VIETNAM TODAY

Citizens and businesses are suffering higher fees and prices of power and water, inconsistent with what the Government has vowed to do and reflecting the heartlessness of ministries, said economist Pham Chi Lan.

Thousands of vehicles which were confiscated by police in Hanoi for traffic violations are on the verge of turning into scrap metal.

Taiwan's planned oil and gas exploration in the sea around Ba Binh Island seriously violates Vietnam's sovereignty over the Truong Sa archipelago.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said he expects the country to surpass the United States as the technology giant's largest market, state media reported.

The PM has approved a national plan aiming to significantly reduce the overload at state hospitals between 2013-20, with the goal that patients will not have to share hospital beds by 2015.

As many as 61 young tennis players from across Asia will participate in the international tennis federation U14 Asian Championship-Division 2, 2013.

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan arrived at the Pentagon today for the first in a series of discussions with senior American leaders about the future of the U.S. military role in Afghanistan.

The first pharmaceutical packaging materials factory in Vietnam to meet the GMP Standard has started operation.

A programme providing free birth control services will continue to target populations in remote and underprivileged areas, especially ethnic minority groups and industrial park workers.

Vietnam and Italy have vowed to intensify future cooperation in various fields, especially in economics, trade, investment and defence.

Traders in HCM City are earning big profits by driving up the prices of Tet specialties by up to five times their original prices.

A large number of high school students are getting in debt from borrowing money to buy consumer goods or through gambling.

At least 115 people have been killed in a series of bombing across Pakistan late Thursday, police sources said.

Exports to key Middle East markets, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iraq, brought in US$4.2 billion to Vietnam last year.

Vietnam’s recent approval of the Sea Law is a normal and necessary act of a sovereign coastal nation, and as a signatory to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

Three Kurdish women were found dead with gunshot wounds inside the Kurdish Institute of Paris, early Thursday.

The Hanoi Chairman requested staff members of municipal agencies and departments not to present gifts for their officials on Tet.

The State Bank’s governor must be held accountable if high inflation returns this year, according to the PM.

Many people have opted to use apartments, shares and even women as special gifts for their bosses on the occasion of Tet holiday.