Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed sweeping reforms of the country's oil sector that would allow foreign energy firms back into the industry 75 years after being thrown out.

 The United States announced plans to reduce its use of mandatory sentences for drug offenses in order to tackle a cycle of poverty and incarceration in overcrowded jails.

 VietNamNet Bridge - The woman is believed to have driven a motorbike to the middle of the bridge and threw the child sitting behind her into the river and then plunging herself to the river, too.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Featuring a climax primeval forest, including mixed mangrove forests and mangrove forests on peatlands, U Minh Thuong National Park has become ASEAN Heritage Park.

After one week for the "extra" poll, Goal.com officially announced the result of the vote for the Best player of Southeast Asia on August 1,1 and Vietnamese striker Le Cong Vinh still ranked first with 42 percent of the total votes.

 VietNamNet Bridge - According to the foreign media, four Vietnamese crew members who escaped from Taiwan's Ta Hsieh fishing boat on August 8 said that they were used as "modern slaves" on this boat.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Lawmakers discussed draft amendments to the laws on Inland Waterway Traffic and Mobile Police on the first day of the NA Standing Committee's 12th session yesterday, Aug 12.

VietNamNet Bridge – Renowned Australian model coach Adam Williams was invited to judge Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2013 auditions in Ho Chi Minh City on August 12 and Hanoi on August 19.

VietNamNet Bridge – A group of students from the HCMC University of Technology has implemented a solar-powered watering system in Ninh Thuan Province after winning the special award of the Holcim Prize 2012.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The first Bus Rapid Transit route is expected to be put in use in four years, according to HCM City officials.

 VietNamNet Bridge – After people-founded universities, it’s now junior colleges which have voiced the complaints about the lack of students.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The move by the State Bank of Vietnam of raising the dollar buy price has been commented as showing its determination to keep the dong/dollar exchange rate stable.

VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group and its newly-appointed general director Tran Manh Hung to accelerate the outfit's restructuring process.

 VietNamNet Bridge – As many as 101 Vietnamese athletes will participate in the 2013 Asian Youth Games in Nanjing, China from August 16-24.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment has recently recognised five centenary trees in the Lam Kinh relic complex in the central province of Thanh Hoa as national heritage,

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange will proceed with their fourth lawsuit against American chemical companies that produced the toxic defoliant sprayed by US forces during the American War.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Drinking water fountains will be set up at railway stations, airports, tourist attractions, other public places and a couple of main roads in HCM City in 2015.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) has found a way of resolving its debts after the Government asked the Ministry of Finance to issue zero-coupon bonds with 12-year terms.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Thirty works by Phu Nam are on display at Tu Do Gallery downtown at solo exhibition ‘Homeland,’ taking visitors on a journey to discover the landscapes of the water lands of the Mekong Delta.

In the last working day of the meeting in August, the National Assembly Standing Committee will hold interpellation against the Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang.