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Each morning, we select some of the most important stories from Saigon, the rest of Vietnam and beyond, and digest them into short, accessible links so you can easily keep up with current affairs.

Saigon

- The first Vietnam Puppetry Festival will be held on Nguyen Hue Street in Saigon this week. [Dan Tri]

- The HCMC People's Committee held a conference to call for investment into anti-flooding and wastewater treatment projects on August 9. [Dan Tri]

Vietnam

- Vietnamese spend billions of dollar on overseas healthcare services each year. [VietnamNet]

- Da Nang's state agencies are losing talents to the private sector. [VietnamNet]

- Toyota Vietnam has announced the recall of more than 11,300 cars of three models with faulty airbags. [VnExpress]

- Hanoi International Queer Film Week 2018 is taking place in Hanoi on August 12-17. [VOV]

- Longan Festival 2018 opens in Hung Yen province on August 11. [VOV]

Other

- All nine people aboard a rescue helicopter which crashed in a mountainous area in central Japan during a training flight have been confirmed dead. [Channel News Asia]

- Thai Buddhist monks are facing an obesity epidemic. [New York Times]

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