VIETNAM TODAY

Militants staged a suicide car bombing then engaged in a gunfight with security forces near the American consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat early Friday, officials said.

HCM City’s Party Committee has announced punishments for the eight officials who awarded themselves excessive payments while heading four State-owned enterprises last year.

People in Quang Binh province denounced the management board of a local farm who has used weedkiller for forest destruction.

Foreigners who work in Vietnam without a work permit will be deported, according to a new decree on the employment of foreign workers.

Vietnam must accept climate change as the biggest challenge facing the country and mankind as a whole.

China vowed Thursday to reduce levels of atmospheric pollutants in Beijing and other major cities by as much as 25 percent to try to improve their dire air quality.

Police in Moscow have arrested the owner of a company illegally employing more than 2,000 Vietnamese and Chinese workers, ITAR-TAS news agency quoted sources from the force as saying.

Transport officials and experts agree that Vietnam must build new north-south express railways to meet market demands.

Vietnamese photographer Le Duy Hoang won third prize at the Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA) for his black-and-white photography.

Parents in a village in Bac Ninh province have stopped sending their children to a local pre-school to oppose violations of the headmaster.

A 42-year-old man yesterday shot five officials at the headquarters of the People's Committee in northern Thai Binh City, killing one and injuring the rest. According to reports, the killer later shot himself.

The VinaPhone has sent a petition to police, accusing another company of using its name and logo to sell fake Iphones.

Thousands of teachers demonstrated in Mexico City, some clashing with police keeping them away from President Enrique Pena Nieto's residence, one day after he signed a controversial education reform.

Vietnamese lawmakers agreed that health insurance should be made compulsory at the 21st session of the National Assembly Standing Committee on September 11.

A five-star cruised officially launched in Ha Long Bay on September 15 will be one of the largest of its kind, not to mention the safest, its owner has said.

Audiences will be given a rare treat with the best performers from Europe and Asia combining for contemporary dance performances to be held in Hanoi from September 25.

US Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Geneva on Thursday where he will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the details of a proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal under international control.

Five Southeast Asian countries are targeting a double-digit growth rate of international visitors annually by 2015 under the theme "Five Countries – One Destination", according to the Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism.

Vietnam is pursuing its most flexible air transport policy in order to encourage more air carriers to operate in the country, a HCM City conference heard yesterday.