Issuing shares to offset debts has become one of the solutions employed by many businesses nowadays.

 The rise in childhood obesity, which has left one in three UK children overweight, may be beginning to level off in the under-10s, a study suggests.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Pham Minh Huan, deputy minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, spoke to Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) about Tet bonuses this year.

 National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has called upon the Vietnamese Party, people and army to unite and fulfil the set 2015 tasks to generate rapid and sustainable development.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Located in the complex of Trang An World Heritage Site in Ninh Binh province, the Trang An eco-tourism resort looks spectacular.

 The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) recently issued Circular No. 43/2014/TT-NHNN (December 25, 2014) on lending in foreign currency by credit institutions and foreign bank branches to residents.

 Around 1,000 Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) will join the programme 'Xuan Que Huong' (Homeland Spring) 2015 which is scheduled to take place in Ho Chi Minh City on February 7-8.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Famed Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia said the true inspiration of creativity was nature and the secret to harmony is to silence the subconscious in order to hear what nature has to say.

 Police find 48 dead monkeys, arrest trader; Consumers confused of nutritional supplements due to advertising; 670kg of gunpowder seized at Laos border; Gasoline tanker explodes, injuring two; HCM City seizes stolen aviation fuel

 Mercedes-Benz to invest $20m in Viet Nam; SeABank offers soft loans; S Korean firms favour Viet Nam; Standard Chartered ups GDP forecast; Rice traders to expand sources; January business shutdowns up 23%

 VietNamNet Bridge – Several weeks before the Lunar New Year (Tet), Nhat Tan, one of several remaining flower villages in Hanoi, has become a tourist attraction.

VietNamNet Bridge – A series of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals have been made recently, which show the attractiveness of the dairy production sector.

VietNamNet Bridge – Dozens of junior colleges (3-year training) have been upgraded into universities (4-5-year training), but the training quality has not matched the expansion.

 Vietnamese citizens under 30 can enter a writing contest to win a round-trip ticket to Brussels.

 The Viet Nam Administration of Tourism has suggested Quang Binh Province postpone any increase in the price of entrance tickets to local caves.

 Railway Project Management Unit's Director-General Le Kim Thanh has permitted the China Railway Sixth Group (CRSG) to resume work on eight locations of the Cat Linh–Ha Dong train project.

 Seventy seven power plants are expected to directly join the electricity market in 2015, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total capacity of the entire national power system.

Vietnam and the US signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on January 29 to improve the nation’s emergency response to disasters by developing an incident command system (ICS).

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has assured the nation that Vietnam’s GDP and inflation are still under control and are expected to hit their targeted 6.2% and 5%, respectively, despite the plunge in oil prices and consumer price index.

Australian author Colleen McCullough, whose best-selling novel The Thorn Birds became a hit TV series, has died at the age of 77.