A passenger boat carrying 23 people sank after colliding with a stone-laden ferry on Thac Ba Lake in northern Vietnam on Saturday evening, leaving six people missing, authorities said.

Several foreign investors say they remain confident in Vietnam's investment environment but hope the government will press ahead with reforms in areas such as labor policy flexibility, institutional development, and long-term regulatory stability to make the country even more attractive to foreign capital.

MORIOKA, IWATE PREF., -- The prefectural government of Iwate, northeastern Japan, said Saturday that it has confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a poultry farm in the town of Kanegasaki.

Can Tho International Airport, the first and oldest international airport in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, operated no international flights in 2025.

With its former imperial capital charm and renowned scenic landscapes, Ninh Binh Province ranked among Vietnam’s top destinations for the 2026 Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

Vietnam's 2025 Land Law opens the door for millions of overseas Vietnamese to be legally recognized as homeowners in their homeland.

Authorities recovered the body of a foreign man off Nha Trang beach in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam on Friday as rough seas during the ongoing 2026 Lunar New Year holiday prompted multiple rescue operations, officials said.

Good morning from Vietnam!

More than 51,000 international visitors traveled to Vietnam’s resort island of Phu Quoc during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday, accounting for a significant share of the nearly 170,000 arrivals recorded over a five-day period, authorities said.

Police in Ho Chi Minh City are investigating the death of a foreign man found at a hotel in the city’s Hanh Thong Tay Ward, Phap Luat Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh (Ho Chi Minh City Law) reported on Friday, citing authorities.

Vietnam’s central coastal city of Da Nang received nearly 4,200 international cruise passengers during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday, including more than 1,000 people aboard the Seabourn Encore, which docked on Thursday, authorities said.

A recent survey shows that digital communication continues to shape how families in Vietnam stay connected alongside traditional in-person gatherings, reflecting a broader shift toward online interaction in daily life, even during Tet (Lunar New Year holiday), the most important annual time of family reunion.

The Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Temple of Literature, Hoa Lo Prison and 14 other historical and scenic sites in Hanoi are offering free admission through February 22, the sixth day of the 2026 Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

Tesla has reduced the price of Cyberbeast, its most-expensive Cybertruck pickup truck model, to $99,990 from $114,990 in the United States, according to pricing information on the automaker's website on Thursday.

Alphabet Inc's Google and Southeast Asian technology conglomerate Sea Ltd announced a new tie-up on Thursday that will develop artificial intelligence tools for Sea's e-commerce and gaming products.

A tourist boat anchored off Phu Quoc Special Zone in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam suddenly caught fire in the early hours of Wednesday, with flames later spreading to a nearby fish raft, causing an estimated VND1.9 billion (US$73,161) in damage.

The chief executive of Lotte Entertainment Vietnam knelt and bowed three times before an audience during a cinetour event in Hanoi for the 2026 Lunar New Year (Tet) film ‘Mui Pho,’ urging viewers to support the movie as it posts the lowest box office revenue among this year’s four Vietnamese Tet releases.

Johnson & Johnson is preparing a potential sale of its orthopedics unit, in a deal that could top $20  billion, with the company eyeing private equity firms as the most likely buyers, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Police in Can Tho City, southern Vietnam said on Thursday they had arrested a 29-year-old man for allegedly snatching jewelry from a woman, causing her to lose control of her motorbike and die in a collision.

Hospitals across Vietnam welcomed 2,011 newborns on Wednesday, the second day of the Lunar New Year, according to a Ministry of Health report.

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TOKYO -- Japan's transport ministry plans to ban the use of power banks on airplanes as early as April, it was learned Wednesday.

Party General Secretary To Lam witnessed the signing and exchange of contracts and cooperation agreements between Vietnam and the United States in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday afternoon (local time), covering science and technology, digital transformation, aviation, and healthcare.

OTSU, SHIGA PREF. -- Japanese police arrested a 22-year-old Syrian man on Wednesday on suspicion of abandoning a woman's body in a wooded area in Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, western Japan.

A boat carrying seven people, including seniors and children, capsized on the Gianh River in Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam on Thursday, the third day of the Lunar New Year, killing two and leaving two others missing.

BERLIN -- Chancellor Friedrich Merz backed growing calls in Germany for controls on access to social media platforms by children, saying he had become increasingly persuaded of the need for compulsory limits by evidence of the harm done by the deliberate spreading of fake news and other forms of online manipulation.

Vietnam has been ranked the world’s cheapest country for travel and expatriate living for the fifth consecutive year, with 89 percent of foreign respondents satisfied with the cost of living there, according to French news outlet Journal du Net, citing global surveys of foreign residents.

The domestic market has become more vibrant on the second day of the Lunar New Year (Tet) as shopping activity increases compared to the first day, reported the Agency for Domestic Market Surveillance and Development under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Pauline Tamesis, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, has affirmed that the country’s growing diplomatic network and balanced foreign policy position it as a bridge-builder in an increasingly divided world, while deeper cooperation with the UN will focus on climate action, inclusive development, and the transition toward a high-income, sustainable economy.

Good morning from Vietnam!

Police in Lam Dong Province, located in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, have arrested two 18-year-old suspects just 16 hours after they allegedly robbed a jewelry shop on Monday, the eve of the 2026 Lunar New Year (Tet).

TOKYO -- Japanese convenience store chain Lawson Inc. will expand into India, seeing high growth potential in the world's most populous country, officials have said.

HIROSHIMA -- The main tower of Hiroshima Castle will close on March 22 due to aging, marking the end of public access inside the building after it was destroyed by the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing and restored as a symbol of reconstruction of the western Japan city.

With a compound annual growth rate forecast to reach nearly 40 percent during the 2025-31 period and ranking sixth worldwide in trust and adoption, Vietnam is rapidly emerging as a new ‘golden land’ in the global artificial intelligence race.

FRANKFURT -- European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde plans to leave her job before next year's French presidential election to allow Emmanuel Macron to have an input into picking her successor, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.