New Facebook feature explores future visions of sharing

Facebook on Thursday introduced a new feature called Open Graph, enabling users to access and share a wide range of media and lifestyle content on the social network site.

Vietnam has yet an appeal for Japanese tourists

Vietnam is still not a familiar destination for Japanese leisure travelers, even though Vietnam ranks 12th out of 30 countries welcoming Japanese visitors in 2010, said a Japanese tourism entrepreneur.

Diet quality linked to mental health in teenagers: Australian study

Eating lots of fruit and vegetables could help protect teenagers from mental health problems, according to an Australian study published on Thursday in the scientific journal PLoS One.

Vietnamese Phu Quoc fish sauce brand registered as Hong Kong’s

A company in Hong Kong (Viet Huong Company) has registered Phu Quoc fish sauce as its exclusive trademark in Hong Kong, China. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Phu Quoc Fish Sauce proves to be too slow in making reactions to the behavior.

Natural heritages cry for help

Tens of quarries are operating in the buffer zone and dozens of restaurants selling wild meat are located on the way to Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park in Quang Binh province, a world natural heritage. But the local authorities do nothing.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 24/9

Oversupply depresses fruit prices; Phu Quoc mega project threat; Long Thanh investors to gain wings; Paper project set for wrap up; Property market pins hopes on trusts estate investment trusts; China probe policy slows rubber exports  

Vietnam Supermodel’s contestants look wild in outdoor photo shoots

VietNamNet Bridge – A model posed with an elephant. Others played a tiger or a Roman warrior. Many contestants sought unique ideas for the outdoor photo shoot.

Yemeni president returns from Riyadh

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to his restive nation Friday morning from Saudi Arabia, the state-run TV and Saba news agency reported.

Hand-foot-mouth disease now widespread in Vietnam

The Ministry of Health has claimed that so far 52,000 people from 61 cities and provinces across the country have contracted the hand-foot-mouth disease while 109 persons have succumbed to it, within this year.

Hanoi, HCMC to limit motorcycle traffic on trial

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued strict guidelines to limit motorcycle traffic in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on trial, as part of a pilot scheme to ease traffic congestion nationwide.

UN praises VN’s successful MDGs implementation

The UN highly values Vietnam ’s success in implementing millennium development goals (MDGs) as well as its effective participation in the “One-UN” initiative in the country.

Dengue fever crisis in Pakistan deepens as deaths toll swells

Death toll from an epidemic of dengue fever, which has gripped Pakistan's most populous and eastern province of Punjab, has now reached 62 as another man died on Thursday, health officials and local media reported.

Baby formula prices escalating, state management agencies powerless

The baby formula prices have been decreasing significantly in the world market, but the prices are getting more and more expensive in the domestic market.

ASEAN nations bridge rural digital gap

The digital gap between rural and urban areas remains a challenge for people in the rural communities of ASEAN member countries, who struggle to get better access to key services such as education and healthcare.

ART & ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF 23/9

Campaign launched to promote Ha Long as world’s natural wonder; 40 years of German video art on display; Vietnam joins cultural fair in Netherlands; Hanoi to spend $37 mln on museum displays; Hanoi plans huge entertainment park complex       

‘Yellow autumn' draws visitors to Mu Cang Chai

VietNamNet Bridge – In autumn, the fields of Mu Cang Chai turn varying shades of brilliant yellow and are filled with life as ethnic Mong farmers, wearing traditional attire, harvest the abundance of ripe rice

Head of Committee for People’s Aspiration appointed

National Assembly Chairman, Nguyen Sinh Hung, on September 21 announced the NA Standing Committee’s decision to appoint Nguyen Duc Hien, Vice Chair of the NA Office, as the chief of the NA’s Committee for People’s Aspirations.

Cong Vinh leaves Hanoi T&T to Hanoi ACB

VietNamNet Bridge –Vietnam’s top striker, Le Cong Vinh, and Hanoi T&T FC planed to sign their second 3-year contract today, September 23, but the striker changed his mind at the last minute.

Quang Nam’s $20 million monument spurs controversy

Quang Nam province has decided to raise capital for the largest monument to pay tribute to mothers of martyred soldiers (called heroic mothers), to VND410 billion (nearly $20 million), five times higher than the initial investment estimate.

30,000 people displaced by floods in S. Philippines

At least 30,000 in the southern Philippines have been displaced by flash floods in two days of heavy downpour, local official said on Friday.

Vietnam Supermodel contestants with swimsuits

VietNamNet Bridge – In the morning of September 20, finalists of the Vietnam Supermodel 2011, joined the swimsuit competition at Prenn Waterfall in Da Lat.

SOCIETY IN BRIEF 23/9

Building firm fined for delayed school project; Crane loses hook, worker injured; Vedan set to pay for pollution violations; Vietnamese killed in Haiti plane crash

Stocks plunge in Europe on recession concerns

European stocks witnessed another dark session on Thursday, after index sank more than 4 percent as the U.S. Federal Reserve pointed to gloomy economic growth in the world's leading economy.

6.8-magnitude quake hits Tonga -- USGS

An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale jolted Tonga at 12:07:04 p.m. Friday (2307 GMT on Thursday), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Import quotas still cannot ease thirst for gold

The State Bank of Vietnam last week granted the quotas to import four tons of gold, aiming to narrow the gap between the domestic and the world’s prices.