Taiwanese firms stay put; Foreign invested companies resume business operations; Corporate governance below average in VN; Pepper exports to break annual record; Investors retain confidence in Vietnamese market

Chinese tugboat 281 on June 7 deliberately rammed into the left side of Vietnam’s fisheries surveillance ship KN-635 that was undertaking law enforcement in the area around the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-98

 VietNamNet Bridge – Reality Television (RT) shows have been booming in Viet Nam, attracting excited audiences, but many people are now losing interest, despite these programmes following the format of their foreign counterparts.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Quang Ngai-based Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) has attracted 8 FDI projects capitalized at US$200 million in total since it got off the ground nine months ago.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Y Ty, one of the poorest communes in Lao Cai Province's Bat Xat District, has become an attractive tourism destination in recent years due to its natural beauty.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Japanese referee Sato Ryuji will oversee the match between Becamex Binh Duong and Thanh Hoa in the 16th round of the V-League on June 12, according to the Viet Nam Football Federation.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will begin a two-day visit to Vietnam on June 9, in an effort to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in economics, trade and investment.

 Air pollution is linked to increased risk of developing an irregular heartbeat and blood clots in the lung, research suggests.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Dao Nguyen Khanh Trang won first place in the Miss VSAM 2014 pageant, organised by the Vietnamese Students Association in Malaysia on June 6.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved more international airports and seaports to open counters for value-added tax (VAT) refunds for the goods foreign passport holders buy in Vietnam and bring along with them

 VietNamNet Bridge – The central city has launched new direct air routes to Japan, Korea and Kuala Lumpur, promoting familiarisation (FAM) trips and road shows in Japanese, Russian and European markets.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Executive committees and residents of serviced apartment buildings are desperate to collect sinking (or maintenance) funds from investors, who are stalling on the issue.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Tri Thuc Publishing House and the Austrian Embassy in Ha Noi on Friday released the Vietnamese version of a book by Austrian author Ernst Frey.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan on June 7 met representatives of the Vietnamese community in France at the Vietnamese Embassy headquarters in Paris, after attending the Global Summit of Women 2014.

Tran Thi Cam Ly is a Vietnamese pop singer best known for folk songs from Southern Viet Nam. She first came to the country's attention in 1993 and was recently chosen to be one of the judges on the Vietnamese version of The Voice Kids.

 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the government that accelerating house prices and low productivity pose the greatest threat to the UK's economic recovery.

 Flash flooding in the remote northern Afghan province of Baghlan has killed at least 73 people and forced thousands to abandon their homes, police say.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The final round of Miss Vietnam Beauty Pageant 2014 will be held on Phu Quoc in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang from November 26 -- December 6.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Believers taking part in religious pilgrimages, such as Muslims performing the Hajj or Buddhists visiting the four sacred sites in India and Nepal, are plainly recognised as "spiritual tourists".

 VietNamNet Bridge – The key objective of restructuring the agriculture sector is to raise the income of 15 million farmers, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat told Viet Nam Economics Times.

 VietNamNet Bridge – A circular issued by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), set to take effect this Friday, may not succeed in facilitating the provision of credit guarantees to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

 VietNamNet Bridge – Huynh Thanh Thao of Cu Chi District, HCM City, who has congenital brittle bone disease, was astonished to see a Youtube clip of a person in a wheelchair dancing together with a non-disabled partner.

 VietNamNet Bridge – People call Tran Tuan Anh "the King of Orchids" because he owns two large gardens measuring more than 4,000 square metres in Ha Noi and Bac Ninh.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Those low-slung electric scooters ridden silently through the streets by Vietnamese children now have to be registered.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Some of the most outstanding Vietnamese musical works created since the beginning of the last century will be performed at a concert at the HCM City Opera House on Sunday.