VIETNAM TODAY

Finnish telecommunications company Nokia on Monday said it had agreed to buy German engineering giant Siemens' 50 percent stake in their mobile broadband joint venture NSN for 1.7 billion euros.

Vietnam Youth Theatre is busy preparing for international art cooperation exchanges with Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Germany from June to September.

At least 21 violation cases were detected in the banking sector in the first five months of this year, according to the Government Inspectorate.

Information and Communications inspectors punished for websites using the gov.vn domain name for granting visas illegally.

A Chinese law requiring family members to visit their elderly relatives went into effect Monday to howls of online ridicule, as the country's huge population ages rapidly.

Vietnamese teenage swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien stormed to a gold medal at the fourth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Incheon, South Korea, yesterday.

Customs officials at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport seized a Vietnamese man illegally transporting 21 kilograms of African elephant ivory tusk products into the country on June 30.

The 2013 Trans-Vietnam Cycling programme will begin on July 4 to raise public awareness of traffic safety and marine environmental protection.

United Nations peacekeepers prepared Monday to take over from African troops in Mali with a mission to ensure stability in the conflict-scarred nation just four weeks ahead of crucial elections.

Storm Rumbia has passed Luzon island in the Philippines to enter the eastern part of the East Sea.

If the inflation rate is kept stable electricity prices may increase by 15% this year, said the National Financial Supervisory Commission.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh declared that issues in the East Sea are a common concern for countries in the region.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan offered his thoughts on Vietnam’s workforce and the impacts of globalisation during a meeting with the country’s youth representatives in the capital on June 30.

AIDS scientists expressed optimism over their search for a cure for the disease Saturday ahead of a major conference in Kuala Lumpur, with more funding and research breakthroughs boosting their hopes.

Overseas Vietnamese and local entrepreneurs will gather at a meeting in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Lam Dong's Da Lat city from August 6-9.

Well known Vietnamese poet Tran Dang Khoa has been honoured with the Sunthorn Phu Award in recognition of his great contributions to Southeast Asian art and literature.

American Samoa’s delegate to the US House of Representatives, Eni Faleomavaega, has criticised the House Foreign Affairs Committee for passing a Human Rights Act that he says does not reflect the full truth of the situation in Vietnam.

Eight soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the restive Thai south, an army spokesman said.

A 58-year-old man in Long My district has been killed by deadly strain virus A/H1N1, the district Department of Preventive Medicine reported on June 28.