VIETNAM TODAY

The Prime Minister has agreed to utilise $20 million to improve quality of teaching in schools for gifted students in disadvantaged regions of the country.

Members of the National Assembly urged the Government to apply a fully competitive retail power market sooner than the scheduled date of 2022.

Vietnam has dropped one place to rank 99th out of 185 economies in the World Bank’s Doing Business report.

South Korea's skating star Kim Yu-Na is reuniting with two of her childhood coaches as she returns to competitive skating ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, her agency said.

Hanoi’s municipal government will impose strict punishments on traffic safety violators on an elevated road.

With a trade deficit in October of nearly $500 million, the nation swung to an overall deficit in the first ten months of $357 million, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Asia's fast economic growth has increased the region's vulnerability to natural disasters, with new developments springing up in catastrophe-prone areas, the UN warned on Tuesday.

Australia said it was searching for a new aircraft landing site for planes supplying its three bases in Antarctica because the current runway is melting.

Victims of road traffic accidents will be remembered during a month of commemorative activities to be held across Vietnam for the first time, with a budget of VND15 billion.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women will provide US$2.38 million to support Vietnam’s national strategy on gender equality.

Cosmetics adverts making exaggerated claims could potentially threaten users due to their health risks.

PM Nguyen Tan Dung lauded cooperation between the Ministries of Public Security of Vietnam and China over the past time, especially their close coordination in fighting border crimes.

Factory Z189, under the General Department of Defence Industry, held a ceremony to launch and hand over the vessel “DN 2000 (OPV-9014)”, with its number sign “CSB 8001”.

HCM City's banks have started to collect VND10,000 and VND20,000 cotton banknotes to exchange for plastic notes.

The government said it may not be able to apply an increase in the minimum wage as expected due to a lack of finances.

Apple will begin to sell an 8-inch version of the iPad on Friday to compete with Amazon.com Inc's Kindle and other smaller tablets.

With a young population and fast income growth, Vietnam is seen as a promising market for foreign fast-food companies.

Forty five Vietnamese fishermen and three Filipinos have been rescued over the last three days, according to the Quang Ninh-based Coastal Information Station.

Iran said it would stop oil exports if pressure from Western sanctions got any tighter and it had a "Plan B" contingency strategy to survive without oil revenues.