VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 1,000 overseas Vietnamese who returned home from 21 countries attended a New-Year meeting, held by the HCM City Party Committee on the evening of January 17.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy met President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy on Tuesday, exchanging views on combating the ongoing eurozone financial crisis.

Fireworks to light up New Year’s Eve; Army TV channel to be launched; French artist to host solo piano concert in Hanoi; HCMC Opera House to host special performances of ‘Viet Spirit’ for Lunar New Year  

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed his wish that the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) would continue to serve as the country's primary news source during his visit yesterday in advance of the Tet holiday.

The Prime Minister has allowed national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines to take over the entire state-owned capital of budget airline Jetstar Pacific.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Transport's Inspectorate on Tuesday asked the HCM City Department of Transport to revoke the licences of two companies that were inspected recently.

Vietnam's top player Nguyen Tien Minh has risen to the seventh place in the Badminton World Federation rankings.

Vietnam’s top leaders have exchanged congratulatory messages with their Chinese counterparts to mark the 62nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries (January 18).

VietNamNet Bridge – Authorities in the northern province of Nam Dinh announced plans to improve public order at Tran Temple, where a scrabble for papers stamped with the holy royal seal led to a stampede last year.

An agreement was signed between the Ministry of National Defence and the Austrian Government in Ha Noi yesterday on the provision of a project to upgrade ministry-run vocational training schools with funding from Austria.

VietNamNet Bridge – The nation's first experimental photography contest was officially launched yesterday, Jan 18, by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to encourage photographers to experiment with their art.

VietNamNet Bridge - A 15-year-old boy from the southern province of Kien Giang, who tended ducks in Can Tho City, died of H5N1 flu after having temperature and treating himself with medicine.

Laos' leading mobile operator Star Telecom said it posted a revenue of US$110 million last year, an increase of 80 per cent over 2010.

The plan to change office and school hours in Hanoi, from February 1, 2012, faced doubts from delegates at a meeting held by the municipal Department of Transport on January 17.

VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has issued a guiding decree on aeroplane seizure procedures, following an ordinance issued by the National Assembly Standing Committee 12 months ago.

Having the bad debt ratios increasing and the market share decreasing, operating in a risky legal framework are the real situation of finance leasing companies nowadays.

This year the Vietnamese government had announced the Tet holiday schedule much earlier, prompting people to rush to book tours, with   travel agencies having less time to prepare for a variety of interesting tours. 

The Foreign Ministry of Thailand has officially confirmed that 10 crewmembers of fishing vessel CM 99219 TS which sank in the Gulf of Thailand earlier this month were arrested by a Royal Thai naval ship.

VietNamNet Bridge – The demand for part-time domestic helpers in big cities such as Ha Noi has soared during the run up to Tet, and the cost of hiring help has sky-rocketed as well.

VietNamNet Bridge – Construction of the Go Dua Intersection, including a kilometre-long road leading to the unused Go Dua Flyover, was completed in Thu Duc District in HCM City's northern entry point yesterday, Jan 18, and opened to traffic.