Society

A troupe from the Thang Long Water Puppetry of Vietnam will bring its fascinating shows to the Havana puppet festival at the invitation of the Cuban Ministry of Culture.

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan ended talks with President Bashar al-Assad and left Syria with little sign of progress.

Thousands of Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns, followers and tourists flocked to the Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) festival from March 9-11 to offer prayers of peace for the nation.

Sixteen Afghans were killed by a rogue American soldier who walked off his base and opened fire on them in their homes in the early hours of Sunday, Afghan and Western sources said.

Vietnam’s 11th National Women’s Congress will convene on March 12 in Hanoi.

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and Interior Minister Nguyen Thai Binh will be questioned over pressing social issues at the upcoming session of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Japan marked one year since a huge earthquake and tsunami killed 19,000 people.

Developing green works has become a growing tendency in the construction industry, because experts believe that green works will create a better and more economical living standard.

A 500-year-old library with over 600 books in Thanh Hoa Province is on the verge of turning to dust.

General school and university students complain that they have nowhere to play in break time, because school yards have become business premises.

State-run PetroVietnam is in talks to sell a 49% stake in its Dung Quat oil refinery to three foreign companies, the refinery's director general said.

Peace Trees Vietnam, which consists mostly of US war veterans, will continue funding operations to clear unexploded ordnance in central Quang Tri and Quang Binh provinces this year.

Top Vietnamese player Nguyen Tien Minh failed in his quest for a repeat victory over world No.3 Chen Long from China in the second round of the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships.

Boosting friendship and cooperation between localities in the border areas of Vietnam and Cambodia is of significant importance to the fine relations between the two countries, one official said.

The battle for the Republican party crown heads into new territory with the "reddest of the red" states Kansas next to vote as Rick Santorum seeks to hobble Mitt Romney's slow march forward.

The Ministry of Finance is drafting a new law on personal income tax collection to hike tax threshold to VND6 million a month from the current VND4 million, said one official.

The United States signed a deal transferring control of the Bagram prison to the Afghan government, marking a breakthrough in negotiations on a strategic treaty between the two nations.

Vietnam welcomed about 681,850 foreign visitors in February, bringing the total number of international tourists in the first two months to more than 1.31 million.

11 Palestinians were killed and around 15 wounded in a series of Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, said Palestinian medics.