VIETNAM TODAY

A message from Saadi Salama, ambassador of the State of Palestine to Vietnam, on the 47th anniversary of his country's armed struggle on January 1.

European stocks mostly fell and the euro struggled to recover from an 11-month dollar low, with investor sentiment extremely fragile before another key Italian bond auction, dealers said.

As of January 9, 2012, many activities will be held in HCM City to welcome overseas Vietnamese who return home for the Tet holiday.

The Ministry of Justice earned the highest score in a survey evaluating the effectiveness of 14 business-related government ministries.

VND11.7 billion were raised for the “Fund for the Poor” of Quang Ninh province during a live broadcast of the provincial Radio and Television Station on December 28.

The banking system will develop credit card payment services with the aim of reducing the quantity of cash in circulation to 11 percent by 2015.

An exchange programme was held in the Lao capital city of December 27 to welcome major occasions and the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Year 2012.

North Korea staged a massive memorial service for late leader Kim Jong-Il attended by tens of thousands, and declared his young son the supreme party and military chief.

Half of the wild elephants in Dong Nai province have been wiped out in recent years, despite steps taken by the Prime Minister to save them.

The remains of 10 soldiers were found at a mass grave site in the Central province of Quang Ngai by the Pho Thanh communal People’s Committee and the Duc Pho district military.

Arab monitors revisited Homs City and headed to other protest hubs as world powers warned Damascus not to hinder their mission to reveal the truth about the crackdown on dissent.

A VND32 billion (USD1.52 million) project was launched to conserve the Sa Huynh cultural relic site in Quang Ngai Province.

At least 17 people died and 80 were injured in an unexplained explosion in an eastern suburb of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, at about 2:00 a.m on Thursday, police said.

16,100 workers in Hanoi registered for unemployment benefits in the first 11 months of the year, up almost 4 fold from last year.

While office and business workers have been anxious these days to know how much they will get for Tet bonuses, teachers say Tet bonus proves to be an “abstract dream” for them.

Red Cross Vietnam held a formal ceremony to receive an aid package of $15,000 from Chile’s Government and Embassy in Vietnam for flood victims.

"Fast Five," "Hangover II" and "Thor" were among the most-pirated movies of 2011, according to a new list from the blog TorrentFreak.

The Sai Gon River and other rivers in HCM City have become more polluted because of increasing levels of waste-water from household and industrial waste.

The Japanese Government will provide Vietnam a non-refundable aid package of USD3.8 million to help prevent the spread of drug-resistant bacteria in Vietnam.