BANGKOK - Polls opened in Thailand on Sunday in a general election defined by a three-way battle between the country's conservative, progressive and populist camps, with no single party expected to secure a clear majority, prolonging the spectre of political instability.

A vibrant fireworks display lit up the sky over Vinhomes Green Paradise Can Gio in Ho Chi Minh City, marking the opening of the Can Gio Spring Festival on Saturday night.

A woman was charged this week by police in Vietnam’s Lam Dong Province after live-streaming pornographic videos from a hotel to collect fees from viewers.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam and President of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Hun Sen witnessed the signing and exchange of cooperation documents between Vietnamese and Cambodian ministries, agencies, and localities in Phnom Penh on Friday, as part of the Vietnamese leader’s state visit to Cambodia.

More than 30 foreign diplomats and their families joined a spring friendship tour in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday morning, immersing themselves in the colors, rituals, and warmth of Vietnam’s traditional Tet, or Lunar New Year, in the days leading up to the holiday.

The Ministry of Education and Training will roll out a nationwide plan to survey the English proficiency of teachers, but the survey results will be kept confidential.

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Vietnam welcomed nearly 2.5 million international visitors in January 2026, the highest monthly total on record for the country’s tourism industry, official data showed.

Khanh Hoa Province, home to the famed beach destination of Nha Trang in south-central Vietnam, has announced a new tourism development strategy aiming to generate US$9 billion in revenue between 2026 and 2030, positioning itself among the country’s top five destinations.

More than 70 tourists from Poland joined local residents in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta in early February to experience traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) customs, as travel firms expand culture-focused tours for inbound visitors.

Vietnamese mathematician Ngo Bao Chau, the country’s only Fields Medal laureate, will officially join the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in June 2026 after 15 years at the University of Chicago in the U.S.

BRUSSELS -- TikTok was charged on Friday with breaching EU online content rules over what the bloc's regulator said were its addictive features and was told to change the design of its app or risk a fine of as much as 6% of owner ByteDance's global turnover.

SHOMPOLE, Kenya -- The dozens of cow and goat carcasses scattered around Maria Katanga's family compound testify to the grinding impact of an ongoing drought on Kenya's pastoralist communities who rely on livestock for survival.

A 97-year-old H’Mong textile artisan in Vietnam’s northern highlands has become an unlikely social media sensation after a short video posted by a U.S. travel blogger showed her smiling and greeting visitors in English.

Phuc Long Dragon is going to launch its first flagship store at 82 Hang Dieu Street, Hanoi on Sunday, marking its initial step to bring the tea culture close to capital city residents.

SEOUL -- South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said on Saturday it had accidentally given away more than $40 billion worth of bitcoins to customers as promotional rewards, triggering a sharp selloff on the exchange.

LAHORE -- Extravagantly coloured kites dueled above Lahore and cries of victory rang out from rooftops on Friday, as the city celebrated the lifting of an 18-year ban on a spectacular three-day traditional Punjabi kite-flying festival.

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TOKYO -- Kindai University said Thursday that it has achieved the world's first complete aquaculture of blackthroat seaperch, a popular and expensive fish in Japan.

ZURICH -- The World Economic Forum has launched an independent investigation into its CEO Borge Brende to clarify his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the organization said on Thursday.

Phu Quoc Special Zone, an island in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam, welcomed nearly one million visitors in January, driven by a sharp rise in international arrivals.

KARIWA, NIIGATA PREF. -- Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. announced Friday that it will restart the No. 6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, on Monday.

Vietnam and Laos have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening all-round cooperation, focusing on stronger economic, trade, and investment ties and working toward a long-term goal of lifting bilateral trade to US$10 billion, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The police agency of Gia Lai Province in central Vietnam held a press conference on Friday morning to release detailed information on the arrest of suspects involved in the January 19 armed robbery at Vietcombank’s Tra Ba branch in Hoi Phu Ward, which has drawn significant public attention.

Australian undercover inspectors have found pubs fail to pour enough beer and other alcohol into customers' glasses for nearly a third of the drinks they serve.

Ho Chi Minh City police on Wednesday conducted a pilot test of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, aiming to study their application to crime prevention, security management, and operational response across the city.

Taiwan’s Cathay Financial Holdings has expressed strong interest in playing a deeper role in Vietnam’s newly established International Financial Center, signaling growing global attention to the Southeast Asian country’s ambitions to become a regional financial hub.

Canada and France, which both adamantly oppose Donald Trump’s wish to control Greenland, will open consulates in the Danish autonomous territory’s capital on Friday, in a strong show of support for the local government.

NEW DELHI -- India has lifted limits on the amount of wheat stocks that traders, wholesalers and retailers can hold, the government said in a statement on Thursday, citing comfortable domestic supplies and easing prices.

Lam Dong Province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands has approved adjustments to expand two alumina projects, with a combined investment of VND59.855 trillion (US$2.3 billion), making them the largest projects ever undertaken in the province.

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Ho Chi Minh City will inaugurate its COVID-19 memorial park on February 12, according to the city’s Department of Construction.

TOKYO -- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, aims to launch the improved Epsilon S rocket in fiscal 2026, which starts in April, using an existing second-stage engine, officials said Wednesday.

SAITAMA -- So-called care beauty, which involves providing older adults with makeup, hand care and light aesthetic treatments at nursing homes and other facilities, is spreading across Japan, aiming to improve seniors' quality of life and encourage their social engagement.

TOKYO -- PokePark Kanto, the first permanent theme park based on the popular Japanese video game series Pocket Monster, or Pokemon, opened inside the Yomiuriland amusement park straddling Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture on Thursday.