The FINANCIAL -- On his first visit to Vietnam as World Bank East Asia and Pacific Regional Vice President, Axel van Trotsenburg congratulated Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on the country’s impressive success in reducing poverty.

The FINANCIAL -- A 19-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), headed by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) will travel to Bulgaria from 10 to 13 May to observe the early parliamentary elections alongside observers from the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly and Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The FINANCIAL -- PACE and the European Parliament must speak with one voice in the field of Democracy, Human rights and the Rule of law, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon underlined at the end of his two-day visit to the European Parliament in Brussels, on 6 and 7 May.

The FINANCIAL -- A $100 million grant, to finance the Afghanistan System Enhancement for Health Action in Transition (SEHAT) Program, was signed between the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank .

The FINANCIAL -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will participate in a live conversation online with Americans from across the country in a “Hangout at State” titled “The U.S. in the World: What’s in it for us?”