VIETNAM TODAY

A solar-powered aircraft left the Moroccan capital on Friday for Madrid on its return journey to its home port in Switzerland.

Hydropower projects that have significant negative impacts on the environment should be rejected and existing ones that violate regulations should have their licences revoked.

Top Vietnamese chess player Le Quang Liem has secured a place in the finals of the 2012 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships.

As an ASEAN member, Vietnam will join efforts with other ASEAN nations to help maintain peace and stability in the region, said spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi.

The life of small traders in Hanoi's Dua Market has become harder over the last seven years because of the renovation of the market.

The United Nations on Thursday called for a tax on billionaires to help raise more than USD400 billion a year for poor countries.

The US is set to call for tough new UN sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle, as over 100 Western and Arab nations meet in Paris for "Friends of Syria" talks.

Apple, which is expected to launch a mini version of its market-leading iPad tablet, could quickly overpower its rivals in the segment with the addition of the new product, analysts say.

Vietnam’s Record’s Organisation has submitted 15 of the country’s most popular dishes to the Asian Record’s Organisation.

The first ever Vietnam-Latin America Trade and Investment Forum opened in Hanoi in the presence of Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The Royal Cambodian Army’s naval command headquarters, a friendship gift from the Vietnam Naval High Command, was inaugurated in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia.

Capital invested in the stock market has doubled, but the amount invested on issuing shares has reduced 50%.

The United Nations called for a tax on billionaires to help raise more than $400 billion a year for poor countries.

Many children in Hanoi are losing their recreation venues as traders encroach on their playgrounds.

The capital city of Hanoi has set a target of reaching a per-capita income of around USD7,500 a year by 2020.

Last year's nuclear accident at Fukushima was a man-made catastrophe and not only due to the tsunami that hit the plant.

Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has instructed that task forces be established to inspect, supervise and, if necessary, penalise cases of corruption at all levels.

South Korea came under pressure from outraged governments and environmentalists to scrap plans to kill whales under a "scientific" research programme denounced as a sham.

Three commercial joint stock banks in Vietnam have appointed new CEOs this week.