VIETNAM TODAY

Hundreds more schools closed on Thursday in South Korea as officials struggled to ease growing panic over an outbreak of the MERS virus that has infected 35 people, killed two and caused thousands to cancel travel plans.

Vietnam's city authorities need to rethink their approach to aging apartment buildings and work out a rebuilding and renovation plan to ensure thousands of residents have safe homes and the buildings were attractive to investors.

A powerful windstorm hit HCM City on June 3, tearing off the roofs of dozens of homes and uprooting trees. There were no reports of injuries.

Movie actress Hong Anh, together with young singer Minh Hang and Miss Asia USA 2006 Jennifer Pham, will attend a TV reality show filmed in South Korea.

A new round of talks to warm relations between the European Union and Cuba has been scheduled for June 15 and 16 in Brussels, a Havana official told AFP Wednesday.

The high school entrance exam is expected to be very tough this year due to the sharp increase in the number of examinees. There will also be fewer available seats at state-owned schools, making admissions even more competitive.

Rescuers cut into the upside-down hull of a river cruise ship and pulled out 39 drowned passengers early Thursday, bringing the death toll to 65 since the Eastern Star capsized in the Yangtze River.

Vietnam has developed an early warning system of anti-dumping cases for 12 goods categories, as released during a conference held on June 3 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguyen Tien Nhat claimed Vietnam's first gold medal at the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore yesterday.

A copy of imperial records of the Nguyen Dynasty asserting Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos has been donated to the Foreign Ministry’s National Boundary Commission.

The Prime Minister has approved a project to develop LED (lighting-emitting diode) lighting technology in Vietnam partly funded by the United Nations Development Programme via the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

FIFA staff gave Sepp Blatter a standing ovation on Wednesday even as his resignation failed to quell a corruption storm that could yet touch world football's fallen leader.

Vietnam and Russia in Moscow on June 2 signed a memorandum of understanding on human resource training for the peaceful nuclear industry under the framework of the ongoing 7th ATOMEXPO International Forum.

Many localities in Vietnam continue to be blighted by illegal sand mining, which is damaging the environment and affecting local residents, with authorities seemily powerless to stop them.

The Suoi Tien Tourist Park in District 9 received more than 10,000 guests on Monday, the first day of the 2015 Southern Fruit Festival.

More and more private investors are pouring money into the infrastructure development sector, which the State dominated until 2012.

All regions in Vietnam are likely to experience higher temperatures and less rain falls between June and August this year compared to the yearly average level, an agency has said.

The head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, Lai Xuan Thanh, has apologized to Tran Dinh Ba, an aviation expert, for asking the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) to examine Ba’s doctorate.