Vietnam steadfastly pursues the policy of ensuring full enforcement of basic rights and freedom for each citizen, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc has written in an article on the occasion of World Human Rights Day (December 10).

With an annual growth rate of 7-8 percent per annum, the Vietnamese lubricant market has attracted foreign brands, especially as Vietnam has now signed many free trade agreements (FTAs). 

 Ha Noi People's Court yesterday held a session for the trial of three men accused of swindling people of their money through a Facebook scam.

 Malaysian-born actress Michelle Yeoh, who starred in the well-known martial arts film ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 1’, is on a business trip to Ho Chi Minh City, reports local newspaper Zing.vn.

 French pop-rock singer Sophie Huriaux, better known by her stage name La Grande Sophie, will perform in Ho Chi Minh City on December 11 before flying to Hanoi for her performance the next day.

 Two Vietnamese writers have received the Mekong River Literature Prize together with ten authors from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, China and Myanmar.

Vietnam could run up a US$4 billion trade deficit for the whole year after three consecutive years of a trade surplus, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) said.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday sent an official dispatch to ministries and investors for construction of a hydropower system and a trans-Asia waterway route section on the Red River.

 Final consumption expenditure (percent of GDP) in Vietnam was estimated at 70 percent last year by the World Bank with household consumption accounting for 90 percent, making the country among Asia’s top 5 retail markets.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is among five countries in the world with the most plastic waste discarded into the ocean. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Since the first iPhone 2G was launched on the market in 2007, nine iPhone generations with 12 models have been marketed. Many Vietnamese fans of iPhones have begun to be a bit bored with the phone.

Vietnam will further co-operate with its neighbours and the international community to tackle drug trafficking in an attempt to make the ASEAN bloc drug-free, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said.

 Councilors of HCM City have assembled for a four-day meeting to vote for new leaders of the municipal People's Committee and discussion of several urgent issues as well as a review of socio-economic development.

Members of National Assembly Standing Committee started its 43rd meeting yesterday, focusing on preparations for the last session of 13th legislature expected to be opened next March.

President Truong Tan Sang and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko held talks in Hanoi on December 9, discussing ways to further lift economic and trade ties to a new height.

 The HCMC departments of industry-trade and health have announced 246 safe food selling points of five units in the city.

Five years ago, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) kicked off a pilot 2011-2015 program on teaching math and natural sciences in English at 30 percent of high schools in large cities. However, the target has been difficult to reach.

 Lobster farmers in some central coastal provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen are complaining about being cheated by Chinese businessmen who are buying their products at cheap prices.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Multi-billion USD refinery projects are being implemented very slowly while the operating Dung Quat oil refinery project has constantly asked the Vietnamese government for support and incentives.

 Instant coffee producers operating in Vietnam are expected to produce roughly 675,000 metric tons of instant coffee in 2015, according to estimates provided by the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association.