The VN-Index on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange dropped 8.65 points to close at 1,148.49 points on April 16 as selling pressure hit many large-cap stocks.

Prolonged heat in the southernmost province of Ca Mau has exposed 43,000 hectares of cajeput forest in U Minh Ha National Park to high risk of forest fires, according to the local forest protection sub-department.

Classics by Mozart and Tchaikovsky will be presented by Vietnamese violinist Tran Huu Quoc, who will play alongside his guests from the Republic of Korea, conductor Kim Joon Cha and pianist Cho Eun Young, in HCMC on April 19.

 The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has provided more than 170 million USD in financial support for Vietnam’s efforts in HIV/AIDS prevention over the last two decades. 

VietNamNet Bridge - A World Bank report recently released shows that the Vietnamese middle class has been expanding rapidly with 1.5 million people each year in recent years

An agreement was inked between Vietnam and China’s Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) to avoid double taxation as well as prevent tax evasion, according to a press release by the Macau SAR’s financial service department on April 16.

Hundreds of houses in the northern mountainous provinces of Dien Bien and Yen Bai were unroofed by whirlwinds on the late night of April 15.

Dinh La Thang, former Chairman of tPetroVietnam, who involved in the notorious OceanBank case, has submitted his written appeal asking the Hanoi People’s Court for reconsidering his charge, penalty and civil responsibility.

 Tra My cinnamon, a specialty of the central province of Quang Nam, has received a timely boost in the form of plans to promote investment to preserve and develop cinnamon trees.

 Bahrain will open its trade promotion offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to facilitate trade with Vietnam and other countries in the ASEAN bloc, said Sheikh Daij bin Isa Al Khalifa, Chairman of the ASEAN-Bahrain Business Council.

 The Prime Minister has inked Decision No.395/QD-TTg on the establishment of the organising committee for the World Economic Forum on ASEAN (WEF ASEAN) scheduled in Hanoi this year.

The Hanoi High-Level People’s Court has maintained the life sentence given to Chau Thi Thu Nga, former National Assembly deputy and former Chairwoman and General Director of the Housing Group, for swindling to appropriate assets.

 Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong and CEO of Lotte Asset Development Lee Kwang Young have agreed to start construction of a smart complex in the city’s Thu Thiem New Urban Area on September 2.

 The emergence of Superdry Plc., a British international clothing company, may create competition among international fashion brands in Vietnam and hinder their plans to continue expanding in the country.

 After more than five decades developing a strong attachment to music, Meritorious Artist - saxophonist Quyen Van Minh admitted that he was still passionately in love with jazz. 

 IPP Group (Imex Pan Pacific Group) has proposed pouring VND10 trillion ($440 million) into the whole non-tariff area of Van Don Special Administrative-Economic Zone (SAEZ) in 2018-2023.

VietNamNet Bridge - Lawyers, citing current regulations, say that it will be very difficult to collect tax debts from Uber, which has sold its Vietnam business to Grab. 

 People in Hanoi’s Bac Tu Liem and Tay Ho districts have been living with a seriously-polluted river for many years, but the local authorities have seemed to ignore the problem.

In an effort to increase tea export value, both farmers and businesses in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, the country’s largest tea producer, are seeking to develop brand names for their products.

VietNamNet Bridge - The reports about school scandals have caused concern among parents and educators.