VIETNAM TODAY

People in several coastal districts in southern Ben Tre Province are facing a severe shortage of clean water.

Kenya Airways has opened a non-stop thrice-weekly direct flight between Hanoi and Nairobi.

The high percentage of unemployed university graduates in Vietnam is higher than in other parts of the world and there are not enough skilled workers for the national economy, experts say.

Here are some inventions by Vietnamese that are known worldwide.

The Netherlands is the land of giants: on average, its women stand almost 1.71 metres (5.6 feet) tall, and its men 1.84 metres.

A ceremonial welcome for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his entourage took place at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.

Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances causes more than 200 diseases that claim an estimated 2 million lives globally each year, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Vietnam.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam on April 7 urged airline services to study and quickly add ambulifts to their equipment, if needed.

A nuclear submarine caught fire in a shipyard in Russia’s northern province of Arkhangelsk on Tuesday but there were no weapons on board, Russian news agencies reported.

A sunflower field in Nghia Son commune, Nghia Dan district, central Nghe An province attracts swarms of young people eager to snap photographs.

A group of artists installed a bust of fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden on a war memorial in a New York park, though authorities quickly removed the illicit statue.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has pushed for the signing of the Vietnam – European Union free trade agreement (FTA) in mid-2015, describing it as a key milestone to lift bilateral ties.

The Young Generation Co. Ltd has started running experimental tours to the 25km long volcanic cave system in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong.

The former mayor of the French city of Tours committed suicide at the beginning of a trial in which he was accused of letting a Taiwanese businesswoman defraud the city in the so-called “Chinese weddings” scandal.

The Government Inspectorate found violations at five universities during an inspection of their administrations and finances.

About 5 million Vietnamese ventured abroad every year in recent time and spent over 6 billion USD on their trips, according to the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents (VISTA).

The General Department of Taxation said during an online meeting on April 6 that it will step up tax reforms to improve the business environment.

Malaysia's parliament on Tuesday passed a tough anti-terrorism law meant to nip emerging signs of Islamic militancy in the bud, but which opponents denounced as a harsh blow for civil rights.

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong left Hanoi on April 7 for his official visit to China from April 7-10.