Sports:
-- Lochte has won men's 400m individual medley at the on-going Olympic London 2012, causing Michael Phelps to suffer his first Olympic defeat in eight years when he just finished fourth.
-- Sun Yang came within a whisker of breaking the world record to win the men's 400 metres freestyle final at the London Aquatics Centre on Saturday and became the first Chinese man to win an Olympic swimming title.
Society:
-- A fire hit the fourth floor of five-star Sofitel Plaza Saigon at around 2pm on July 28, sending guests and staff outside in panic. The fire was put out a few minutes later before the city’s firefighters showed up.
-- 34-year-old Huynh Thi Giang Kieu, who is serving jail terms at An Phuoc prison in Binh Phuoc southern province for illegal drug trade, gave birth to a 2.9kg baby girl on July 26. Local police said Kieu will not violate laws if her newborn is identified as biological child of her husband, who is also serving jail terms at the prison for the same crime.
-- Up to 60 out of 100 hectares of eucalyptus forest have been destroyed by a fire that broke out at Van Ninh coastal district in the central province of Khanh Hoa, local authorities said on July 28.
-- Health officials in Hai Phong northern city on July 28 fined two Chinese-owned clinics for committing many violations during their operations.
-- Nguyen Van Tinh, deputy chief of the secretariat of People’s Procuracy of Quang Binh central province, has been charged for “misappropriation of assets”.
-- A man is now in critical condition after he managed to drive across a trail on July 28 when a SE3 train on Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route crashed into his bike.
Politics:
-- Vietnam and Russia have agreed to elevate their bilateral relations to comprehensive strategic partnership to meet each country’s development demands and their people’s aspirations while contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the Asian-Pacific region and the world at large, the agreement was reached by President Truong Tan Sang and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their talks in the Russian city of Sochi on July 27.
-- Experts of Vietnam and Japan have compared notes on the organizational structure and operations of local administrative agencies at a two-day seminar held in Hanoi on July 26-27.