VIETNAM TODAY

The maximum salary for the leaders of state-owned groups will be VND54 million per month starting next year, an official has said.

Vietnamese businesses have beat their Thailand and Cambodian rivals in a bid to supply 500,000 tonnes of 25% broken rice to the Philippines, according to the Vietnam Food Association.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz met Wednesday with Britain's negotiator at the Iranian nuclear talks as part of efforts to influence the shape of a final deal, his office said.

Duy Tan University, Danang City, held the opening ceremony for the 22nd Vietnam Informatics Olympic Contest for Students (OLP’13) and the ACM Int’l Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM/ICPC) on November 27.

The number of international visitors to Vietnam over the last eleven months is estimated at 6.85 million, a year-on-year rise of 10.2%, according to the General Statistics Office.

Conjoined twins Phi Phung and Phi Long were successfully separated at HCM City-based Children’s Hospital No2 on November 26 and they are both on respirators.

A mass vaccination programme has been launched in Philippine communities that were devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan to protect children against measles and polio, UN agencies said Wednesday.

Even though Vietnam has several regulations on food safety and hygiene, food safety has still been a major concern in the country due to a lack of enforcement.

As many as 155 Vietnamese graduates, including three from ethnic minority groups and five with disability, will pursue a higher education programme in Australia from January, 2014.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked relevant ministries and authorities to investigate the trafficking of 600 heroin cakes from Vietnam to Taiwan detected and confiscated by Taiwanese authorities.

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan and Vice President of the People’s Republic of China Li Yuanchao have spoken highly of exchanges between the two countries’ youth.

Central Da Nang city and Hoi An town (Quang Nam province) have recently been chosen for the 2013 Asian Townscape Award by UN-Habitat Regional Office in Asia.

The Vietnam- Australian Northern Territory business forum aims to further enhance economic and trade links between Vietnamese and Australian businesses.

A tiger that attacked its handler at Australia Zoo, mauling him in front of a crowd of shocked spectators including schoolchildren, will remain at the popular tourist attraction, officials said Wednesday.

He may have amassed a collection of international titles, but Vietnam's top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh is still missing a men's singles gold from the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Nguyen Thanh Chan, who was wrongfully imprisoned for ten years, has named investigators who used coercive methods to get him to plead guilty.

The Central Highlands Regional Steering Committee and the Government Committee for Religious Affairs have organised a conference reviewing religious affairs in the Central Highlands region and the southern province of Binh Phuoc.

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Phuong Nga took part in the 12th Asian Cooperation Dialogue Ministerial Meeting and the 3rd ASEAN and Gulf Cooperation Council Ministerial Meeting in Manama, Bahrain from November 25-26.

Iran's deal with Western powers to curb parts of its nuclear programme is likely to lead to a sizable increase of shipments of oil from the Islamic Republic to Asia, analysts said.