CULTURE AND SPORT

Harrowing historical drama 12 Years a Slave was crowned best picture Oscar on Sunday (US Time), while 3D space thriller Gravity was the top prize winner at the 86th Academy Awards with seven.

According to one official, the government has provided very modest funding for the Canh Dieu Vang Awards, a biggest national event honouring Vietnamese filmmakers.

Hoang Van Phuc has opened up the possibility of resigning as chief coach of the national football squad after the squad’s upcoming Asian Cup qualifying match against Hong Kong (China).

Two world-known footballers - Ruud van Nistelrooy (the Netherlands) and Robert Pires (France) – will tour Vietnam in April to showcase the Trophy Cup of UEFA Champions League 2014.

The Swedish Embassy held an event in Hanoi on February 27 called Lunch Beat for the first time in Vietnam, in which attendees use their lunch breaks to dance and eat.

The young singer Tung Duong will start his foreign tour in the next few months, performing in a show called “Doc dao” in France and Japan.

Hanoi T&T football club invited the well known comedian Chi Trung to be the chairman of the club's fan association in an attempt to attract larger audiences.

“Vietnam Book Day” will be celebrated on April 21 every year from this year on, as a way to honour the value of books as well as their role and importance in social life.

After rumours about the lack of transparency in voting results of the 2nd Gala, Vietnam Idol 2013 was accused of using a song without asking permission from the artist.

Renowned Vietnamese designer Minh Hanh met with representatives from the Italian-based Gattinoni fashion company in Rome on February 24, discussing the possibility of cooperation between the two countries.

Pham Huong, a 23-year old student from Ho Chi Minh City, was selected first runner-up at the Miss World Sport, a beauty pageant in the framework of Sochi Olympic 2014 in Russia.

A photo contest entitled “Land and People” aiming to capture the spirit of the daily lives of rural Vietnam has received more than 2,500 entries.

Shanghai-based Uma Wang on Saturday offered a collection that drew deeply on traditional patterns of her native China and the style of mediaeval Italian courtesans at Milan Fashion Week.

Despite the inclement rainy weather, thousands of people are flockingto Hanoi’s PhucTho stadium to attend a buffalo fighting festival – the first of its kind in the capital city.

While a number of Vietnamese television channels are willing to pay a high fees for the broadcast rights of several international football leagues, few pay attention to the V-League.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has kicked off a national beauty contest in search of Miss Ocean, who will be the face of its marine environment protection projects.

Real Madrid Foundation academy project manager Manuel Pareno Rogriguez is visiting Vietnam to examine the possibility of establishing a football academy in Hanoi.

VietsovPetro has decided to dissolve its women's volleyball team following problems around the team merger with the Saigon-Thai Binh Duong Beer Team.

A 32-episode television film on the legendary Vietnamese intelligence agent Pham Xuan An will be shot soon in both the US and Vietnam.