Politics:

-- Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba will pay a three day visit to Vietnam starting today November 18 to boost the bilateral cooperation in the aspects of investment, trade, and education between the two countries.

-- The General Association of Vietnamese in Belgium (GAVB) was established on November 16.

Society

-- The provincial government of Nghe An announced Sunday they are distributing 1,600 tons of rice to locals in the areas affected by the heavy floods.

-- Thu Duc police Sunday arrested a 18-year-old babysitter who on November 16 kicked in the chest of the 18-month-old baby she was hired to take care of, breaking the baby’s heart and claiming his life.

-- The death toll of the heavy flood that crippled the localities in the Central Vietnam rose to 24 on Sunday, according to the Central Center for floods control and prevention.

-- Ho Chi Minh City’s local government has suspended Hao Duong Leather Tanning JSC from operation until it completes measures to improve and protect the surroundings of its facility in Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park. In late October, Ho Chi Minh City-based Hao Duong Leather Tanning JSC was caught releasing untreated wastewater into a river last week for the tenth time.

Business

-- The undersea electricity cable project connecting Ha Tien Town and Phu Quoc Island, both in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, broke ground on Sunday. It is expected to become operational in before Tet, or the Lunar New Year that falls in late January.

-- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair delivered a speech at the financial conference that gathered 19 billionaires who flew to the country via their private jets in Da Nang from November 15  to 17.

-- A new social housing project that will provide more than 1,700 apartments broke ground on Sunday in Binh Chanh District. It is converted from a commercial 1.060-apartment project.

-- The bilateral trade value between Vietnam and India in the first nine months of this year topped US$3.94 billion, up 39.2 percent and equal to the full-year figure of last year. Vietnam exported a total of $1.84 billion worth of products to India in nine months, posting an impressive 49.6 percent growth.

Education

-- 160 typical teachers who represent for millions of teachers of all grades nationwide were Sunday honored by the education ministry on the anniversary of the Vietnamese Teacher’s Day which falls on November 20.

Sports

-- Hundreds of football fans flocked the 23-9 park in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 on Sunday to watch the live broadcast of striker Le Cong Vinh playing for Consadole Sapporo at the 41^st round of the Japanese Division 2.

-- The Vietnamese women’s football team will leave for Namning, China today for a training section to prepare for the SEA Games 27.