang Binh Province have left the job due to low salaries and stressful work.

Police in Huong Son District, Ha Tinh Central Province have charged three people for causing a forest fire.

Prolonged dry weather has caused forest fires in many areas of Dat Do and Long Dien districts, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province in recent days, vietnamplus.vn reported.

 Forest fires raging across Greece have killed at least 20 people, the government says, as the authorities there seek international assistance.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam is facing a critical reduction in forest areas five years after it implemented the national forest protection and development programme, forest authority officials said.

 Flights cancelled, agricultural land destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people around the region suffering from respiratory illnesses.

Binh Thuan has asked the Government for funds to upgrade 25 seriously degraded dams so that they can store more water as the central province reels from one of its worst droughts in a long time and dams are rapidly running out of water.

 VietNamNet Bridge – At least 3,000 hectares (ha) of the Cajuput forest in U Minh Ha National Park in Ca Mau Province is quite dry, with 1,200ha facing high risk of catching fire.

Vietnam ready for ASEAN People Forum 2015; Pilot issuance of Criminal Record Cards by post approved; Quang Ngai to send farmers to study agricultural development abroad; Few industrial clusters have wastewater systems

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam hopes to lead ASEAN in satellite development in the coming decades, Dr Pham Anh Tuan, director of the Viet Nam Satellite Centre, told the Ha Noi Moi newspaper.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proposed allocating VND2 trillion (USD95 million) over the next three years to aid the settlement of immigrants to the Central Highlands.

Telecommunications Group said that its Vinasat satellite is operating normally, denying claims on social network and other sites that it “decided to interrupt supply telecommunication services for China” on May 14.

Vietnam’s first hiking train gets running; Without land, ethnic families remain deep in poverty; Cashier who stole gets life sentence; Worker killed by explosion at ice plant; Nation's biggest airport adds new domestic terminal section