VietNamNet Bridge – After hearing about giant lotuses with leaves that are 3m wide and thick enough to "carry" a person weighing up to 80kg, we became curious.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Around 3,000 new hotel rooms were put into service last year, taking the total number of guest rooms nationwide to 355,000, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

VietNamNet Bridge - The waste sludge may not only contains lead, but other heavy metals as well. Scientists have warned the problem would be very serious if the sludge reaches the environment.

Two persons sentenced to death for drug smuggling, Japan helps Hanoi in clean water loss control, Da Nang receives foreign support for child education, care projects, Blood donation festival to be held on Sunday

 VietNamNet Bridge – In early 2016 many big names have visited Vietnam to look for opportunities in business cooperation or to implement projects.

VietNamNet Bridge - While many Vietnamese people are pessimistic about economic development, foreign institutions have shown objective opinions that Vietnam’s economy continues to progress.

 Up to 3,542 people nationwide have registered to donate their organs and tissue after they die as by December 31, 2015, according to the National Centre for Coordinating Human Organ Transplants.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Foreign investors’ appetite for Vietnam’s agricultural sector is growing, with a string of new or expanded projects scheduled to come on line soon.

 The New Year will open with three concerts featuring pop/rock stars in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Khmer in southern Vietnam race Ngo junks as part of the Ooc Om Bok festival to worship the Moon on the 10th lunar month. It’s a typical ritual of the wet rice agriculture to worship water and pray for bumper crops.  

 VietNamNet Bridge – Ninety four per cent of railway accidents are due to traffic violations by road users, according to deputy general director of the Viet Nam Railway Corporation, Doan Duy Hoach.

 VietNamNet Bridge – A string of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) made ‘bumper’ debut in 2015, creating a solid foundation for 2016 which is so-called the year of economic integration.

 The prestigious New York Times recently named Da Lat- a romantic town with kaleidoscopic patch works of flower in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong as one of the world’s top 52 places to visit in 2016.

 Swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, as expected, was selected as Vietnam’s most outstanding athlete in 2015 thanks to her excellent performance throughout the year.

  The Vietnam Fisheries Trade Union (VFTU) has vehemently opposed Chinese fishing boats attacking and pillaging Vietnamese fishing boats in Vietnam’s waters.

 Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hanoi Nguyen Duc Chung hoped for more stellar developments in the relations between Hanoi and Budapest during a reception for visiting Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto.

The free entrance Aufschwung concert will take place at the Southern Women’s Museum in HCMC’s District 3 at 7 p.m. on Saturday, marking the start of a series of events which the Saigon Classical Music Group will organize this year.

 The head of Europe's food safety watchdog has written to a group of nearly 100 senior scientists strongly rejecting their criticisms in an ongoing row about the safety of weed-killer ingredient glyphosate.

VietNamNet Bridge - Formosa could be a “long-term danger for all domestic structural steel manufacturers”, experts have warned.

VietNamNet Bridge – A repairer of cell phones in the central province of Quang Nam has to pay VND5 million ($230) fine for a mermaid photo hoax.

 VietNamNet Bridge – A restaurant in District 3 in HCM City on January 12 bought a red giant barb (Catlocarpio siamensis) from a trader in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The submarine named Danang is expected to arrive at Cam Ranh Bay in Khanh Hoa Province in late January 2016.

The authorities of Khanh Hoa province have imposed a VND200 million (nearly $10,000) fine on the investor of Nha Trang Sao Culture-Entertainment-Sports Park for encroaching on Nha Trang Bay, a national heritage site.

 The World Bank’s January 2016 Global Economic Prospects report, released on January 6, puts Vietnam among emerging countries in the world with the strongest growth prospects.

Vietnamese travel firms and service providers for Russian visitors have been rattled by the Russian tourism authority’s decision to stop renewing licenses for a number of Russian travel agencies.