A quick scan of these pieces of news will keep you informed of current affairs in Vietnam.

Politics -- At a meeting in Brussels, Belgium on Friday, visiting Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh asked Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis to help accelerate the signing of a free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam. Ninh also expressed hope that the EU will share more experience in sustainable development with Vietnam.Society -- Torrential rains, with rainfall of up to 300 mm, and flooding in central Vietnam, in the wake of storm Vamco that hit the region on September 14, have so far killed four people in Nghe An province, submerged over 1,000 hectares of rice, and damaged 13 irrigation works,  local authorities reported on Friday.

-- By Friday evening, rescuers in the southern city of Vung Tau had recovered the bodies of 11 out of the 15 fishermen who went missing after a gas explosion broke out on their ship off the city on Thursday, according to the Vung Tau Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center.    

-- From the beginning of the year to mid-September, the number of dengue fever cases in the central province of Quang Ngai has amounted to 525, five times higher than the same period last year, the provincial health authorities reported.  

-- There are 116.8 boys for every 100 girls born in urban areas of Vietnam presently, while in the countryside, the sex ratio at birth is lower, 110.4 boys per 100 girls, the General Department of Population and Family Planning reported, warning that if such ratios are not lowered, 2.3-4.3 million Vietnamese men in the marriage age will be unable to find wives by 2050. 

Business -- Ho Chi Minh City-based Can Gio Tourism Urban  Joint Stock Company has submitted to the municipal authorities a project to build the 16-km Can Gio Bridge spanning the Soai Rap River to link the city’s central area to Can Gio District, with a total investment of VND5.3 trillion (US$235.9 million), not including expenses on site clearance and compensation.

-- Police in the south central province of Binh Thuan on Friday seized from a van 114kg of fake wild boar meat that had been prepared from sows. The bogus venison can be sold for up to VND130,000 ($5.8) per kg while its real cost is only VND40,000 (VND1.8) per kg, the van’s driver told police.    

Lifestyle

-- South Korean actor Kim Kang-Woo, who is well known to Vietnamese audience through many TV movies, will have an exchange session with his Vietnamese fans at the CGV VivoCity movie theater in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday afternoon.  

Sports

-- The Vietnamese national women’s football squad defeated their Burmese rivals 4-2 in their second match of the second qualification round of the Rio 2016 Olympics, at Mandalar Thiri Stadium in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Friday evening (Vietnam time).   

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