VIETNAM TODAY

Tourism companies along the Serepok River have complained about the lack of co-operation from local hydropower plants.

The 2013 Sapa in the Cloud Festival will take place from April 26 to May 5, said the district People’s Committee.

Hanoi traffic police have started fining motorbikes drivers who are transporting children without wearing helmets.

Canada’s Asian Coast Development Ltd, owner of the Ho Tram Strip, a group of integrated resorts in the southern province of Vung Tau, has received approval to operate casinos in the resort.

Vietnam plans to cease broadcasting analogue TV in the five biggest cities by 2015 as digital TV takes over.

There is no proof that the H7N9 bird flu virus is being transmitted between people in China, the World Health Organization said.

A delegation of medial workers from the Governmental Office, the Ministry of Health and the National Committee for AIDS Prevention and Control has been on a working visit to Thailand within the framework of cooperation between Vietnam and the UNAIDS.

Senior economic officials from ASEAN met in the Brunei capital city of Banda Seri Begawan on April 7 to prepare for the third ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group scheduled for April 8-10.

The government has requested the SBV to continue cutting lending interest rates, along with corporate income tax and VAT.

A music project to encourage young composers of Vietnamese traditional music instruments has been launched by US-based artist Vo Van Anh.

An air strike in Afghanistan carried out by NATO forces has killed 11 children in the eastern part of the country, officials said. Afghanistan’s president condemned the loss of civilian lives.

Vietnam’s rice exporters are facing tough price competition in foreign markets this year due to large inventories and low demand.

PM Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the Air Defence-Air Force to heighten vigilance and preparedness as it continues to build a regular air force to fulfill all assigned tasks.

Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurria has hailed Vietnam as a success in meeting millennium development goals (MDGs) and taking new approaches to social cohesion and poverty reduction.

A suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 60 in a crowded election campaign tent in the Iraqi city of Baquba on Saturday, police and medics said.

One patient from Yen Bai has been killed by H1N1 virus two days after being admitted to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Nearly 2,000 photos taken by an US solider during his duty in Vietnam provided a previously unseen view into the war and life in the US Army.

The Vietnam Red Cross signed a programme in Hanoi on April 6 to forge partnerships in humanitarian activities with nine agencies and businesses for the 2013–2018 period.

Vietnam’s private entrepreneurs association was established at a congress in Hanoi on April 6.