VIETNAM TODAY

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has ordered localities to save forests by planting 150,500 hectares of trees nationwide and preventing illegal deforestation.

Between 30 and 40 people were buried by a landslide in China on Wednesday, the state news agency Xinhua reported, citing local officials.

Another 82 high schools in Ho Chi Minh City will offer financial education classes as part of a soft-skills training programme for the upcoming academic year, according to the city’s Department of Education and Training.

Police in Binh Duong Province arrested a woodworking shop owner after discovering that he has been seriously abusing his employees.

The governor of the SBV expected that the VAMC would settle between VND40-70 trillion bad debt this year, but this may be a difficult task.

US Open Badminton Championship No.3 seed Nguyen Tien Minh had no trouble thrashing Andres Lopez (underdog world no.244) from Mexico 2-0 in the first round of the tournament on July 9.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan on July 9 received the visiting Cuban Deputy Minister of Communications, Wilfredo Gonzalez Vidal, in Hanoi.

Lenders have been trying to attract customers by pasting advertisements on the streets, in coffee shops or event public toilets.

The authorities of HCM City, Haiphong and Nam Dinh provinces admitted that they are unable to adequately deal with prostitution problems.

North and South Korea started talks Wednesday on reopening a jointly run industrial zone, Seoul's Unification Ministry said, with the complex seen as the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.

A July 9 conference was held in Hanoi to review the Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme in South and Southeast Asia.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will pay an official visit to India, co-chairing the 15th Vietnam-India Joint Committee Meeting on July 11–12.

After attracting many visitors in central Ha Tinh province in early June, “Vietnam’s Hoang Sa, Truong Sa – Historical evidences” exhibition has come to Hanoi.

Drug addicts treated with methadone were much less inclined to break the law, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said yesterday.

Pakistan’s intelligence services showed gross incompetence and “culpable negligence” in failing to detect the presence of Osama bin Laden for years, according to an official report leaked Monday, which also reveals tidbits about his personal life.

The mountains and forests of the Central Highlands will come into sharp focus at the 2014 National Tourism Year, which has been recently launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Vietnam's First Mrs World Doan Thi Kim Hong will judge the Mrs. America due to take place in Arizona State from August 18-28.

In the wake of fresh violence between the army and supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s new interim leader has issued a decree scheduling a parliamentary poll within six months and a presidential vote to follow.

Vietnam will continue offering incentives for FDI projects, but will tighten control over the selection process.