The three best teams won sponsor packages from Facebook (FbStart) worth 80,000 USD each at the TOPICA AI Edtech Asia Hackathon 2017, the largest artificial intelligence contest in Southeast Asia.

 Vietnam welcomes technical support from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) via official development assistance and preferential loans.

 Indonesia sent 40 Vietnamese fishermen back to Vietnam from Soekarno Hatta international airport in Jakarta on May 23.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has sent a message of condolence to his UK counterpart Theresa May over the explosion in Manchester on May 22 that caused many deaths and injuries.

Vietnam and Bangladesh have signed a document extending the two countries’ MoU on rice trade that will allow Vietnam to sell up to 1 million tonnes of rice to Bangladesh each year. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will pay an official visit to the United States of America from May 29 to May 31, the Foreign Ministry announced on May 23.

 ASEAN and its partner countries discussed cooperation orientations during their meetings in Manila, the Philippines on May 23.

 National Assembly deputies debated the draft bill on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) during the ongoing third meeting on May 23.

 Spain regards Vietnam as an important partner in Asia-Pacific, King of Spain Felipe VI told visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at a meeting in Madrid on May 23.

 Cooperation between Vietnam and Spain, on the basis of the strategic partnership towards the future set up in 2009, has developed soundly over the past years, the two countries’ top diplomats have said.

VietNamNet Bridge - Laos is set to move forward to build Pak Beng hydropower dam on Mekong mainstream, but technical reports about the project still do not provide adequate information.

VietNamNet Bridge - After one year without a gold medal, Vietnamese students have once again continued the tradition of winning gold medals at the Asian Physics Olympiad. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Many new shares entered the bourse in late 2016 and early 2017, and the VN Index has bounced back to the 700 point threshold for the first time in the last nine years. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The government policy encouraging investment in the power sector has created a firm framework for the development of solar energy.

 The office-tel model, which has been found in Vietnam’s real estate market for a decade, is a “hybrid” product between the office and hotel models, combining residential and commercial purposes. 

 A handbook titled “Respect! My Body!”, a guide for adults and teachers to talk to children about body boundaries and sexual abuse, was launched on Tuesday in Hanoi.

 Law makers discussed adjustments to the 2017 law and ordnance making programme as well as draft contents of the 2018 programme at the ongoing third session of the 14th National Assembly (NA) on May 23.

 The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia is working with local authorised agencies to verify the information that 23 Vietnamese fishermen were allegedly arrested for illegal fishing in Malaysia’s territorial waters.

 Vietnam-Spain strategic partnership

 A Chinese man died while working at the Hon Phao Anchorage on the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh’s Ha Long Beach.