Read what is in the news today, August 12!

Society

-- The Standing Committee of Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly convened its 36th session in Hanoi on Monday. During the five-day sitting scheduled to last until Friday, legislators will discuss five bills or amendments to existing laws on such topics as state audit, securities, labour code, reserve military, and library.

-- More than 9,000 runners from 67 countries and territories participated in the 2019 Da Nang International Marathon on Sunday, competing in four categories of 42km, 21km, 10km and 5km.

-- The Central Highlands and southern regions of Vietnam will experience less rain this week, with rains mostly happening in the afternoon, as Typhoon Lekima has weakened after making landfall in mainland China last week, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting.

-- Unrealistic requirements for contractorship of a megaproject to build a north-to-south expressway in Vietnam, set out by the Ministry of Transport, have made it nearly impossible for domestic companies to qualify for bidding, insiders said.

Lifestyle

-- The organizer of the Vietnamese adaptation of American reality television show ‘The Amazing Race’ has apologized after airing an episode where steel and concrete structures used in a challenge were installed on top of a coral reef off a beach in the south-central province of Phu Yen.

-- Tours to the southern island district of Phu Quoc and the Central Highlands city of Da Lat - where rains and flooding have numbed parts of the travel hot spots - have been suspended until weather improves, local tour operators said.

Education

-- Vietnam ranked fourth - after China, Russia and the U.S. - at the 2019 International Informatics Olympiad (IOI 2019) which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan last week, winning two gold medals, one silver and one bronze, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training said on Sunday.

Sports

-- Vietnam has for the first time advanced to the final round of the Tank Biathlon, an annual military sport event held as part of the 2019 International Army Games in Russia, after finishing first of its group in the semi-finals on Sunday.

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