Over 100 people are missing at sea after a boat carrying refugees from Libya sank in waters near the southern Italian island of Lampedusa early Wednesday.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers from a consortium led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the University of Miami, and . . . , identified four new genes linked to Alzheimer's disease.

VietNamNet Bridge – On the the third day of the third lunar month or Tet Han Thuc (Cold Food Festival), Vietnamese families  offer banh troi and banh chay to their ancestors. Hanoians no longer make the cakes at home but buy them.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has set a target of increasing rice production by 1 million tons this year to ensure food security under instructions from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

VietNamNet Bridge – Many readers emailed VietNamNet to support the idea that Hanoi may have two ancient turtles.

VietNamNet Bridge - Taiwan-owned Hiep Phuoc Power Company Limited, the first privately-owned power project in Vietnam, has had its hands burnt getting its price increase proposal into action.

VietNamNet Bridge – It is now a growing tendency of Vietnamese universities to cooperate with foreign universities to enroll and train students as a part of their in the plans to expand the scale of educational training.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Price Management Department is undertaking a nationwide audit of prices to curb unreasonable hikes, director of the department Nguyen Tien Thoa has said.

VietNamNet Bridge - Eighty-seven out of over 100 securities companies have posted their 2010 business results, and 24 of these incurred losses last year which totalled a combined VND574 billion (US$27.5 million).

VietNamNet Bridge – Developing software parks proves to be an important task in order to turn Vietnam into an information technology power. However, it is not an easy mission.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam has a significant source of renewable energies, but fails to exploit the clean energies due to a shortage of detailed legal frame and mechanisms, experts say.  

Defending champions Inter Milan collapsed to a stunning 5-2 home defeat by Schalke 04 in their Champions League quarter-final first leg at the San Siro on Tuesday.

VietNamNet Bridge – Singer Tung Duong, who is called “Vietnam’s Lady Gaga,” won two prizes at the Dedication Awards 2010.

Vietnamese badminton ace Nguyen Tien Minh, the world’s number 7, booked a place to the second round of the 2011 Yonex Australian Open Grand Prix Gold after securing a 2-0 win over a Malaysian contender today.

Trio Tran Quoc Cuong, Hoang Xuan Vinh and youngster Ha Minh Thanh will be competing in their favourite pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in Changwon, South Korea this week.

Domestic coaches refused or didn’t meet the criteria set by the Vietnam Football Federation so the successor of Henrique Calisto will be a foreign coach. VFF has negotiated with five foreign candidates, focusing on the two German candidates.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has announced it will conduct surprise inspections on old but operational aircrafts in Vietnam. The decision has been made after holes appeared in the top and fuselage of a series of Boeing 737-300 in the US.

The qualification trials for the Viet Nam 2011 Robot Creation Contest for southern provinces kicked off yesterday at Rach Mieu Gymnasium, with the participation of 73 teams from 18 universities, colleges and vocational schools.

VietNamNet Bridge - Nearly 1.5 million foreigners visited Viet Nam in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of nearly 12 percent, the General Statistics Office said.

Using bicycles, buses or motorbikes with smaller capacity to save petrol, stop purchasing new clothes and furniture, reducing budget for food, no longer using air conditioners, etc. are the measures being used by many families right now.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam Athletics Federation has set up a table of standards to choose a team of athletes to contest the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia in November.

Workers managed to stop highly radioactive water from flowing into the Pacific Ocean from a crippled Japanese nuclear power plant early Wednesday morning by injecting a chemical compound,

VietNamNet Bridge - Ho Chi Minh City Court Wednesday handed out death sentences to the two murderers of Phu Nhuan District Party Committee’s deputy secretary Dang Thu Hong last October.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have up to ten deputy ministers while they are allowed to have up to four.

VietNamNet Bridge – Tourism officials spoke to Viet Nam News about the importance of co-operation among ASEAN countries on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Ha Noi yesterday, April 5.