Jacqueline Louise Jacqueline, a 39-year-old British woman, is voluntarily working in the ancient town of Hoi An, central Quang Nam province, to help orphaned children with disabilities.

Isabelle Durin, the No 1 violinist of the Ile-de-France National Symphony Orchestra, will give performances on February 15 and 16 at the Opera House and French Culture Centre in Hanoi.

Australia wishes to tighten mutual cooperation with Viet Nam not only in economics but also in education and poverty elimination, said John Joseph Acquilina, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, Australia.

In the evening of Octorber 31st 2005, Nguyen Thanh Tung a youngster with two eyes blind as an effect of Agent Orange performed solo the Vietnamese musical instrument “Dan bau” (Monochord) at the Concert-Hall of Cahlos city, Lot Province, 500 km to the South-East of Paris (France). The performance was successful beyond expectation.

The great achievements made by Vietnam were not only a bright example, but also an evidence of a model in building a market economy, and opening foreign relations and international integration, said Professor Alexander Lilov, director of the Bulgarian Centre for Economic and Strategic Research (CESR).

In Hanoi, in the morning of November 28th 2005, the National Committee for the Advancement of Women held the Conference to get opinions on the 3rd Draft of the Gender Equality Law in regards to the issues stated in the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) such as: political participation, jobs, education, health care, marriage and family, gender violence and rural areas.

A film show on the Vietnamese people and land was held in New Delhi on December 27 by the Vietnamese Women's Union.

A get-together for overseas Vietnamese return home to welcome the traditional lunar New Year festival (Tet) will be held at Melia hotel in Hanoi on January 23, according to the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (COVA).

An Overseas Vietnamese Club for Science and Technology made its debut at a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 28 with a six-member executive board.

An American professor and a Vietnamese poet have co-operated in translating poems by Nguyen Trai, a famous figure in Vietnamese literature in the 1500s, into English.