Hanoi  - A Vietnamese boy has tested positive for the avian influenza virus, the fourth confirmed human case of bird flu in Vietnam this year, local media reported Thursday.

A boy from the south-western province of Dong Thap was admitted Monday at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases with high fever and respiratory difficulties, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said.

Nguyen Van Chau, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Health Department, told the paper that the patient tested positive for bird flu Wednesday.

Hanoi  - A Vietnamese university has canceled a planned tuition hike after students staged protests, a university official confirmed Thursday.

More than 300 students at Hong Bang University in Ho Chi Minh City staged an all-day protest Wednesday after the university raised tuition fees for the second semester from 2.84 million dong (162 dollars) to 3.49 million dong.

University officials decided late Wednesday to cancel the hike after meeting with student representatives.

Hanoi - International analysts in recent days have presented wildly varying estimates for Vietnam's 2009 GDP growth, but local economists said Wednesday they were not worried.

"The global situation is volatile, and international experts cannot forecast the current situation," said Tran Dinh Thien, director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics. "So how can they do that for Vietnam?"

Hanoi  - Vietnam will have to offer higher interest rates if it expects to sell enough government bonds to finance its budget deficit, economic experts said Monday.

The government expects its budget deficit to jump to 5.9 billion dollars this year, to be financed in part by 3.1 billion dollars in new bonds. But the global financial crisis is scaring investors away from emerging markets, meaning Vietnam will have to offer high interest rates.

Hanoi (Vietnam), March 16 : Archaeologists have found more than 4,000 ancient artifacts of stone and bone in an archaeological site in Vietnam.

The treasure trove of artifacts was discovered at the Xom Trai archaeological site in Tan Lap commune, Lac Son district in northern Hoa Binh province, by archaeologists from the Hoa Binh Museum and the Southeast Asia Prehisory Centre.

According to VOV News, scientists said that Xom Trai Cave, recognized as a national archaeological site in 2001, is believed to be a tool workshop as well as a habitat for people of the Hoa Binh civilization.

Hanoi  - Police in central Vietnam have arrested three men for killing five rare langurs, a forest warden said Wednesday.

The men were arrested Monday in the Hon Ba Nature Reservation in the central province of Khanh Hoa. Forest wardens said they found the men, armed with hunting guns, carrying five dead black-shanked Douc langurs out of the forest.

Phan Huy Thang, head of Khanh Hoa province's Forest Warden Department, said the men had been turned over to district police for prosecution.