VIETNAM TODAY

Diplomats are gathering in Hanoi for the 27th diplomatic conference to discuss ways to assist the country's development.

Dao Cong Thang, head of the Quy Hop Forest Management Center, was arrested for his participation in smuggling wood on a truck, the local police said.

Canada on Monday became the first country to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.

Syrians voted Monday in municipal elections as security forces pushed a deadly crackdown on dissent that the United Nations said has killed more than 5,000 people.

Since the start of this school year, a veteran in Dong Thap Province, has been offering free lunches to nearly 100 students.

EU will prioritise boosting economic and trade relations with Vietnam, especially speeding up negotiations on its Free Trade Area.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta have created many special products for the lunar New Year, such as wine-gourds and gold-bar shaped pomelos, squared watermelons.

32 photos that entered the finale of the Masterpiece Photo Contest 2011 are now on display in HCM City.

Vietnamese tuna has been exported to 87 markets, said Vietnam Association of Seafood Export and Processing.

Police in Ha Tinh Province seized a car with fake registration number plates transporting nearly 400 kilos of live pangolins.

Fifty-five percent of students wish to work for foreign-invested companies, showed an annual survey by Nhan Viet Management Group.

A number of wealthy Vietnamese have began to imitate the Chinese billionaire who bought a Tibetan mastiff for USD1.5 million.

Australian scientists who modelled conditions on Mars said that "large regions" on this planet could sustain life.

A court has ordered musician Ha Dung not to leave the country, due to his role in the bankrupted Indochina Airlines.

Seamer Doug Bracewell bowled New Zealand to a sensational seven-run victory over Australia in the second Test.

Six Vietnamese high school pupils have won medals at the eighth International Junior Science Olympiad.

A survey by Yahoo showed that Vietnam tops Southeast Asian countries in spending on mobile Internet services.

The book entitled ‘Vietnam and the East Sea’ helps the public better understand the real situation in the East Sea, as well as Vietnam’s views on solving related disputes.

Syrian troops and army defectors have fought one of the biggest battles while a protest strike shut businesses in a new gesture of civil disobedience, residents and activists said.