VIETNAM TODAY

The court of Palawan province of the Philippines released 85 Vietnamese fishermen, said the Vietnamese Embassy in the country.

Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery export turnover reached USD16.4 billion in the first eight months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 34.2 percent.

Hurricane Irene closed in on the Atlantic coast on Friday, triggering emergency preparations that included unprecedented evacuations and mass transit shutdowns in New York City.

After being struck by strong winds and rough waves yesterday afternoon, a fishing boat working off Con Dao Island with five fishermen on board was submerged and gradually sank.

Vietnam is finding ways to lower deposit rates in order to drag lending interest rate down in an effort to stimulate lending.

Tripoli began to look like a solidly rebel-held city on Friday, the calmest day in the capital since Gadhafi's opponents swept in.

Apple's new chief executive Tim Cook has been awarded one million shares in the company, a bonus worth more than $383 million at the current stock price.

Brazil, South Africa, India and China called Friday on industrialized nations to step up their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a key UN climate summit later this year.

Over three million Vietnamese families are living under the poverty line, accounting for 14.2% of the country’s households.

Groundwater levels continue to plunge throughout the Central Highlands, even as its quality takes a hit due to pollution, a study has found.

Millions of people on the US east coast braced Friday for Hurricane Irene, a massive storm officials fear will cause widespread flooding.

Hanoi’s price-stabilisation programme meets only 10% of consumer demand, said a local official.

Many parents in Hanoi are forced to pay many unauthorised fees to their children’s schools, said an official.

The Government has ordered a halt in licensing titanium ore exploration and exploitation in Binh Thuan Province to protect local environment.

Bank lending interest rates in HCM City have dropped to as low as 17% as banks have begun to cut rates that had reached up to 25%.

A former journalist of Tien Phong Newspaper was sentenced to jail for seven years on August 25 for blackmailing local companies.

The State Bank of Vietnam should complete a system of mechanisms for strengthening banking inspection, said Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday announced his resignation as president of the Democratic Party of Japan.

Shrimp farms in Thua Thien Hue Province have been forced to cease operations after a discharge of contaminated water.