Three sponsors have signed commitments to provide for Vietnam’s first ever international hot air balloon festival, scheduled to take place in the southern province of Binh Thuan from August 29 to September 3.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese men's team has won a silver medal at the second Mind Sports Games' Chinese chess contest in France.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Truong Nguyen Thanh Nhan of Eximbank HCM City 1 powered to victory on the fourth stage of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Cycling Tournament yesterday, Aug 16.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Responding to a case involving corrupt officials, in May, 1827, King Minh Mang from the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945) wrote critically on a report by mandarins: "Escort the parasite Bui Khac Kham to the town's market.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly's Standing Committee debated the necessity and subject of a drafted law on Conciliation Work at the local level yesterday, Aug 16, the fourth day of its 10th session.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Tropical storm KaiTak will make landfall in the border areas of Mong Cai City in northern Quang Ninh Province tonight, but the storm will be less powerful than yesterday, Aug 16, local weather forecasters said.

 One person died and another was sickened after contracting the rare hantavirus while vacationing recently in Yosemite National Park in the northern part of the U.S. state of California, local media reported on Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with Cambodian PM Samdec Hunsen, National Assembly Chairman Heng Somrin, Acting Chairman of the Senate Say Chum and Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Home Affairs, Sar Kheng.

The software outsourcing market keeps growing stably since the beginning of the year with the volume of orders higher by 20 percent than the same period of the last year.

Billions of dollars worth of revenue from providing equipments, machines and accessories for industrial projects have been falling into the hands of the Chinese contractors because Vietnamese enterprises remain uncooperative.

The tuitions for different education levels have been kept unchanged over the last many years, despite the sharp consumer price index (CPI) increases. However, this does not mean that the financial burden on parents has been eased.

The Ba Den forest in Quang Binh province is reportedly “bleeding” because it has been poached by a lot of groups of people, hunting for teak wood. 

VietNamNet Bridge – Five domestic music websites have signed contracts with the Record Industry Association of Vietnam and the MV Corp to collect fees from users who download music from these sites from November 1, 2012.

VietNamNet Bridge – Six Vietnamese artists from the Vietnam National Academy of Music, including leading violinist Bui Cong Duy will join Denmark’s Hafnia Chamber Orchestra in two concerts in Denmark, on August 21-22. 

 An 155mm artillery shell exploded at a resident’s house in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on August 15, killing three people, including a pregnant woman.

 The seventh Conference on ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship Organizations (CACPPFO) opened in Hanoi on August 16, with the attendance of the chairs of the friendship organisations of ASEAN nations and China.

 Khiem Lang tomb of King Tu Duc is a wonderful architectural complex which is on a narrow valley of Thuong Ba Hamlet, Thuy Xuan Ward of Hue City. This is one of the best-preserved tombs of the Nguyen dynasty kings.

VietNamNet Bridge – Mobile phones, watches or the “toys” on the hands of millionaires can show their upper class in an unspoken way. And of course, they are not less expensive than the multi-billion dong luxurious cars.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam should use its diversified external relations to build a coalition of supporters among the major powers, advised Prof. Carl Thayer.

 VietNamNet Bridge - A hot-air balloon worth US$1.6 million that is used for tourism purposes at Hon Tam tourist site in Nha Trang city, exploded on August 16 afternoon because of high winds.