Vietnamese-funded high school inaugurated in Laos; 2 Chinese held in petrol smuggling case; Ban on State workers drinking alcohol; HCMC bans business activities on 99 sidewalks

 VietNamNet Bridge – Last week, a senior official of McDonald’s went to Vietnam to seek franchisees.

 About 5,000ha of arable land left unused in the planned industrial parks in the southern provinces of Tay Ninh and Long An will be returned to local rice farmers, according to provincial authorities.

 Keum Gi Hyung honoured with cultural insignia; Vietnamese expats in East Europe on film; Amateur singer wins television singing contest; Silk paintings on display at Furama Resort

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City is putting in place various measures to reduce pollution, with an emphasis on sorting waste at the dumping source and clearing the canal network of waste.

 VietNamNet Bridge – A photo exhibition entitled “A Glimpse of Laos” has opened at the Exhibition Centre for Fine Art and Photography in Hanoi.

 VietNamNet Bridge – After the 2012 V-League closed last weekend, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has immediately prepared to sign a three-month contract with coach Phan Thanh Hung.

 A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck in the Sea of Okhotsk off the east Russian coast early Tuesday, US monitors said, but no tsunami warning was immediately issued.

 VietNamNet Bridge – As part of the 4th Vietnam Buddhism Culture Week, held in the central province of Nghe An, a photo exhibition of Vietnamese temples has opened in Vinh City.

The 2012 Olympics finished and Vietnam did not win any medal. The Olympic is a playing field that is beyond Vietnam’s strength, but if Vietnam invested more seriously in the games, the result would have been different.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Two little boys in Tan Kieu commune of Dong Thap province bathed nude in a local river. They penises were injured after being bitten by unknown fish.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Coach Phan Thanh Hung has selected 23 players for the national football team’s gathering on September 4-23 in Hanoi.

 VietNamNet Bridge – “Melody of Passion” concert will be held at the French Cultural Center (L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien), Hanoi on the evening of August 30, to raise fund for poor children in the northern mountainous region.

 VietNamNet Bridge – For the past nine years in any sort of weather, 31-year-old disabled athlete Nguyen Van Phuc attends Khuc Hao Sports Centre to practise weightlifting.

Updated information about cultural events in big cities of Vietnam.

 A British study said on Monday that scientists have found a way to replace the fat content in chocolate with fruit juice while maintaining the "mouth-feel".

 Vietnamese-French actor Saetti Baggio and stuntman Nguyen Thanh Phuc won the first season of Amazing Race Vietnam reality game show, based on U.S. series ‘The Amazing Race’, netting a cool VND300 million.

River bank landslides have increased in the Mekong Delta, causing huge loss to property and agricultural production, besides greatly hampering the daily lives of people.

 Monument inscriptions in Han (Chinese characters) and Nom (old Vietnamese script based on Chinese characters) at the royal citadel in Hue will be submitted to UNESCO for recognition under World Document Heritage criteria.  

 I have a close relationship with my coiffure. I used to have long thick locks of hair that I wore in a sort of white mans afro like Bob Dylan in his prime. Although I have recently tamed my mane, it is still a focal point of my vanity.