VIETNAM TODAY

Deputies at the fourth session of the 13th NA discussed the socio-economic development plan in 2012 and for next year.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong received Chinese Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu in Hanoi yesterday.

The EU wants to hear Vietnam ’s opinions on specific fields for assistance, the EU Director General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Koos Richelles said.

Environmental experts have called for an end to forest wood exploitation in Vietnam after it emerged that 2012 plans for tree regeneration will fall well short of targets.

Vietnam’s October consumer price index only increased 0.85% in October against last month, statistics showed.

Troubled Hollywood actor Tom Cruise is suing the publishers of US magazine Life and Style for $50 million over a cover claiming he had abandoned his daughter Suri, his lawyer said.

The European Union will provide assistance to Vietnam to help design plans for sustainable development of tourism in Ha Long Bay in the future.

More than 1,000 people from 34 countries will gather in Hanoi from November 26-28 to take part in the fourth international seminar on Vietnam Studies.

In spite of years of harsh spending cuts and tax increases, Europe's debt problems are getting worse.

People now have to pay a heavy price for titanium ores. Schools, roads and jobs have been exchanged for seriously polluting the environment.

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.