VietNamNet Bridge – The sixth session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee opened in Hanoi on Mar.19, focusing on contents to improve the legislative body’s operational efficiency.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that Russia is keen to forge closer ties with ASEAN during his talks with his Filipino counterpart Albert del Rozario, in Moscow on Mar. 13.

VietNamNet Bridge – Sara Chang, one of the sexiest and most charming violinists in the world will return to Vietnam next month, the second time since 2010.

Economists have pointed out that Vietnam has to pay a heavy price for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Meanwhile, it can be choosier in the issue and only select the most suitable projects for itself.

VietNamNet Bridge – More than 100 cyclists will compete in a nearly 1,800km ride for the HCM City Television Cycling Cup through 11 cities and provinces such as Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang and HCM City.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has decided to add Dong Ho folk woodcut painting to the list of cultural heritages of Vietnam, that seek UNESCO’s recognition as world cultural heritage in 2012-2016.

VN– RoK military ties on positive move; HCM City boosts cooperation with Rotterdam and Manila; Vietnam seeks stronger parliamentary ties with Japan; VN seeks stronger parliamentary relations

If the state has to pay salaries to many people, including those who work ineffectively, it will be difficult to raise salaries for civil servants, said Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Tran Anh Tuan, in an interview with VietNamNet.

VietNamNet Bridge - Two members of the Vietnamese national rowing squad did not return home with their team after finishing a training course in Australia last week.

VietNamNet Bridge – The second international exhibition for renewable and decentralized energy solutions (Enerexpo Vietnam 2012) will take place in Hanoi on March 21-23.

“We pledge to be the next who defend the country and pay gratefulness to the people who have sacrificed for the country’s sovereignty in the sea,” said Venerable Thich Giac Nghia, who will go to the Truong Sa Archipelago to manage a temple.

VietNamNet Bridge – A newly issued decree approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will afford international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Viet Nam more benefits.

Vietnam, which once had to think to choose the growth model for itself, now once again has to rack its brain to think about whether to license two resort complexes in Vietnam which have the total investment capital of up to six billion dollars.

Three children and an adult were killed in a shooting outside a Jewish school in the southwestern French city of Toulouse on Monday morning, local media reported, raising the toll up from three.

Having realized that the increase of the number of subscribers in big cities has been slowing down; pay-TV service providers are considering approaching the rural market.

Armed "terrorist" groups committed a massacre in the central province of Homs, leaving 14 people killed, the pro-government al-Watan daily reported Monday.

Ten is the highest level in the Vietnamese grade scale, which is given to excellent pieces of school works. However, students now have become tired of receiving 10 grades from teachers.

“Being a fisherman at Vam Sat for one day” is the name of an eco-tour that gives travelers interesting experiences on their visit to Can Gio District, HCMC. The tour is served by Vam Sat Ecological Resort.

Early last week, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered an interest rate cut of one percentage point following reports about a drop in the inflation rate and improved liquidity in the last few months of 2011.

The Canadian province of British Columbia plans to increase its international student population by 50 percent over the next four years through closer educational cooperation with China.

More than a third of major cities saw property prices fall in February, on a yearly basis, and analysts said the trend will continue amid government curbs.

Transport companies have complained that they have been dragging out their existence because of too many kinds of fees, and that the road maintenance fee would kill them outright.

Dang Nang Long is now director of the Lak Lake Travel Co., an affiliate of the Tourism Company of the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. He owns eight elephants, the largest number of tamed elephants throughout the country.

China's auditing authorities said on Monday that 491 million yuan (77.84 million U.S. dollars) had been embezzled from the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway project.

VietNamNet Bridge – “Transfer pricing” - a technique to optimize profit has been popularly used for a long time worldwide, has not got special attention in Vietnam until recently.