Vĩnh Phúc Province People’s Court yesterday sentenced to prison eight former local officials at the first instance hearing. The accused, former officials of Vĩnh Yên City, were sentenced for abusing their position and power while doing public duty.

Only expired automobile driving licences made from paper are required to change into those made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material.

Four people, including a two-year-old girl, were stabbed to death in the northern mountainous province of Hà Giang on Thursday morning.

Five fishermen fell into the sea following a gas explosion on a fishing vessel off Bình Định Province, the provincial Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Search and Rescue has said.

Billboards covered in oversized foreign-language lettering or featuring inappropriate Vietnamese-language texts to catch public attention have been booming in the capital city of Hà Nội, in defiance of the city’s regulations on advertising boards, which took effect early this year.

Swim Việt Nam, a charity based in central Việt Nam, will provide free swimming training courses for students and teachers, and swimming facilities in the central city from 2017.

The second phase of the Mangroves and Markets Project (MAM) 2016 - 2020 kicked off in the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ yesterday after receiving more donations from the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

Doctors at obstetrics hospitals and wards in HCM City have been asked to provide counselling on the Zika virus to all pregnant patients. Many of the women who show no viral symptoms are demanding tests for Zika.

Fifty-one flood-prevention projects worth a total of more than VNĐ2trillion (US$87.94 million) will be implemented next year in HCM City, the Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme has said.