Tuoitrenews briefs some of the leading stories published today on Vietnamese media:

Politics:

-- The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) will speed up the foundation of the Vietnam-Sri Lanka Friendship Association to consolidate and develop solidarity and friendship between the two nations and peoples, said VUFO General Secretary Nguyen Thi Hoang Van when receiving a delegation from the Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Culture and the Arts and the Sri Lanka-Vietnam Solidarity Association (SVSA) in Hanoi.

-- Vietnam will attend a rehearsal humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and military medicine (HADR & MM) in the framework of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) held in Brunei in June, according to the Ministry of Defense.

Society:

-- The northern province of Hai Duong has asked local health care centers to take urgent measures against avian influenza A/H1N1 after two patients, including Do Thi Dinh, 25, from Hai Duong city and Tran Thi Tha, 75, from Gia Loc District were tested positive for the virus in the province’s General Hospital.

-- More than 80 representatives of overseas Vietnamese organizations and Vietnamese living abroad have visited to present gifts to officers, soldiers and residents in Truong Sa island district in central coastal Khanh Hoa province.

-- Three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has successfully completed trial flights for the first time at the Space Technology Institute of the Vietnam Science and Technology Academy in Hanoi.

-- A senior official of Binh Dinh province, who has been accused of having a relationship with a married woman after he was caught by her husband having allegedly met her inside a hotel, has denied the case, saying he was set up.

-- Ton-Quinlivan and Minh Dang - two American women with Vietnamese origin - have been named by the White House as Champions of Change in recognition of their significant contribution to their communities. They will be honored along with 13 other Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women at an event in Washington, D.C. on May 6 where they will speak on about the challenges and opportunities they’ve encountered.

-- The Ministry of Health Stop has officially stopped the use of Quinvaxem vaccine on children within the national immunization programs after nine deaths and dozens of serious reaction cases after being vaccinated with Quinvaxem in the past six months.

Business:

-- A Vietnamese delegation of banking officials led by Dao Minh Tu, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, has left the country for the 46th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asia Bank for Development (ADB) held in New Delhi, India.

-- Vietnam’s rice exports in the first four months of this year reached over 2.1 million tons, up 23.4 percent over the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA).

Lifestyle:

-- An exhibition on the Vietnamese culture, showcasing photographs, documents, books, newspapers and Vietnamese traditional music instruments, paintings, introducing the land and people of Vietnam, has been opened in Bologna city, northern Emilia-Romagna region, Italy, to mark Vietnam Days in Emilia-Romagna.

-- A cultural-tourism event, of which Khau Vai Love Market is the spotlight, has been opened in Meo Vac District in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang.

-- Burmese, Thai, Singaporean, Filipino and Vietnamese music bands will show off their talents via their performances at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) music festival next weekend.