Politics

-- Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong received Wednesday the head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Vietnam Ambassador Franz Jessen in Hanoi. Trong said during the meeting that Vietnam always considers EU a top important partner and gives it a privileged position in the nation’s foreign policy.

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung chaired Wednesday a reception for Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith in Hanoi. The Premier highly valued the close cooperation between the defence ministers of Vietnam and Australia at the meeting.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee held Wednesday a conference on internal “criticism and self-criticism”, which is regarded as a “development law” of the local party body.

-- Australia advocates for the discussion of the East Sea issues at regional forums like East Asia Summit or ASEAN Ministerial Meetings, Australian Minister for Defense Stephen Smith said Wednesday at a news conference he chaired with his Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh in Hanoi.

Society

-- Over 4,000 people participated Wednesday in a search and rescue drill in case of a tsunami in the central province of Quang Ngai.

-- Authorities in the northern province of Lao Cai have recently fined a Chinese businessman VND8.2 million (US$390) for illegally bringing exotic grass into Vietnam to plant along an expressway span his company is being contracted to build.

-- Hanoi police have just issued a special search warrant for a 39-year-old local for “using computer networks, telecommunication platforms, and the Internet to appropriate others’ property.”

Business

-- Vietnam’s exports to Japan jumped 45 percent year-on-year to $7 billion in the first half of this year, according to a Vietnamese Commercial Counselor in the East Asian country.

-- Several small banks have lately hiked deposit rates by 0.5 to 1 percentage point against that of earlier this month.

-- Ho Chi Minh City will host a city mayor conference betweem September 12 and 14. Mayors from Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Vientiane (Laos), Yangon (Myanmar), Kunming (China), Ho Chi Minh City, and South Korea’s Jeju and Busan will partake in the conference.

Lifestyle

-- Hanoi authorities have decided to suspend the head of a local pagoda following his wrongdoings in the recent renovation work on it.

Sports

-- Vietnam will establish a committee led by the sports minister to lobby for the organization of the 2019 Asian Games, according to a plan approved by the Prime Minister.

Education

-- A military university will admit an applicant who bicycled 300km to a national university entrance exam in July following a decision issued Wednesday by the Minister of Defense. The candidate failed to get into the university of his choice but his score reached the standard set by the military school.