VIETNAM TODAY

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out Saturday for one of the highlights of Pope Francis' trip to South Korea: The beatification of 124 Koreans killed for their faith over two centuries ago.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey on August 15 visited a thermal treatment system in the Da Nang Airport in the central city of Da Nang where 45,000 cubic metres of dioxin-contaminated soil are

Two Vietnamese professors, employed by US universities, have pointed out shortcomings in the training programmes in Vietnamese higher education.

Vietnam has the potential for becoming the world's leading exporter of cattle feed in the near future, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said.

The Huffington Post website has named Vietnam as a top five tourist budget destination, which can be visited for less than US$50 per day.

Tri Thuc Tre newspaper was fined VND207 million and suspended for three months for posting an article depicting women from the Southwest of Vietnam in a bad light.

The Cuu Long Investment Joint Stock Company has been instructed to deal with 6,900 litres polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) transformer oil it has stored in a warehouse at Cai Lan Port since late 2007.

A modern hybrid rice research centre was inducted in Nam Dinh Province, which is expected to help mitigate Vietnam’s dependence on imports.

Japanese coach Toshiya Miura has chosen 26 players for the Vietnamese football team to prepare for the upcoming ASEAN Football Championship- 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup.

Three students from Nigeria, one of the four countries with verified cases of the Ebola virus, have entered Vietnam and remain under close observation by the Ministry of Health.

The first four genetically-modified maize varieties have been licensed for both human consumption and as animal feed in Vietnam.

The Thai Embassy in Hanoi reaffirmed on August 14 that Vietnamese citizens holding an ordinary passport are not required to obtain a visa when entering Thailand for various purposes.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Friday urged the creation of a nuclear safety consultative group in Northeast Asia, given the high number of nuclear power plants in the region and public concerns over safety.

Well-known contemporary dance Out of Context by one of the most famous dance troupes in Europe, Les ballets C de la B, will be staged for the first time in Vietnam next Tuesday at the HCM City's Opera House.

For the first time veterinarians have found avian flu virus A/H5N6 at chicken breeding farms in Vietnam – a strain that claimed human lives in China’s Sichuan province.

Milk companies have been changing their labeling for children's formula in such a way that would make them exempt from the new taxes levied by the Ministry of Finance.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has proposed that the US assist Vietnam in joining UN peacekeeping missions and soon lift its ban on lethal weapons sales to the country.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh has slammed China’s recent decision to publish a book on its unjustifiable ‘nine-dotted line’ claim in the East Sea, declaring it illegal and null and void.

Representatives from Taipei’s Rotary Club on August 14 granted VND400 million to the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin to support surgeries of dioxin children with congenital heart diseases in Ba Ria Vung Tau province.