VIETNAM TODAY

Rescuers worked frantically Thursday to find 300 people -- mostly schoolchildren -- missing after a South Korean ferry capsized, with prospects of pulling survivors from the submerged vessel dimming as emotions boiled over among anguished relatives.

A government draft regulation on casinos continues the ban on gambling for Vietnamese citizens and places tight controls on investors.

Two Vietnamese pop stars have been co-opted into South Africa's campaign to save the rhino so that they can help spread the message in East Asia where demand for rhino horn is huge.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh held a meeting with overseas Vietnamese and students in the UK as part of his visit to the country.

Breakthrough solutions for improving institutions require the State to abandon their role and power to create a well-operating market, said Dr Nguyen Dinh Cung, Acting Head of the Central Institute for Economic Management.

More than VN46 billion (US$2.1million) will be spent this year to plant one million new trees in HCM City to increase green cover and beautify city streets.

The Vietnamese national chess team, which boasts six prominent chess masters, have departed for Sharjah, UAE, to participate in the 13th Asian Continental/Individual Open and the 2014 Women’s Chess Championships taking place from April 16 to 26.

President Pro Tempore of the US Senate Patrick Leahy arrived in Hanoi on April 16, beginning his five-day official visit to Vietnam, which aims at further developing the two countries’ bilateral ties.

A reported 108 children in Vietnam have died due to measles and measles-related illness, as the disease continues to spread.

Heartbreaking text message exchanges between students trapped in the sinking ferry off the coast of South Korea and their anxious parents are offering a glimpse into the desperate situation in the crippled vessel.

Police in Gia Lai province are considering prosecuting several staff at a local supermarket for abusing a schoolgirl who was suspected of stealing books.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held talks with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Hanoi on April 16.

Preparations for the 2014 Ha Long Carnival, slated to take place on April 30 in the northern province of Quang Ninh, have been quickened up to ensure things go smoothly.

The young man who fired several gunshots from a guesthouse in Can Tho on April 16 was identified as a police officer, according to local authorities.

Five Vietnamese and foreign photographers introduced photo collections on Hanoi’s alleys and a photography book entitled “Hanoi-Lost and Found” at the Goethe Institute in Hanoi.

Former vice chair of ACB Bank, Nguyen Duc Kien, denied the charges against him by the Supreme People's Procuracy and demanded to confront several people related to the case.

At least four passengers, including a foreigner, were killed and nearly 10 others injured in a head-on crash in the southern province of Tien Giang on April 16.

The theft and destruction of Hanoi's cultural and historical relics continues to rise due to weak management and low awareness by managing agencies, said the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Vietnam sent 23,277 guest workers abroad, including 9,044 females, in the first quarter of the year, according to the Department of Overseas Labour.