VIETNAM TODAY

President Tony Tan Keng Yam arrived in Hanoi on April 23, beginning a four-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang.

A fishing vessel with 21 fishermen aboard, who were seized by China, safely reached Ly Son port of the island district of the same name in central Quang Ngai province.

Antonis Samaras, head of Greece's right-wing New Democracy party that is tipped to win May 6 elections, promised to revive the economy by lowering taxes and curbing waste.

Socialist challenger Francois Hollande beat Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of France's presidential election.

A ceremony was held in Nghe An to rebury 84 sets of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who had sacrificed their lives on the former battlefields in Laos.

Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda has reaffirmed his country’s strong support for Vietnam’s socio-economic development, committing to continuing the provision of official development assistance to Vietnam.

Tanks raided a rebel bastion near Damascus on Sunday, activists said as UN observers toured Syrian hot spots, laying the ground for a 300-strong mission newly approved by the Security Council.

The Social Insurance Agency and Districts in Ho Chi Minh City have sued 19 businesses for defaulting on social insurance payments.

The Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment’s statistics show that only 299 non-Vietnamese nationals had bought homes in the country.

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are entering into negotiations for a free trade agreement with Vietnam, according to Viktor Khristenko, head of the Eurasian Economic Community.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended the fourth Japan-Mekong Summit, which took place in Tokyo on April 21, under the chair of Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda.

France is set to vote in a presidential election amid widespread disaffection caused by the eurozone crisis and high unemployment.

Two art lovers, a lecturer at Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts and a lawyer from Germany have opened a multi-national classroom for Vietnamese lacquer painting.

A pilot programme to teach natural science subjects in English at high schools for the gifted has proven ineffective because of a lack of qualified criteria.

Hanoi is seeking over VND161 trillion of investment to convert itself into a national and regional big trade centre.

Protesters clashed with riot police in Bahrain overnight, witnesses said on Saturday, raising security fears ahead of this weekend's Formula One Grand Prix race in the Gulf kingdom.

The Hanoi municipal government has decided to ban the use of pavements and roads for parking on several more streets.

Amendments will be made to Viet Nam's tax agent regulations to boost effectiveness, an official said.

From June, tourists will receive VAT refunds for the goods they have purchased in Vietnam when leaving the country via Hanoi's Noi Bai or Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airports.