VIETNAM TODAY

A total of 16,238 investors have registered to buy shares in the BIDV, the country’s second-largest lender by assets.

Japan's cabinet approved a $1.16 trillion budget for the 2012 fiscal year, with a record 49 percent financed by bonds even as the country struggles to rein in its massive public debt.

Nguyen Sieu Hanh, in his final year as a student of the Business Administration Department at the Belgian United Business Institute, has received the World Summit Youth Award.

The Vietnam Football Federation signed a$1.65 million contract with Japan’s Dentsu Company to sponsor Vietnam’s national football teams for one year from 2012-2013.

North Korea changed its secret communication frequencies or encryption system to prevent spying by South Korea following the death of its leader Kim Jong-Il, a report said.

Vietnam's industrial production in 2011 has grown at 6.8 percent, lower than last year, due to global economic volatility, according to the General Statistics Office.

Aftershocks continued to rattle the earthquake-shattered New Zealand city of Christchurch overshadowing Christmas preparations for weary residents in a "hellish year".

State President Truong Tan Sang received the visiting President of the Senate of Thailand Teeradej Meepien in Hanoi

Vietnam Military Medical University has given out a stark warning about hygiene after surveying household kitchens in 10 cities.

Traders have been rushing into Diem Tieu Village, Binh Dinh Province to purchase Ngau trees to sell in China.

France's health ministry advised 30,000 women with breast implants made by PIP to have them removed.

A severe cold front enveloped the northern and central region and another is set to move in by Saturday, certain to bring in an extremely cold Christmas for people living in these areas.

World powers argued about the details of a U.N. resolution on Syria, after suicide car bombers killed 44 in Damascus.

Vietnamese music fans welcomed 10 well-known foreign singers and bands this year.

Teachers colleges need to improve their training methods since students graduating from them lack skills, according to experts.

Sixteen thousand children of poor families around country will have free milk every day in a campaign by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Unlicensed mineral exploitation, tourism and construction activities are seriously threatening the existence of the Ba Vi National Park in Hanoi.

Many young Vietnamese who do not want to spend Christmas alone pay millions of VND for accompaniment during the holiday.

Vietnam received more than 6 million international visitors during 2011, said Hoang Thi Diep, deputy head of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.