VIETNAM TODAY

Businessmen have resorted to illegally borrowing capital at extremely high interest rates, often known as “black credit", leaving them to sink deeper into difficulty.

North Korea announced Tuesday it was "readjusting and restarting" all facilities at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, including a reactor mothballed in 2007.

Vietnamese Grandmaster Le Quang Liem will take part in the Asian Continental Individual Chess Championships in Manila, the Philippines, next month.

Eighty per cent of Vietnamese population will be insured by 2020, as part of a newly-ratified Government scheme aiming at accessing health insurance for all.

The Vietnam Marine Police Department has said it would beef up protection for Vietnamese fishermen fishing in the nation’s territorial waters with frequent patrols of the East Sea.

India's Supreme Court ended a seven-year legal battle by rejecting Swiss giant Novartis' bid for patent protection on a new version of its Glivec cancer pill in a ruling hailed by activists seeking access to cheaper generic drugs.

The Hanoi Sound Stuff Festival, the only electronic and experimental music event in the country, will hit the capital for the sixth time on April 12 and 13.

Many taxi firms in Hanoi are expected to raise taxi fares by VND600 -1,000 per kilometre in the next fortnight, responding to the recent petrol price hike, according to the chairman of the Hanoi Taxi Association Do Quoc Binh.

Traffic deaths in the first quarter of this year rose by 0.7 percent against the same period last year, according to statistics from the National Committee for Traffic Safety.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has apologised to Chinese consumers after the company was subjected to criticism in state-run media over "arrogance" and double standards.

Thirteen people including children were killed after a fire broke out in a Muslim school in Yangon, police in Myanmar's main city said, blaming it on an electrical fault.

Mai Chau, a small town in the northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh, was named one of the top ten "fresh" Asian destinations by hotel booking site Agoda.com.

Amid economic difficulties and fuel price spiraling more people in Hanoi have opted to use electric bikes instead of motorbikes.

Hanoi will forceably remove residents who won't hand over their land for the construction of a section of ring road No 1 in Dong Da District.

Diverse activities will be held in Phu Tho from April 13-19 to commemorate the death anniversary of Hung Kings – the founders of the Vietnamese nation.

Singapore will host the second ABAC Meeting of 2013 from April 3 – 6 with participation of some 150 prominent business leaders from the 21 Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation economies.

The National Financial Supervision Committee has forecast that Vietnam’s inflation rate in 2013 will be controlled at less than 7 percent.

Hydropower plants in the central province of Quang Nam have been urged to discharge water to prevent severe droughts in the area.

Rescuers have recovered 21 bodies three days after a massive landslide in Tibet buried more than 80 mine workers, China National Radio reported on Monday.