VIETNAM TODAY

Hanoi authorities have issued an anti-illiteracy and educational development plan which aims to reach national standards on anti-illiteracy.

France and Germany called for Europe's leaders to agree strict rules for fiscal discipline at their summit this week, as Standard and Poor's threatened the region with sweeping ratings downgrades.

A new career guidance programme will help students between the 9th and 12th grades gain better access to information about career paths.

Vietnam is forecast to achieve a per capita income of VND27 million (USD1,300) this year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The charitable agency is offering free surgeries to children suffering from childhood facial deformities in Hanoi in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Ministry of Transport has decided to withdraw the business license of Trai Thien Air Cargo due to its failure to ensure operations.

Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the Central Tourism Department, said now is not the right time to hike the ticket price for excursion tours in Ha Long Bay.

A Lady Gaga dress and photos of a young Marilyn Monroe were among items sold at an LA auction worth over $4 million, organizers said.

Three Vietnamese banks facing a liquidity crunch have decided to merge to form a larger bank, said State Bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh.

Lac Hong Vien is a new cemetery at the end of a "Highway to Eternity" where Vietnam's rising middle class is dying to flaunt its bling.

Vietnamese people and astronomers will have the chance to see the second lunar eclipse on the night of December 10.

Next year will be a tough time for Vietnam's rice exports with stiff competition from cheap rice sources, the Vietnam Food Association said.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung arrived in Brussels, beginning his official visit to Belgium and the European Parliament.

Financial investors has proposed that the Government apply preferential policies for low-income housing projects.

The Vietnamese Government wishes to receive continued cooperation and support from the international community to help the country clear unexploded ordnances left by the war.

A high-level Vietnamese delegation led by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong left Hanoi for a three-day visit to Cambodia at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni.

VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Company has just made its official entry into the Vietnam aviation market as a low-cost carrier.

In another step toward finding Earth-like planets that may hold life, NASA said the Kepler space telescope confirmed its first-ever planet in a habitable zone outside our solar system.

Hanoi and HCM City are facing an avalanche of unhygienic food as the Lunar New Year nears.