VIETNAM TODAY

The United States won the World Cup's 'cold war' against Russia as the All Blacks' injury toll took a sudden turn for the worse.

Hanoi and Hoi An’s Old Town are rated among the top ten best destinations in Asia for 2011, according to an online poll.

String quartet Diotima, featuring musical talents from France, will hit the capital's stage on September 22.

The European Commission has selected 35 Vietnamese graduates for Erasmus Mundus scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs launched a US-funded project to improve treatment for drug addicts.

Swiss banking giant UBS revealed an estimated loss of $2 billion after the discovery of unauthorised trading at its investment bank.

Computer education was a must for people with disabilities, especially with visual handicaps, speakers said at a workshop.

Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will co-operate with each other in organising tours to their world cultural heritage sites, officials said.

The construction of many schools in Dong Nai has been delayed due to lack of funding, forcing students into makeshift classrooms.

Researchers in Australia said they had discovered that dolphin colonies living around Melbourne are a species unlike any other in the world.

Illegal quarries are a threat to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The Australian Embassy in Hanoi has provided VND205 million (AUD10,000) for a waste management project in Ba Be National Park, Bac Kan Province.

Emerging economies "could help to temporarily reduce this moment of volatility but it won't resolve the problem" of structural weaknesses in the eurozone, analysts say.

Authorities have approved VND775 billion for the exhibition content of the Hanoi Museum.

The Vietnam Ministry of Public Security is working with Interpol to issue an international search warrant for a former accountant at the Central Cinema Department for embezzling money.

Facebook is letting members follow strangers Twitter-style in the latest of a barrage of data maelstrom-taming moves since rival social network Google+ launched in June.

A key US government report spreads the blame for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, citing a bad cement job, poor management by BP and its subcontractors.

Though monthly inflation rate has been curbed, it is too early for Vietnam to ease macroeconomic policies, the ADB reported.

Despite banks having announced lending interest rates of 17-19% per year, many are still trying to exceed the cap.