VIETNAM TODAY

Weapons including knives, swords, scimitars and even K59 guns are being publicly sold at several markets in HCM City.

Park Geun-hye became South Korea's first female leader when she was elected president on Wednesday. Park, a conservative, is due to take office in February.

The Celebrity Millennium cruise ship carrying more than 2,000 foreign tourists docked at Chan May port in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

Thirty-seven paintings by the late Buu Chi are on display at the Hue Exhibition Centre in Hue City, marking the 10th death anniversary of the renowned artist.

Gunmen in Pakistan mounted fresh attacks on health workers carrying out polio vaccinations, prompting UNICEF and WHO to suspend work on a campaign opposed by the Taliban.

Vietnam’s business environment is still good for investors to consider long-term investment projects despite the current economic hardships, an expert said.

The MoET will halt the opening of faculties such as finance and banking due to the lack of employment opportunities in the sector.

The Hanoi ca tru singing festival 2012 will take place at the Temple of Literature o­n December 20 and 21.

Scientists have discovered 36 new species in Vietnam, the Worldwide Fund for Nature has announced in its report.

The Ministry of Finance has requested people’s committee nationwide to collect road use fees for motorbikes.

Vietnam has 984,000 unemployed people as of October 1, out of the country’s total number of working-age people of 53.1 million.

The ailing mobile network, S-Fone, is having more difficulties, with huge debts to employees and other companies.

Eleven prisoners and six guards were killed Tuesday in armed clashes at a prison in northern Mexico, officials said.

Experts have stressed the need to provide more services for migrant workers in the context of increasing labour flows not only within the country but also on a global scale.

Vietnamese economists and entrepreneurs in Switzerland have gathered at a seminar to swap information on cooperation and investment opportunities between Vietnam and Switzerland.

The Asian Development Bank will provide US$212 million to continue a project improving water service delivery to more than three million Vietnamese people.

Cyclist Mai Nguyen Hung won the second stage of the ADC Tour of Vietnam yesterday.

Activists point out that merely allowing same-sex marriages would not usher in social tolerance for such couples or eradicate the severe discrimination in a Confucian society.

Vietnam needs to establish a government-level agency to coordinate with relevant ministries on honing the country’s competitive edge in the internationally integrated economy.