Poor people, especially rural people, are drinking no-brand alcohol which they believe to be rice alcohol but they don’t know that they are consuming fake alcohol which is very harmful for your health. VietNamNet reports.

VietNamNet Bridge - “Đờn ca tài tử” -- a fading genre of folk music mainly developed and spread in the south of Vietnam from the last century -- will be submitted to UNESCO by March, 2011 for recognition as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

VietNamNet Bridge - Five of the commercial banks in Vietnam either have established or are preparing for expanding overseas, mostly in Southeast Asian countries.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam Airlines announced Wednesday it would increase further flights on major domestic routes in January to meet the surge in demand for upcoming Tet (the lunar New Year) which falls on February 2, 2011.

HCM City grants $10.3 million unemployment benefits to residents; Catering plants pose health risks; Journalist handcuffed for allegedly assaulting cop; Hanoi gift clock out of order; Reclaiming public properties drags on in city    

Digital libraries gain popularity; International seminar on amateur music to be held in HCM City; Hanoi receives 215 objects excavated from Thang Long Citadel; Award-winning documentary to be screened      

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese taxpayers are complaining the current personal income tax is too high compared to rising inflation, citing unreasonable tax on stipends and too low a deduction for dependents.

Dr. Tran Hoang Ngan, member of the National Advisory Council for Monetary Policies, said that to curb CPI at 7% in 2011, it is necessary to tighten spending to reduce the budget deficit and control trade gap.

A dozen of workers devoted themselves to beautify the Long Bien Bridge, a historical relic of Hanoi, in the coldest spell of the year.  

A project to restore the O Quan Chuong (Quan Chuong Gate) in Hanoi’s Old Quarters saw its first phase accomplished on January 4.  

VietNamNet Bridge – Miss Vietnam 2008 Thuy Dung and Vietnam’s leading models introduced the latest fashion collections for the upcoming Spring and Summer in HCM City on January 4.

VietNamNet Bridge – Truong Thanh Hang, Vu Thi Huong (track-and-field) and Le Bich Phuong (karate) are the top competitors for the Outstanding National Athlete title 2010.

VietNamNet Bridge - State oil and gas group Petrovietnam has delayed a plan to sell offshore bonds worth US$1 billion, a state-run news website reported, after Vietnam's credit ratings were downgraded last year.

VietNamNet Bridge – The State Audit of Vietnam (SAV) plans to conduct audits at 151 state-owned agencies in 2011, focusing on financial and banking sector.

VietNamNet Bridge - An Australian scientist has discovered an unusual species of frog in southern Vietnam.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese Embassy in Greece opened in Athens on December 16, 2010.

VietNamNet Bridge - The legendary Brazilian footballer Pele will attend the third coffee festival on March 10-13 in Buon Ma Thuoc city in the central highland province of Dak Lak.

VietNamNet Bridge – The construction of Saigon 2 Bridge with six lanes and investment capital of more than VND1.5 trillion will start this year. Seventeen other important transport projects will also be implemented.

Dong Nai launches real estate group; Tet food exports begin; Technip eyes refining venture in Vietnam; 2010 inward remittances set fresh record; Tax cut by up to 6% on 1,000 imports; 2010 inward remittances set fresh record

More than five million international tourists travelled to Viet Nam in 2010 – the highest number for 20 years. Last year, the domestic tourism industry also posted significant growth of 35 per cent.

VietNamNet Bridge – Spam messages, a problem that once caused headaches for mobile phone users, have returned. However, state management agencies still do not know how to deal with the problem.

Two packages detonated on Thursday at two government buildings in the U.S. state of Maryland, but caused no serious injuries, state authorities said.

There are 28.5 million debit and credit cards in Vietnam’s market. While people have to queue in front of ATMs  nearly 50,000 POS are left idle.

VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoian couple Bich Thuy and Thanh Trung chose the Vuong Mansion – an old two-storey wooden house in the Dong Van karst plateau in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, as the background for their wedding photos.