Algeria airliner missing on Sahara route from Burkina Faso

 Algeria's national airline, Air Algerie, says it has lost contact with one of its planes flying from Burkina Faso.

Arrests made after eBay's Stubhub suffers cyber-thefts

 The US has charged six men in connection with a scam that defrauded eBay's Stubhub of about $1m (£587,000).

Pollution reaches alarming levels

VietNamNet Bridge –Viet Nam hopes to control environmental pollution at the source, deputy director general of the Viet Nam Environment Administration, Tran The Loan, told the Thoi bao Kinh te Newspaper

More bank M&A deals expected in second half of 2014

 VietNamNet Bridge – Although only one merger & acquisition (M&A) deal was announced in the first few months of the year, more are expected in the second half of the year.

39 new caves in Phong Nha discovered

 VietNamNet Bridge – As many as 39 grottoes with total length of 17 kilometers have been newly discovered in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh Province, promising more destinations for adventurous tourists to the province to conquer.

Travel News 24/7

 Two guesthouses in Sam Son fined for insulting travellers; Vietnamese visitors to Singapore record double-digit growth in Q1; Thanh Hoa to host National Tourism Year 2015; Can Tho asks VietJetAir to ensure quality of new air route

Trade surplus tops $1.46b in first half of this year

 VietNamNet Bridge – The country had a trade surplus of US$1.46 billion by July 15, according to statistics from the General Department of Customs.

MH17 plane crash: Netherlands holds solemn ceremony for victims

 The Netherlands has received the first victims' bodies from crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in a solemn ceremony at Eindhoven air base.

Taiwan plane crash: Toll hits 48 as families visit scene

 Forty-eight people are now known to have died after a passenger plane crashed in Taiwan's Penghu island, as a storm passed over the area.

Import/export companies complain about new port service fee

 VietNamNet Bridge – Import/export companies say that there was no legitimate reason for the Saigon Port Corporation to raise service fees, complaining that the fee increases would push enterprises up against the wall.

Quang Ngai has two more heritage trees

 VietNamNet Bridge – Two over-200-year-old banyans in Ly Son island district of central Quang Ngai Province have been recognised as national heritage trees.

Cai Cuong ancient house

 VietNamNet Bridge - Situated near Cai Muoi Canal which is always crowded with boats and junks, Cai Cuong ancient house in Binh Hoa Phuoc Commune, Long Ho District of Vinh Long Province is an architectural structure of European and Oriental styles.

The charms of Hoang Su Phi Market

 Hoang Su Phi Market is held once a week on Sunday morning. It takes place along the main street, a few kilometers long, in Vinh Quang Town in Hoang Su Phi District, Ha Giang Province.

Legendary scholar makes valuable donation

 VietNamNet Bridge – A revolutionary turned intellectual, professor Le Quang Long has made many contributions to the country's scientific community. His latest: a vast collection of documents.

Beef environment cost 10 times that of other livestock

 A new study suggests that the production of beef is around 10 times more damaging to the environment than any other form of livestock.

Vietnam part of the world's largest photography website

 VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s many different shades of seas can be seen Photo.net, the photography website with the highest traffic in the world.

Wood businesses losing on home turf

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam is the sixth largest wood and wooden product exporter in the world and the second largest in Asia, yet the domestic wood processing sector is injured by low-priced, skillfully crafted imports.

HCM City’s e-textbook program controversial

HCM City is considering implementing an e-textbook project, under which first, second and third graders in the city would learn with e-textbooks instead of actual books. However, the project remains controversial.

The return of T-ara and 2NE1 to Saigon

 VietNamNet Bridge – The two famous Korean girl band 2NE1 and T-ara have confirmed their return to Vietnam in August to attend two different events. Their Vietnamese fans are more than lighthearted.

Private school transportation comes to town

 VietNamNet Bridge – Every afternoon, around 4.30pm, Nguyen Thi Lan, a bank employee in Dong Da District of Ha Noi starts getting worried. She waits for her boss to leave office, and then rushes off to pick up her daughter from school.

Illegal parking undercuts licenced lots

 VietNamNet Bridge – Several illegal motorbike parking lots set up on streets reserved for pedestrians in the capital city's Hoan Kiem District have been overcharging customers,

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 24/7

Local businesses urged to boost exports to RoK; Complex tax laws don’t deter foreign investment; HCM City to tighten energy labeling rules; Mekong Delta targets US$2.6 bln in shrimp exports; Pepper price reaches record high 

M&A forum to advance ‘second wave’

VietNamNet Bridge – The hastened pace of equitisation of state-owned enterprises has led many experts to opine that there is a second wave of mergers and acquisitions ready to hit Vietnam.

Football players face prosecution

 VietNamNet Bridge – Six players of the V-League's Dong Nai FC will soon be prosecuted for match-fixing, major-general Ho Sy Tien, head of the Police Department for Investigation of Social Order-related Crimes, confirmed.

Dubious statistical methods skew Vietnam’s unemployment rate

 VietNamNet Bridge – Unemployment rates are regularly reported by government agencies, but the state General Statistics Office (GSO) doubts the figures.