VietNamNet Bridge – Dozens of junior colleges (3-year training) have been upgraded into universities (4-5-year training), but the training quality has not matched the expansion.

 Vietnamese citizens under 30 can enter a writing contest to win a round-trip ticket to Brussels.

 The Viet Nam Administration of Tourism has suggested Quang Binh Province postpone any increase in the price of entrance tickets to local caves.

 Railway Project Management Unit's Director-General Le Kim Thanh has permitted the China Railway Sixth Group (CRSG) to resume work on eight locations of the Cat Linh–Ha Dong train project.

 Seventy seven power plants are expected to directly join the electricity market in 2015, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total capacity of the entire national power system.

Vietnam and the US signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on January 29 to improve the nation’s emergency response to disasters by developing an incident command system (ICS).

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has assured the nation that Vietnam’s GDP and inflation are still under control and are expected to hit their targeted 6.2% and 5%, respectively, despite the plunge in oil prices and consumer price index.

Australian author Colleen McCullough, whose best-selling novel The Thorn Birds became a hit TV series, has died at the age of 77.

 Hoi An to host fourth Vietnam International Choir Competition; Photo show fetes VN-Hungary ties; Photo contest for IPU-132; Vietnam featured at international book fair in India; HCMC’s book street festival to welcome Lunar New Year

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese Government has issued a decree on in vitro fertilization techniques and surrogacy conditions for humanitarian purposes.

Under the new import/export tariff scheme effective as of January 1, 2015, a zero tax rate is applied to many import items, but most Vietnamese businesses say this has yet to affect their business.

 EU foreign ministers have agreed to extend existing sanctions against Russia until September.

 Can Gio listed among top 100 sustainable tourism destinations; Info stands launched in town; Central port receives first 2,500 tourists in 2015; Quang Nam achieves six-year tourism development target

At least 26 people have been killed in a series of attacks by Islamist militants in the north of Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

 Viet Nam's U23 team is set to play a friendly match, where the squad will test its skills against Thailand on March 22 in Bangkok, Thailand.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Bamboo Cafe & Fast Food has been closed at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport and fined VND8million (US$400) for selling a dish not listed on the menu, vegetarian instant noodles, for VND100,000 ($5) a bowl.

 The National Women's Football Championship will be kicked off on March 5 with seven participating teams, one more than the previous years.

 Vietnamese Pham Van Phuong won two titles during the second leg of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) 's Asia 14 and Under Championships, Division II, which concluded in HCM City yesterday.

 Electricity tariffs will be hiked up to 9.5 per cent in 2015, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

 The Foreign Ministry will continue assisting foreign media this year to bring a realistic picture of Vietnam to the world, Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Minh Khoi told a gathering of foreign reporters and press attachés in Hanoi on January 29.