Walmart to open stores in US capital despite protest

 Walmart, the biggest retailer in the United States, is opening its first-ever stores in the US capital -- but some aren't giving it a warm welcome.

Train offers good travel options

 VietNamNet Bridge – Tourists getting ready to schedule their vacations should consider traveling by air or train from HCMC or Hanoi as their best options to reach their destinations at set times depending on their budgets.

Vietnam pays $4.26 billion of debt in 11 months

 VietNamNet Bridge – In the January-November period of 2013, the state budget paid VND89.5 trillion of debt ($4.26 billion), equivalent to about 11 percent of the total budget spending.

Speed daters aim to break record

 VietNamNet Bridge – At least 600 young single people aged 18 years old and up will gather at the "Paktor Speed Date Night" to break the world's current Guinness World Records for the largest speed dating event.

Sludge danger to Binh Thuan

 VietNamNet Bridge – Local authorities in Binh Thuan Province have warned of the environmental danger of titanium processors in the aftermath of a broken sludge reservoir incident that occurred in Ham Thuan Nam District a week ago.

Ban Gioc waterfall to become key tourism site

 The PM has agreed to research the building of Ban Gioc waterfall tourism site and convert it into a key tourist destination in northern mountainous Cao Bang province.

Abbott accuses a local firm of using fake papers to import Ensure formula milk

Abbott has sent dispatches to the Vietnamese authorities to denounce a HCM City-based company – the Song Nam Investment Development Co., Ltd. of using fake documents to import Ensure milk into Vietnam.

Affordable smart phones will be dominants in the market

 VietNamNet Bridge – Seventy percent of Vietnamese people still don’t have smart phones, which means that Vietnam remains a potential market for manufacturers to exploit.

China buys one-third of Vietnam’s commercial rice

 VietNamNet Bridge – China has bought around one-third of Vietnam’s 6.3 million tons of export rice via official channel, not counting the amount via border trade, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Garlic helps kill contaminants in baby formula: study

 Garlic can significantly reduce the contamination risk of Cronobacter sakazakii, a foodborne pathogen that can lead to fatal infections of infants, in the production of dry infant formula powder,

Learning model for Vietnam - new but unsuitable

The international model of learning, which is believed to modernize Vietnam’s problematic education system and better prepare children for the global integration, known as VNEN, has turned out to be unsuitable to the country.

Former CEOs jailed for deforestation

Eight former officials were sentenced to between ten months' probation and three years in jail by the People's Court of Central Highland Dak Nong Province for causing the loss of over 1,300 hectares of forests.

Danish aid supports art projects in VN

Eight new contemporary art projects of national and foreign artists in Vietnam will get US$100,000 financial support from the Danish Vietnamese Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF) in late 2013.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 29/11

 GE to expand operations in Vietnam; Vietnam’s bond market fastest growing in East Asia; Mekong Delta strives to remain as top rice granary; Vietnamese bank makes deal with foreign consultant

Nhu Thao competes in Asia’s Next Top Model

 VietNamNet Bridge – Phan Nhu Thao has outclassed other Vietnamese candidates to represent the country at Asia’s Next Top Model 2013.

Food bosses get up to 30 years in jail

VietNamNet Bridge – A HCM City court on November 27 handed down sentences of seven to 30 years to five defendants involved in embezzlement of funds at the Viet Nam Food Industries Joint-Stock Company from 2002 to 2006.

Striving for 12 percent credit growth rate – what for?

 VietNamNet Bridge – While the State Bank repeatedly urges commercial banks to push up lending, economists believe there’s no need to strive for the 12 percent credit growth rate in 2013, if this brings risks.

Nam wins second game at Mexican Yucatan Cup

 Ly Hoang Nam won his second match at the Yucatan Cup tennis tournament in Mexico yesterday.

Natural heritages not yet properly exploited

 VietNamNet Bridge – Scientists have warned that the negative impacts caused by the climate change and the human’s unreasonable treatment have both put Vietnam’s natural heritages at risk of getting damaged and polluted.

UN, WB outline plans to mobilize financing for sustainable energy for all

The United Nations and the World Bank on Wednesday announced a concerted effort by governments, international agencies, civil society and the private sector to scale up financing to provide sustainable energy for all,

Vietnamese cuisines in the lens of German artist

 VietNamNet Bridge – Popular dishes of Vietnam like fish sauce, dried anchovies, nem lui ... look different in photos by German photographer Astrid Schulz.

Vietnam pays a heavy price for sugar production protection

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese consumers have to pay VND4 trillion more every year for the gap between the domestic and the international sugar prices.

Vietnam back to AFC Champions League after three seasons

The Asian Football Confederation has raised the number of teams for the play-off of AFC Champions League from 6 to 18, and V-League champion Hanoi T&T has the opportunity to attend the playground where Vietnam had been considered to be substandard.

Vietnam Coast Guard receives most modern patrol ship in Southeast Asia

VietNamNet Bridge - CSB 8001 patrol ship, which is the most modern of its kind area in the region, was delivered to the Coast Guard Region 3 on Thursday, November 27.

7 injured in foot overbridge collapse in eastern India

At least seven people were injured when a foot overbridge collapsed at a railway station and caved in on a passing goods train in the eastern Indian state of Bihar Wednesday,