Hanoi drivers face the worst congestion in the nation and spend countless hours per year stuck in traffic delays - but the commute to work on the morning of September 20 was even worse than usual.

  Investors signed contracts and memoranda of understanding worth VND274.22 trillion (US$12.85 billion) with Hai Phong's authorities, as an investment promotion conference concluded in this northern port city on Monday.

 The central city of Da Nang has decided to prosecute officials allegedly responsible for illegal logging in a nature reserve on Son Tra Peninsula.

Indicators relating to the sea water quality in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces are mostly within allowable limits, with the contents of iron, phenol and cyanide declining remarkably.

 Nearly 4,600 coaches and athletes from 45 countries and territories will participate in the 5th Asian Beach Games (ABG5) in the central coastal city of Da Nang from September 24 to October 3.

  Two ”bop” trees aged over 250 years in Ha Lang village, Quang Dien district of central Thua Thien-Hue province have been recognised as Vietnam’s heritage trees. 

 Twenty-one big projectiles recently found in a garden in Huong Hoa district, the central province of Quang Tri, have been successfully defused and removed. 

 Danish and Vietnamese legislators have shared their experience and skills in lawmaking and supervision activities at a roundtable discussion in northern Ninh Binh province during their visit on September 20-21.

 Tay Ninh has brought to trial 278 economic and corruption cases with 485 defendants since the Politburo’s Instruction on strengthening Party leadership over the discovery and settlement of corruption cases was issued on December 7, 2015. 

 Vietnam worked actively at the 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to hold firm to the NAM’s orientations amidst the current complex global situation, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc told the press. 

 The search and repatriation of the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers is a prioritized policy of the Royal Government of Cambodia, a local government official has said.

 The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications and the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism signed a cooperation agreement for 2016-2020 in Vientiane on September 20. 

 The Vietnamese Government is building a master plan for realising the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and hopes to receive more assistance from international organisations, especially WHO, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.

American photographer Tewfic El-Sawy, who launched the website "The Travel Photographer", has just released his photo book titled “Hau Dong, The Spirit Mediums of Vietnam”.

 The People’s Committee of northern Ninh Binh province on September 20 held a conference to seek ways to promote the value of the Trang An Landscape Complex, which was recognised by the UNESCO as a World Culture and Natural Heritage in 2015. 

 The 13th Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival of ethnic groups in the northwestern region will take place in Lao Cai province from October 1-3, according to Huynh Vinh Ai, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 

Japanese firms NEC Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. have reached an agreement to research and develop an ASNARO-2 satellite for Vietnam.  

 Border guards of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai and Honghe county in China’s Yunnan province organised an exercise on cross border terrorism prevention on September 20. 

 The Germany-Vietnam Association, the Germany-Vietnam Friendship Association and two German citizens have been awarded the Friendship Order of Vietnam for their contributions to the country’s construction and protection. 

 The Obama administration said Monday it was considering seeking the power to review and approve technology for self-driving cars before they hit the road and said U.S. states should not set separate rules.