Hundreds of talented Vietnamese and foreign classical musicians took an audition for the Sun Symphony Orchestra (SSO) – Vietnam’s first private symphony orchestra - in Hanoi from October 19-21.

 Eight Vietnamese chess players will attend the World Youth U14, U16, U18 Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2017 to take place in Greek from October 27.

The Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the National Assembly’s Standing Committee have collected 3,320 opinions and petitions of voters and citizens nationwide.

 Vietnam is likely to fulfil all 13 socio-economic targets set for the whole year, backed by the economic performance in the first nine months of 2017, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

 National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan asked NA deputies to uphold a high sense of responsibility as well as the spirit of solidarity and democracy to make the fourth plenary session of the 14th NA a success.

 Defence Ministers from the 10 ASEAN member states on October 23 signed a joint declaration of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM).

 Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City began using robot in cancer surgery on October 23, becoming the third infirmary in Vietnam to apply this technology.

 The General Department of Vietnam Customs will pilot the electronic tax collection and customs clearance 24/7 with five banks. 

 Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh and President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite pledged to reinforce bilateral cooperation, especially in the economy, trade and investment, during their talks in Vilnius city on October 23 (local time). 

 The sixth Asian U23 Fencing Championships will take place in Hanoi from October 26-31, attracting 21 foreign teams with 247 fencers. 

 A series of culinary events and trade promotions will be held during “Un Mois En France” (One Month in France) programme in November. 

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has assured Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone that the Vietnamese Party, State and government always give top priority to developing special ties with Laos. 

 There are now more than 10 million elderly people in Vietnam, of whom 2 million are over eighty years old. 

Chau Tran Vinh, deputy director general of the Water Resources Management Department, speaks to the newspaper Nhan Dan on the importance of close co-operation between agencies in water management.

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City General Publishing House on Saturday launched the 11th Book Week to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnamese telecommunications market is shaped by the dominance of three big players – VinaPhone, MobiFone and Viettel. But now Samsung may join forces with businesses to develop IT.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is one of a few countries which harvests and sells salangane resources. 

Duong Van Ni, a respected expert from Can Tho University who has written many valuable studies on Mekong Delta, has caught public attention with his view that the wave of farmers migrating from the Delta is a great opportunity.

VietNamNet Bridge - For the first time, a quantitative study of Vietnam's output in international scientific publications in the field of social sciences and humanities has been published.

 Fire dancing by the Red Dao ethnic group is a special cultural feature in Ha Giang Province. Strong and courageous men shuffle around on burning coals in bare feet, surprising tourists unaware that the practice exists in Vietnam.