VIETNAM TODAY

Western schoolchildren are up to three years behind those in China's Shanghai and success in Asian education is not just the product of pushy "tiger" parents, an Australian report said.

The Malaysian authorities have legalised 1,416 of more than 13,000 Vietnamese workers who have been working there illegally, the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia reported.

Some big banks have started to lower interest rates and more banks are expected to follow suit to cut interest rates by around 1%.

The UN General Assembly demanded an immediate halt to Syria's brutal crackdown, which human rights groups say has claimed more than 6,000 lives over the past 11 months.

As many as 24 businesses have committed more than VND27.5 billion (USD1.31 million) to the 2012 Danang International Fireworks Competition.

Vietnam-China relations are of great significance to the process of national construction in each country and to the sake of peace and stability in the region and the world.

Vietnam may begin producing bird flu vaccines for humans next year, according to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology's director Nguyen Tran Hien.

The third Inter-Ministerial Meeting (IMM-3) of the Mekong sub-regional countries on fighting human trafficking took place in Hanoi on Feb. 16.

Uncontrolled sand exploitation at Lang Co Bay is having a negative impact on the world famous destination.

Britain and France were to strike a landmark cooperation deal on civil nuclear energy, officials said.

At least 15 major transport projects will be carefully audited for the quality of their management and construction.

Going studying abroad has been described as a kind of “betting on the future.” In many cases, the “investment deals” bring fat profits, while in others, the “gambles” end with tragedies.

Your coaches from Chelsea Soccer School will run a training course for 180 junior footballers in Ho Chi Minh City.

New claims for US unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level since March 2008, official data showed in a fresh sign of improvement in the troubled job market.

The part of the Ho Chi Minh Road passing through the Central Highlandsl remains an unfinished construction site.

The annual value of mobile phone and components exports of Vietnam is forecast to reach USD12 billion by the end of 2012, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Fifteen miners died and another three were injured when a tramcar derailed in a coal mine in central China, authorities said, in the latest accident to hit the dangerous industry.

Low-income people who want to buy their own house need support in saving and the establishment of a fund would be vital, an official has said.

The bird flu virus H5N1 continues its spread across Vietnam, while scientists found a new mutation resistant to vaccines.