The Government, speaking at a National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee meeting in Hanoi last week, proposed granting a special status for Danang City so that it can have more cash for development.

 Turkey widened a crackdown on suspected supporters of a failed military coup on Sunday, taking the number of people rounded up in the armed forces and judiciary to 6,000,

 The Children of Asia Games ended yesterday in Sakha Republic (Yakutia) with Vietnam in the No 11 position.

 Vietnam’s Sanna Khanh Hoa advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation Futsal Club thanks to Nguyen Quoc Bao’s late goal, ensuring the team’s 3-2 victory over Al-Sadd of Qatar yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand.

 Vietnam finished in fourth position at the ASEAN University Games, following the final day of competition, yesterday in Singapore.

 The national tennis team failed to advance to the finals of the Davis Cup, Asia-Oceania zone, Group II, after losing to hosts Thailand yesterday in Nonthaburi.

 Vietnam’s most in-vogue songstress, Ho Ngoc Ha, will appear on July 29 before an audience in Hanoi with a series of ballads.

 Giant Vietnamese dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM)’s market capitalisation is now nearly 8 billion USD, allowing it to remain the market leader in terms of capital.

VietNamNet Bridge - The gold price recently soared by millions of dong per tael within one day and then plummeted the next day, shocking gold investors. 

 Motorbikes’ exhaust fumes will be inspected, initially in five big cities, if a newly-proposed plan by the Ministry of Transport is approved.

 The southern province of Dong Nai has asked the Government to extend a HCM City metro route and expansion of several expressways to enhance transport connections in the southern economic zone.

 A decorated former U.S. Marine sergeant opened fire on police in Baton Rouge on Sunday, killing three officers, nearly two weeks after the fatal police shooting of a black man there sparked nationwide protests,

VietNamNet Bridge - Fine dust, called the ‘quiet human killer’, can spread thousands of kilometers and cause environmental harm. 

The 49th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) will kick off in Vientiane, Laos, on July 24 with the attendance of Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith.

 Victor Oh, a Canadian senator, encouraged all parties to come together to find a diplomatic solution to the overlapping claims in the East Sea in a statement from Ottawa on July 14.

VietNamNet Bridge - State-owned preschools in Hanoi and HCMC are expected to be overloaded this year because of the high number of children born in 2012, the year of the ‘golden dragon’ and 2013, the year of the ‘diamond snake’.

 A roundtable talk on the East Sea issue took place in New Delhi, India on July 15, drawing scholars, experts and representatives of diplomatic corps.

 Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh has had a meeting with Iowa State’s Governor Terry Branstad, during which the latter expressed his hope to further bolster all-round cooperation with Vietnam, especially in trade.

 The PMs of Vietnam and Slovenia have affirmed that they attached much importance to developing the bilateral friendship and cooperation, which have seen positive growth in recent years.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc left Ulan Bator for Hanoi to wrap up his official visit to Mongolia from July 13-14 and participation in the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit from July 15-16.