Society

President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public appearance for the Muslim holiday of Eid as activists staged protests across Syria to rage against the regime.

A program on cultural, sport and tourism exchanges between Vietnam and Laos kicked off in Ha Tinh City, with the participation of six Vietnamese and Lao art troupes.

A sewerage, which will help deal with waste water for the major drainage Thi Nghe-Nhieu Loc canal in HCM City, was inaugurated in a ceremony which saw the presence of President Truong Tan Sang.

A Sudanese cabinet minister was among 31 people killed when a plane crashed as it carried a delegation to war-torn South Kordofan state for Muslim Eid holiday celebrations, officials and state media said.

PM Nguyen Tan Dung asked for a solution to patient overload in hospitals at an inaugural ceremony for a new facility of the Vietnam national cancer hospital in Hanoi.

The 124th birth anniversary of late President Ton Duc Thang was celebrated in a ceremony held at the Ton Duc Thang Museum in Ho Chi Minh City on August 17.

Ten people have lost their lives and 18 others have been reportedly missing or injured after tropical storm Kai-tak hit northern Vietnam, according to the National Committee for Search and Rescue.

Part 6 of Laura Lam's Dien Bien Phu series tells how tonnes of French parachute supplies were caputured by Viet Minh.

At least 10 Japanese nationalist activists have landed on a group of disputed islands, amid an escalating territorial row with China.

Miss China won the coveted title of Miss World on Saturday, triumphing on home soil during a glitzy final held in a mining city on the edge of the Gobi desert.

Mexico and Vietnam should share experience in socio-economic development considering their similarities, said the new President of the Mexican Institute for Friendship and Cooperation with Vietnam.

Much of the safety gear currently on the market is insufficiently labelled, posing a threat to labourers' health, experts have said.

An exhibition called “Vietnam now” by the country’s most six outstanding artists will be held at The Rotunda, Exchange Square, Hong Kong from August 24 to September 9.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has granted a donation of $10.9 million to sanitation and hygiene projects in poor and rural areas in Vietnam and Cambodia.

The SBV increased this year's credit-growth targets for a number of commercial banks, hoping to spur lending to struggling enterprises dealing with high inventories and sluggish markets.

US regulators are investigating claims Deutsche Bank and other global banks funneled billions of dollars for Iran, Sudan and other sanctioned nations.

A contest called “Children painting for traffic safety” was launched in Hanoi to mark the National Traffic Safety Year 2012.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had a working session with the Ministry of Education and Training on comprehensive education reform on August 17.

Lakhdar Brahimi will take over from Kofi Annan as the international envoy on the Syria conflict, the UN said.