The Venice film festival kicked off an art house dominated line-up on Wednesday with a thriller by Mira Nair about a Pakistani man torn between East and West after the September 11 attacks.

 German leader Angela Merkel was due to hold top-level talks Thursday on her second visit to China this year, with Europe's debt crisis taking centre stage as it begins to drag on the two global powers.

The idea to loosen the requirements enterprises must have to be able to import cars has been facing the strong opposition from the enterprises--which have spent much investment money to satisfy the requirements.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has said he wants Vietnam and Australia to make greater efforts to lift their cooperative ties to a new height for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.

 Ambassador committed to boosting EU-Vietnam cooperation; Hanoi, Vientiane seek further judicial cooperation; August revolution, National Day marked abroad; VN diplomats to Kazakhstan, Bangladesh present credentials

Citigroup said Wednesday it had agreed to pay $590 million to settle a suit by investors who accused the bank of misleading them on its subprime mortgage-based security losses in 2007-2008.

In the last 10 years, Vietnam witnessed the wave of localizing the world’s products to provide to Vietnamese clients. Nowadays, it is entering a new development stage, when Vietnamese service providers follow their own ways.

 Vietnam will gradually eliminate the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags in daily life, with an aim to reduce by 40% the number of plastic bags used at supermarkets and shopping malls by 2015.

 While the publishing of textbooks is monopolised by the Education Publishing House, the reference books market is a lucrative market for many publishing companies.

The idea of building a museum of General Vo Nguyen Giap was introduced at a meeting held by the Museum of History and the Association of Historical Science, on the occasion of General Vo Nguyen Giap’s birthday (August 25).

While MOLISA believes that raising the minimum wage is a must, businesses fear that the production costs would be higher, while laborers worry that their actual income would go down.

 VietNamNet Bridge – A Cham tower foundation found in Phong Le Village in March is one of the biggest such structures found in Viet Nam,

…is the big worry about the market decline not only of fledgling air carriers like Air Mekong or Vietjet Air, but also of the national air flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, which is holding more than 70 percent of the market share.

 VietNamNet Bridge – For the last two weeks, a “campaign” to hunt hornets to sell to China has boomed in Hamlet 10 in Dai Nai ward of the central province of Ha Tinh.

 ICA tells Vietnam to play by rules; Consortium pockets $335m deal to action O Mon 1; Asia’s biggest MDF factory commissioned; Sufficient supply of petrol for domestic use: ministry; Vietnam invests in two hydro-electric power plant in Laos

 The Paralympic torch was on Wednesday heading to London in an overnight relay through the countryside of southern England, to arrive in the British capital for the Games' traditional opening ceremony.

 A team of astronomers has found two planets orbiting around a pair of stars roughly 5,000 light years away from the Earth, declaring it the first multi-planet system centering a binary star.

 Classical music performance for charity; Art Photograph Festival marks National Day in HCM City; HCM City photo contest announces winners; Duc Tuan to perform with Asia’s famous opera singer

A lot of conglomerates have been put into a dilemma. Though some investment deals have brought loss, they cannot withdraw capital from the projects.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Many artists have expressed their discontentment over the decision of suspending investigation over Mr. Le Ngoc Minh, former Vice Chief of the Vietnam Cinema Agency.

At the request of the Vietnam Football Federation, two football clubs owned by arrested mogul Nguyen Duc Kien have assigned their executive managers as their temporary representatives while Kien is suspended from football-related activities.

 With oyster, tobacco and watermelon flavoured brews, Italy's craft beers are flourishing despite a punishing recession that is putting thousands of other businesses out of work.

 New education plan signed between Vietnam and Cambodia; Fire burns down communal market; Diplomat's 100th birthday marked; Central region toddler dies from bee stings

An Airbus 321 of Vietnam Airlines had its sliding pontoon burst open when the plane just landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City on August 25, when a passenger naturally opened an emergency door to “get off the plane easily.”

 The newly-crowned Miss Sport Vietnam, Lai Huong Thao, will represent Vietnam at Miss Supranational 2012 beauty pageant from Tuesday until September 15 at the TV Event & Convention Center in Warsaw, Poland.