The second APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 2) and related meetings began in the capital city of Hanoi on May 9.

 Non-infectious diseases claim the lives of about 400,000 Vietnamese people each year, said Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long at a conference seeking to prevent and control these diseases in the southern region in Ho Chi Minh City on May 8.

 The Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW) and Cuc Phuong National Park released into the wild 93 Java pangolins (Manis javanica), the largest number so far, between April 28 and May 6.

 Vietstar Airlines has adjusted its plan and continued to ask the Government to grant an air transport business licence so that it can take off sooner.

 Speaker of Myanmar’s House of Nationalities (Upper House) and Parliament Mahn Win Khaing Than will pay an official visit to Vietnam from May 10-16. 

 The capital city of Hanoi’s overloaded drainage system will struggle to cope with the rainy season this year, putting as many as 18 locations at risk of flooding, officials have warned.

 Seven out of eight students of the Vietnam national team bagged prizes at the 18th Asian Physics Olympiad 2017, announced by the Office of Testing and Educational Quality Assurance under the Ministry of Education and Training on May 8.

 The  Pacific Partnership 2017 (PP17) officially kicked off in the central city of Da Nang on May 8, with the participation of personnel from the US, UK, Australia and Japan. 

 Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh and Mongolian Prime Minister Jargaltulgyn Erdenebat discussed measures to reinforce bilateral traditional friendship during their talks in Ulan Bator on May 8. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc held a reception for visiting Trade Minister of New Zealand Todd McClay in Hanoi on May 8.

Vietnam is willing to cooperate with Madagascar in the fields it is strong in and Madagascar has demand for, such as agriculture, trade and investment, President Tran Dai Quang said.

 As asserted many times before, Vietnam has sufficient legal ground and historical evidence affirming its sovereignty over Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, stated Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang. 

 Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met Japanese leaders during his ongoing visit to Japan from May 8-10 at the invitation of Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. 

VietNamNet Bridge - In Vietnam, only a few parents have chosen home schooling for their children.

 Vietnam, Norway confer on aquaculture, Credit package for hi-tech agriculture hoped to become fruitful, Hanoian and Saigonese shoppers – emotional vs rational, Vietnamese start-up receives $1million fund from Singapore investor

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s sand resources are expected to be exhausted after 15 years. However, people are still wasting sand, and enterprises continue exporting sand.

MOIT, MPI, MOF and the Ba Ria – Vung Tau provincial authorities will send staff to examine the vast aluminum stockpile which is believed to belong to a Chinese billionaire.

VietNamNet Bridge - A representative from Samsung Vietnam said its factories in Vietnam provide 50 percent of all the Galaxy S8/S8 Plus smartphones sold internationally.

It is easy to miss out on Tran Thi Kim Oanh’s bun bo Hue (Hue-style beef noodle soup) stall, sandwiched as it is between very similar looking buildings on a newly-opened street in Ha Noi.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many projects invested by PetroVietnam, the national oil & gas group, have been found taking huge losses.