VIETNAM TODAY

Guiding and assisting religious organisations to ensure stability and safety and their compliance with the law and church charters is one of the central tasks of State management agencies for this year.

Vietnam’s tourism sector has set a target of 7.2 million foreign visitors for 2013, and expects to serve 35 million domestic tourists - respective increases of 5.15 percent and 7.69 percent from last year.

Air Mekong has been issued with a reminder after failing to pay its fuel bills with the Vietnam Air Petrol Company.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians rallied on Friday to celebrate the 48th anniversary of Fatah taking up arms against Israel.

Can Tho City plans to welcome more than 1.25 million arrivals, including 210,000 foreigners, in 2013, a year on year increase of 5.9 percent.

Vietnam will have about 3,000 vocational teachers who meet the quality standards set by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2015.

A gunman killed at least five people and wounded 11 others as he rampaged through a slum on the outskirts of Manila.

More drastic and synchronous measures are needed in 2013 to maintain the downward trend in traffic jams and accidents in 2012, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

A tropical depression off the Philippine coastline has moved into the East Sea and intensified into a storm named Sonamu since January 3.

After the gang-rape in New Delhi, women in the Indian capital say they are more anxious than ever, leading to a surge in interest in self-defence classes.

Without early intervention, children with low vision will face many challenges, an official has sai.

Although many of the ATM machines in Hanoi are seriously damaged or in a state of disrepair, banks do not seem to be paying attention.

Starbucks Corp., the world’s biggest coffee-shop operator, will open its first store in Vietnam next month as it expands into its 12th Asian nation.

At least 17 Shiite pilgrims were killed on Thursday when a car bomb detonated in a car park in Musayyib, south of Baghdad.

Khanh Hoa FC coach Hoang Anh Tuan is expected to train the national football squad for their first two games of the Asian Cup 2015 qualifiers.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved additional funding of US$10.47 million to implement the “Vietnam HIV/AIDS Prevention Project”.

Vietnamese students bagged two silver medals at the World Physics Olympiad 2012 - a new competition for secondary students throughout the world - which concluded in Indonesia on January 3.

The first film based on the life of legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs will be released in April, according to independent distributor Open Road Films.

For the first time in a decade, the number of fatalities from traffic accidents has dropped to under 10,000 in 2012.