HCMC sees low disbursements at ODA-funded projects, Locally-made car dream continues to face trouble, Jan-Jul budget deficit put at VND100.7 trillion, Vietnam’s growth earns kudos in US, New Zealand to ship potatoes to Vietnam

 The Integrated Circuit Design Research and Education Centre under the Vietnam National University - HCM City announced the commercialisation of the radio-frequency identification high frequency chip on August 12.

 About 100 kg of wildlife products suspected to be elephant tusks and rhino horns were found being smuggled into Vietnam through Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on August 12.

The green space of Naman Retreat resort in central Danang city covered with original hanging gardens to prevent direct sunlight while enjoying the sea breeze has been featured in the US magazine Travel & Leisure.

 More than 200 domestic and international artists for Monsoon Music Festival 2015 to be held in Hanoi’s Thang Long Imperial Citadel from October 8-11.

 Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam urged the education sector to push forward with reform to improve the quality of education and training in the coming time.

 The third exchange between Vietnamese and Singaporean young military officers began in Hanoi on August 12 with a series of activities.

Also in July, the Ministry of Finance signed 9 loan agreements valued at US$1.167 billion, bringing the total inked loan agreements in the seven-month period to 31 with a combined capital of US$3.129 billion.

 Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid left Ho Chi Minh City at noon on August 13, concluding a five-day State visit to Vietnam at the invitation of President Truong Tan Sang.

 Viet Nam's star badminton player, Nguyen Tien Minh, secured a place in the third round of the Total Badminton World Federation World Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia, yesterday.

  Ly Hoang Nam was disqualified from the Egypt F26 Futures tournament after the first match of the main round on August 13.

 Ha Noi will honour 98 outstanding students who achieved top results in the city's university and academy graduation exams, a press conference has heard.

 The Viet Nam Department of Drug Prevention and Control and soldiers in this northern province, along with their Lao partners, have smashed a drug-smuggling ring operating across the Viet Nam-Laos border.

VietNamNet Bridge - Specialized bicycles were handed over to police forces in 12 districts in Hanoi on August 12 as part of the city’s pilot plan to patrol by bicycle in an aim to create a friendlier public image.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The romantic wharf on the banks of Han River attracts many young people and tourists who come to visit and take pictures. Many couples have also left their "locks of love” on this pier.

 China has set the guiding rate for its yuan currency lower for a third consecutive day. But Thursday's rate of 1% down against the dollar was a smaller margin than the shock cuts earlier in the week.

VietNamNet Bridge – A young couple, their son and the wife’s sister, all of Village 16, Lam Giang Commune, Van Yen District, in the northern province of Yen Bai, were found dead on the evening of  August 12.

 At least 44 people are now known to have died, and more than 500 injured, following two major explosions in China's northern port city of Tianjin.

 Severe flooding in northern Quang Ninh Province was a result of years of substandard coal mining in the area, experts said.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) has proposed expanding Phu Quoc International Airport to meet increasing demand for air travel to and from the resort island of the same name off mainland Kien Giang Province.