VietNamNet Bridge – U.S.-based Starbucks Coffee Company opened its first store in Vietnam at the New World Hotel in downtown HCMC last Friday, sparking curiosity in a country

 VietNamNet Bridge – The 2013 ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Simulation Exercise (ARDEX) is scheduled to take place in Viet Nam in October.

Stalls overflow with bouquets in the markets, blooms hang from pot plants in the streets and flower growers make hay while the sun shines. It's spring festival fever. Hoai Nam reports.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Parking lots in big cities have dramatically hiked fees as Tet approaches, defying cutoffs set by local authorities.

The famous comedian Xuan Bac has sued the DMC film studio and the Viet Sky Art and Event Co for alleged copyright violation, complaining that a comedy routine he performed was reproduced

 Troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry will not launch its new models in Japan, reports said on Friday, effectively heralding a pull-out from a booming smartphone market

 VietNamNet Bridge – Five new steel mills with a combined capacity of 1.5 million tons per year will start operations this year, making supply further exceed demand and leading to a fiercer competition in the local steel market.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam Association of Fine Arts has put on show 300 artworks on to celebrate the lunar Year of the Snake.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Industrial park workers and migrant workers in urban areas are making their journeys home to celebrate Tet with support from their employers or labour unions,

VietNamNet Bridge – The stabilizing of the dong/dollar exchange rate over the last two years has made the local currency depreciate by 20 percent, which has hindered exports.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Prices have risen at traditional markets in HCM City on essential goods as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday approaches.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Flower Festival on Nguyen Hue Street in Ho Chi Minh City opened on February 7.

VietNamNet Bridge – It takes tourists four hours to reach Tan Quy Dong flower village in Sa Dec Town in Dong Thap Province from HCMC but it is worth every second when they see the beauty

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam will do its utmost to intensify ASEAN’s joint efforts to build a single, united community by 2015.

VietNamNet Bridge – In the dry season, residents of Bay Nui in Tinh Bien and Tri Ton districts, An Giang province) go to the forest to hunt queen termites, scorpions, etc., which are rumored to be good for men’s virility.

VietNamNet Bridge - In three days, the Hong Phuc Pagoda in Hanoi made 2,000 banh chung to give to the poor and the disadvantaged people.

Analysts all keep optimistic when giving predictions about the stock market performance in 2013 after several years of staying gloomy.

Art schools have all called for their autonomy in enrolling students. They want the right to decide how many students to receive and what exam subjects students need to take.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam will send two representatives to compete at the 2013 Asia Marathon Championships scheduled for February 24 in Hong Kong (China).

VietNamNet Bridge - In 2012, about 3.5 million Vietnamese traveled abroad, of which China alone attracted 1.1 million Vietnamese visitors.

VietNamNet Bridge – Below are the people who are bright stars in Vietnam’s sky of art in 2012.

 VietNamNet Bridge – At midnight on the 2013 Lunar New Year’s Eve, fireworks will be set off around the country.

Businessmen have become more picky when choosing the first caller for the New Year Day.

Medical workers who help women to determine the sex of their child during the early stages of pregnancy before birth will be fined VND10-20 million, 30 per cent higher than before.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Tu Do Gallery in District 1 has opened a spring exhibition featuring Nguyen Van Phuong, Van Chien, Tran Thi Thu Ha, Le Tuan Anh and Nguyen Xuan Anh.