VIETNAM TODAY

Controversy remains among NA deputies over a regulation in the Draft Law on Trade Unions that would allow foreign workers to join labour unions.

The State Bank of Vietnam asked five state-owned commercial banks to cut spending and lower loan interest rates.

Danang, Hoi An, and Hue are some of the best destinations for meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions packages, according to MICE tour organisers

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee and the Fund for Young Talent held a ceremony in Hanoi to honor 10 outstanding youth members in 2011.

The Japanese government decided to grant Vietnam a non-refundable package worth US$33 million to help the country develop an electronic customs clearance.

Grammy-winning pop legend Whitney Houston died from accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub after taking cocaine which could have triggered a heart attack, coroners said.

Questions mounted over how a known Islamic extremist managed to murder seven people, including three children, in three separate attacks before being killed in a firefight.

Vietnam considers nuclear security and safety as top priority in developing nuclear power, in addition to supporting every country’s right to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, an official said.

With growing competition from other regional countries, Japanese investors will make more careful investment decisions in Vietnam, experts said.

A museum of ancient pottery has been built in Hanoi's Gia Lam District as a result of co-operation between villagers and archaeologists.

The Czech Republic always attaches importance to its relations with Vietnam and lists the country among 12 trade priority markets during the 2011-2015 period.

Vietnam attaches importance to developing friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Chile, said president Truong Tan Sang at the talks with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera Echenique.

A US soldier will be charged with 17 counts of murder stemming from the killings of civilians in Afghanistan, a US official said.

French police shot dead a self-declared Al-Qaeda militant wanted for a series of killings of soldiers and Jews, ending a tense 32-hour siege in the south of France.

The international community will subsidise Afghan security forces by more than $4 billion a year for a decade after US-led combat forces leave Afghanistan in 2014, President Hamid Karzai said.

After several news stories highlighting the sale of toxic pork, many people in Can Tho have opted to buy fish despite higher prices.

Medical insurance is set to become compulsory by 2014 according to an ambitious new programme.

Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2011’s runner-up Nguyen Thi Tra My has just become the third runner-up at the 6th annual Top Model Worldwide modeling contest in London.

Investigation Police Ha Tinh Province said they would take strict action against those responsible for illegal felling of trees and denuding forest land in Huong Son District's Son Hong Commune.