VIETNAM TODAY

North Korea has repaired extensive rain damage at its nuclear test facility and could conduct a detonation on two weeks notice, a US think-tank said on Friday.

Poor working conditions in many small- and medium-sized enterprises have affected workers' health, a survey conducted between 2000 and 2012 has found.

Traces of a huge water supply system and parallel ground wall from the time of the Ly dynasty have been unearthed at the former Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi, archaeologists announced.

Hundreds of visitors are flocking daily to a botanical garden in southeastern Brazil to watch the rare blooming of the Titan arum, the world's smelliest and largest tropical flower.

The Vietnamese Government and the UN reached a new milestone in advancing the UN reform efforts by signing an MOA for the construction of the Green One-UN House for all UN organizations in Vietnam.

The MoIC will allow a number of telecom companies which face difficulties to go bankrupt or withdraw from the telecom market.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has emphasised reducing poverty rates and protecting social welfare are top priorities.

The SBV will provide between VND20-40 trillion for commercial banks to provide home loans at reasonable rates.

Vietnam should control inflation at 6-6.5% in 2013 according to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is due to fly to Russia’s capital Moscow on Saturday to hold talks with the country’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on how to end the crisis in Syria.

A Child Healthcare Project has trained 60 students from 14 junior high schools to make 3D models to propagandize against discrimination of HIV/AIDS infected people.

The government has drafted two solutions to deal with the slumping real estate market.

Long lines formed as Los Angeles gun owners turned in weapons for up to $200 worth of groceries, in a gun buyback event brought forward after the Connecticut school shooting.

When Japanese architect Shigeru Ban designed a new cathedral in earthquake-devastated Christchurch, he chose the most unlikely of materials-cardboard-for the landmark project.

Vietnam has this year welcomed more than 6.84 million foreign visitors, a year-on-year rise of 9.5%, with arrivals from traditional markets remaining high.

More and more Vietnamese parents believe that their children need to go to school soon before the school age, so as to have the best conditions to develop into child prodigies.

Over the last two years, Vietnamese enterprises invested USD3.8 billion into 222 projects in Laos, making Vietnam the third largest investor in that country.

Vietnam Food Administration has announced its new regulation on formula for babies less than 12 months and from six to 36 months of age, which will take effect from June 1, 2013.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman recently to discuss violence in Syria and the country's chemical weapons stock, Israeli media said.