VIETNAM TODAY

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment was the first cabinet member to respond to NA deputies' questions about land management and the environment.

Senior ASEAN officials began their 9th meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication in the central city of Da Nang.

Many hospitals are suffering from a spate of thefts, confidence tricksters and assaults, worrying patients and their relatives.

Universities will not be allowed to provide vocational training courses, according to a revised circular.

Afghanistan hosts the latest round of international talks on its future after NATO troops leave in 2014, with the conflict in Syria also likely to feature prominently in ministerial meetings.

Going to school to fulfill contractual obligations prove to be a risky job for students. However, they can bring the sums of money big enough to help students live and continue studying.

The 13th Southeast Asian Open Chess Championship is being held in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

Lawmakers in the National Assembly have agreed that tax cuts and exemptions would help ease production and business difficulties sweeping the nation.

Experts have proposed tightening State management of retail gas prices because domestic prices do not reflect the fall in international prices.

Though the budget for environment protection has increased by two folds in 2006-2011, dealing with the environment pollution remains a difficult task for the whole society.

A wave of bombings and shootings in central Iraq killed at least 42 people and wounded dozens more on Wednesday, security and medical officials said.

Up to 50% of university lecturers in Vietnam do not have post-graduate degrees, according to the Ministry of Education and Training.

Spanish borrowing costs have soared to a euro-era record high on a market beset by doubts over a vast rescue loan for the country's banks and by fears of a Greek exit from the eurozone.

The United States Agency for International Development has been collecting ideas, recommendations and comments for a plan to help AO victims in Vietnam.

A new video featuring Al-Qaeda's number two Abu Yahya al-Libi, who the US said was killed last week in a drone strike in Pakistan, was posted online, monitoring services said.

After some recent explosions of old air compressor, the aging machines can still be seen on many streets.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan requested provinces plagued by blue- ear pig disease to take stronger action to stop the spread of the disease.

Vietnam has no plans to privatize the press in country, said Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son.

A cap-art exhibition organised in HCM City displayed colourful pictures with messages related to environmental protection.