HANOI, July 19 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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NHAN DAN

-- A total of 493 people elected to the National Assembly in May approved the working programme of the assembly's session at a preparatory meeting. The session begins officially on Thursday.

-- Vietnam had 32,900 people who had contracted dengue fever by mid-July, a rise of nearly 40 percent from last year, and 34 of them had died, most of them children, a Health Ministry official said.

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HANOI MOI

-- Bird flu has returned to the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, killing 120 chickens at one farm on July 9 and 106 at another on July 14 and 15, the Animal Health Department said.

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SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- Vietnam's exports to the United States increased to $7.8 billion in 2006, accounting for about 20 percent of export revenues, from just $1 billion in 2001, a report reviewing the results of Vietnam-U.S. trade agreement said.

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LAO DONG

-- Vietnam is losing two million tonnes of paddy each year in post-harvest losses in the Mekong Delta rice basket, or 14 percent of the region's output, Deputy Agriculture Minister Bui Ba Bong said.

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TUOI TRE

-- A hot spell in recent days has dried up many lakes and ponds in the northern part of central Vietnam, threatening the local rice crop.

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THANH NIEN

-- The volume of poultry smuggled into Lang Son province from China has been reduced to one or two tonnes per day now from five to six tonnes per day in 2006, Health Ministry officials said.

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