VIETNAM TODAY

On the afternoon of December 19, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his delegation is due to leave Hanoi for the 5th Greater Mekong Subregion Summit on December 19-20 in Bangkok at the invitation of his Thai counterpart Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Rescue workers are making cautious progress towards freeing 12 workers trapped for their fourth day in a collapsed tunnel in Lam Dong Province.

Dog skin produced by Chinese factories is used to make gloves, shoes and other products destined for export, footage provided to Reuters by an animal rights group shows.

Vietnam's overseas workers are expected to remit some USD12 billion this year, a national economic outlook report has said.

President Vladimir Putin assured Russians on Thursday that the economy would rebound after the ruble's dramatic slide this year but offered no remedy for a deepening financial crisis.

State President Truong Tan Sang is to make a State visit to Cambodia on December 23-24 at the invitation of Cambodian King Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni.

Twelve archaeological, historical and architectural relics around the country have been recognised as national relic sites by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Farmers in Lao Cai are bracing in earnest for winter after a sharp drop in temperature killed livestock and threatens to destroy winter crops.

Vietnam believes the normalization of relations between the US and Cuba is a good start for bilateral diplomatic ties, an official has said.

Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai talked to the 12 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel upon his arrival at the scene on the afternoon of December 18.

Vietnam has banned the import of Australian fruit because of concerns about fruit fly infestation.

At least three people have died in heavy snow that has blanketed swathes of Japan, reports said Thursday, with up to two metres (6ft 7ins) lying in some places and more forecast.

The Deputy General Director of the Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change summed up the outcome of the 20th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as anyone.

Five Malaysian football fans accused of attacking Vietnamese supporters during a heated Suzuki Cup semi-final earlier this month pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, local news agency Bernama reported.

Yonhap news agency on December 17 reported that a Vietnamese bride was strangled to death by her Korean husband in Cheongdo district, Gyeongsangbuk-do province, about 330km from Seoul.

Conde Nast Traveler, one of the world's premier luxury and lifestyle travel magazines, has cited three famous resorts in Vietnam’s central region as top 40 of World's Best Beach Resorts: Readers' Choice 2014.

An increasing number of young Vietnamese who do not want to spend the holidays alone are turning to escort services to avoid a lonely Christmas.

Rescuers are trying to dig through to a collapsed section of tunnel at the Da Dang-Da Chomo Hydropower Plant to rescue 12 workers trapped since December 16.

Cuban President Raul Castro on December 17 announced that his country is normalising its relations with the US after 53 years of interruption.