VIETNAM TODAY

Defiant strongman Bashar Al-Assad promised he would surrender Syria's chemical weapons but warned it would take at least a year to do so and cost one billion dollars.

Stone tools dating back as far as 20,000 years have been found in three caves in the northern province of Thai Nguyen.

Hundreds of houses have been submerged and lives threatened by storm no.8 which swept through the central region.

Central coastal provinces have ordered mandatory evacuations for local residents in flood-prone areas before a tropical storm makes landfall early on September 19.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will pay an official visit to France from September 24-29 at the invitation of his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.

The verdict against fallen Chinese politician Bo Xilai will be issued on Sunday morning, the court that tried him said Wednesday on its verified social media account.

The beauty of Hanoi’s land and people will be spotlighted at a photographic exhibition themed “Tu do” (Freedom).

The World Trade Organisation has acknowledged Vietnam’s efforts in introducing trade policies, in line with WTO rules and regulations, since it joined the organisation in January 2007.

Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group plans to cut around 14,000 labourers of their 26,000 workforce due to operational difficulties.

Many public universities are trying various measures to attract good lecturers, such as offering higher wages or cheaper housing.

Yahoo Japan Corp. has developed a voice-activated Internet search that links to a 3D printer, letting users look online for blueprints to deliver solid objects in a few minutes, the company said.

Vietnam has kept crime largely under control, but the situation remains complicated, according to the Government report released at the National Assembly Standing Committee's 21st session yesterday.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a workshop in Hanoi on September 17 to discuss ways of minimising the impact of climate change in the Mekong Delta region.

President Truong Tan Sang today starts a three-day state visit to Denmark.

The week-long clashes between Philippine Government troops and Moro National Liberation Front rebels taking place in the country’s southern port city of Zamboanga have left 99 people dead, including four civilians, according to the country’s military reports.

A mass performance of xoe folk dance with more than 2,000 participants will take place on September 29 in Nghia Lo Town in the northwestern mountainous province of Yen Bai.

Singapore has become the most dynamic economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations after it scored 61.9 points in t he Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index 2013.

Vietnam has many advantages for marine tourism development, however, the country still fails to develop its marine tourism services.

At least 16 people have been killed in violent clashes between inmates at the Maracaibo prison in the northwest of Venezuela, the country's prisons minister confirmed on Tuesday.