Vietnam and Hungary signed a mutual legal assistance agreement on criminal matters, in Hanoi, on March 16, in the presence of President Truong Tan Sang.

Vietnam is speeding up reform, improving national governance capabilities and upholding democracy, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung assured Managing Director of IMF Christine Lagarde during a reception in Hanoi on March 16.

 The Nature Conservation Zone in the southern province of Dong Nai confirmed the death of another bull yesterday.

  Keneko Hiromi of Japan won the Binh Duong International Women’s Cycling Tournament, Biwase Cup 2016 yesterday.

 Only two Vietnamese players won at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Asia 14 and Under Championships Division 1’s first matches at Lan Anh tennis club in HCM City on March 15.

 Ngo Thanh Minh's photograph, entitled Lighting Dream, won the Vietnam National Award at the Sony World Photography Awards.

 Beverage companies seek to delay until the beginning of 2017 the application of amended regulations on calculating their special consumption tax, claiming they need more time to adjust their production plans.

  Nearly 11,000 ha of natural forest which was allocated to local people in the Central Highlands Province of Dak Lak has suffered serious deforestation, said the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

 The Project Management Unit of Railway of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway project admitted that it violated regulations pertaining to labour and occupational safety standards during construction.

 Hundreds of containers have been stuck at the Thanh Thuy International Border Gate during the past week due to China’s slow customs work.

VietNamNet Bridge - The bad debt ratio of the banking system has decreased, but the bad debt value has begun to increase again.

This year’s historic drought and saltwater intrusion have been mostly caused by the extreme El Nino weather phenomenon. If the 11 hydropower dams in Mekong upriver become operational, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta will bear a ‘double disaster’.

VietNamNet Bridge - A high percentage of students have decided to take the geography test for the 2016 high school finals, while history is the choice of very few students.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Thai investors are increasingly investing in Viet Nam’s plastic industry, with many of them keen to fully acquire the Government’s stakes in companies it plans to equitise.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Con ball throwing is a popular folk game many the ethnic Thai ethnic minority people in Vietnam’s northwestern region. While playing the games, Thai girls and boys have a chance to find their partners and express their love.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many businesses have been reported as holding trillions of dong in cash. The wealth has allowed them to take the initiative in developing businesses and expanding production.

  Two-way trade between Vietnam and China is expected to amount to US$100 billion this year, one year earlier than planned, according to economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam Hu Suo Jin.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi authorities have sped up the construction of waste treatment projects as well as preparing to put new plants into operation.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Literature Publishing House yesterday (March 15) introduced overseas Vietnamese writer Mai Lam’s three-book collection titled Tu Xa Ha Noi (Ha Noi From Afar).

  Musician/DJ/producer Gudrun Gut from Berlin, Germany will have a concert at The Observatory in HCMC’s District 4 on Saturday.