Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a list of selected news summaries reported last weekend by the Vietnam News Agency.

- State President Luong Cuong and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam on November 10 morning (local time) visited and laid a wreath at the statue of President Ho Chi Minh in a park named after the late leader in Santiago, as part of their official visit to Chile.

Former Chilean President Michelle Bachellet, President of the Communist Party of Chile Lautaro Carmona, Mayor of Cerro Navia district Mauro Tamayo and a large number of local residents also joined the activity. Read full story

- The programme on the eradication of temporary and dilapidated houses is a humanistic plan which must be carried out with a sense of high responsibility, strong emotion and renewed mindset, and the brainpower and determination will be a decisive factor of the movement in the coming time, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has said.

Chairing the first meeting of the central steering committee for the eradication of temporary and dilapidated houses nationwide in Hanoi on November 10, PM Chinh, who is also head of the steering committee, said this is an all-people and comprehensive programme of the entire political system, aiming to create a movement, trend, and festival to promote the achievement of goals, with all hearts and virtues for revolution contributors, poor households, and households affected by natural disasters. Read full story

- National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended the national great unity festival in Loi village in Thanh Huong commune of Thanh Liem district in the northern province of Ha Nam on November 10, on the occasion of the 94th anniversary of the Traditional Day of Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) (November 18).

He took this occasion to present gifts to officials and local people of Loi village, including 25 policy beneficiary families, poor and near-poor households, and local study promotion fund. Read full story

- A ceremony took place in Da Nang on November 9 to mark the 75th anniversary of the traditional day of Vietnam's volunteer soldiers and military experts in Laos (October 30, 1949 - 2024), participated by local leaders, Lao diplomats, and nearly 100 people who once performed the mission in the neighbouring country and now reside in the central coastal city.

In his remarks, Standing Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee and President of the city’s Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association Ho Ky Minh considered the event an important occasion to look back on the traditional bonds between the two countries during their struggles for national liberation, as well as to show gratitude to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts for the significant contributions. Read full story

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment is working with other ministries, sectors and localities to take drastic measures to complete this year's target of disbursing 95% of allocated public investment, its Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong told the Government’s regular press conference on November 9.

The disbursement rate in the first 10 months of 2024 reached only over 52%, 4 percentage points lower than the same period last year and still far from the set goal. Read full story

- Vietnam’s total retail sales of consumer goods and services saw a year-on-year increase of 8.5% to over 5,246 trillion VND (207.5 billion USD) during January – October, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.

Revenue from retail sales of goods was estimated at 4,048 trillion VND, accounting for 77.2% of the total and up 7.8% year-on-year. Sales of food and foodstuff rose by 10.7%, household appliances and tools 8%, garment 8.7%, vehicles (except cars) 7.5%, and cultural and educational products 6.6%. Read full story

- Paintings by Vietnamese artist Pham Thuy Quynh, member of the executive board of the Vietnamese Association in Russia, were featured at the 5th annual exhibition of artworks by diplomats in Moscow on November 8.

The event, designed to bridge cultures and provide a platform for amateur artists within the diplomatic community, drew representatives of 10 embassies from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Vietnam, along with Yemen, Qatar, Oman, and Lebanon, proudly represented Asia at this cultural gathering. Read full story./.