Good morning from Vietnam!

Politics

-- Vietnam’s Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh is still under medical treatment after his surgery on June 30 in a hospital in France, according to Board for Protection and Care of Health of Central-Level Officials.

Society

-- Vietnamese authorities in coordination with their Cambodian counterparts yesterday prevented 1,800 Cambodians from illegally crossing the border.

-- Vietnam plans to grant an amnesty for 15,000 to 17,000 prisoners on the occasion of National Day (September 2) this year.

-- Plans are being prepared to build a monorail route from District 8 to Binh Thanh District with total length of 27.2km, at a cost of over VND15 trillion (US$690.3 million).

-- Authorities in the south-central province of Binh Dinh yesterday started the construction of a science complex in the provincial capital of Quy Nhon. It is located on an area of 3.8 hectares and costs VND171 billion ($7.9 million).

Business

-- Binh Duong Province has decided to suspend a part of the urban construction project Chanh My in Thu Dau Mot City because the developer has been entangled in financial trouble.

-- Gold prices in Vietnam were around VND4 million ($184) per tael higher than global rates on Monday.

-- Dong Nai Province’s food company Dofico and leading Vietnamese realty developer Vingroup on Monday signed a deal for cooperation in producing and supplying clean agricultural products to the market.

Sports

-- Local lender SHB Bank spent around VND33 billion ($1.5 million) bringing Manchester City to Hanoi to play a friendly match with the Vietnamese national football team on July 27 and it is planning to earn VND40 billion ($1.84 million) from the game, according to SHB chairman Do Quang Hien