The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Ho Chi Minh City was bustling last weekend as young visitors flocked to pose for photos with a meditating frog statue and a collection of animal sculptures.

Chinese companies are accelerating a shift toward higher-tech and precision electronics investment in Vietnam, where their total registered capital has reached about US$36 billion across 6,386 active projects, industry representatives said at a recent conference in Ho Chi Minh City.

Young Vietnamese chess player Dau Khuong Duy, 15, secured the championship at the Bangkok Chess Club Open 2026 held in Thailand on Sunday afternoon after nine rounds of competition.

Manchester City reignited the Premier League title race as Erling Haaland ended his scoring drought with the decisive goal in a breathless 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Sunday, cutting the gap at the top to three points with a game in hand.

A gunman killed seven of his children and an eighth minor in a domestic violence incident on Sunday in Shreveport, Louisiana, before police fatally shot him during a vehicle chase, authorities said.

Australia's NEXTDC said on Monday it plans to raise A$1.5 billion ($1.07 billion) to accelerate the rollout of its S4 Sydney data centre and align with initial delivery timelines.

Good morning from Vietnam!

Vietnam will host the Mister Cosmopolitan 2026 pageant this September in Nha Trang, a famed beach destination in Khanh Hoa Province, marking another international men’s beauty contest staged in the country.

GENEVA -- Police in Austria said late on Saturday that rat poison was found inside a jar of HiPP baby food, following a recall of the product from more than 1,000 SPAR supermarkets in the country over safety fears.

Large bands of thunderstorm clouds are sweeping across northern Vietnam, bringing widespread rain to multiple provinces, including Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho, Hanoi, Hung Yen, and Ninh Binh, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Police in Hung Yen Province, northern Vietnam on Saturday announced the arrest of a Chinese national who allegedly fired a handgun following a traffic collision in a residential area before fleeing the scene.

Experts and parents in Vietnam are debating whether children should be banned from social media, but an environmental engineer argued that teaching digital skills is a more effective solution than outright restrictions, as children increasingly rely on online platforms for both learning and daily communication.

Overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern economic hub, fell sharply year on year in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting weaker global conditions and seasonal factors, according to the State Bank of Vietnam's Region 2 branch.

South Korean sculptor Kim Yun Shin wields a chainsaw with a quiet focus, refining a craft the 91-year-old has honed over decades spent far from home.

It's a bitter pill for video gamers: a growing number of older but still-popular titles are being dropped by publishers -- with servers going dark overnight -- in a practice the EU is being urged to outlaw.

Vietnamese urban households and businesses are increasingly turning to electric stoves and vehicles as electricity costs become more competitive and the push for green living accelerates.

Vietnam’s FPT Digital Retail JSC said weakening demand and rising prices for laptops and mobile phones are pressuring its core technology retail business, prompting the company to hold back the expansion of its FPT Shop chain while shifting toward lower-priced products and private-label offerings.

Australia and Vietnam have built a strong and warm partnership, while events like the ‘Taste of Australia’ program have helped strengthen bilateral ties, heard the Taste of Australia 2026 Gala Reception held in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.

More than 20 people in Nghe An Province, north-central Vietnam were hospitalized with suspected food poisoning after eating ‘banh mi’ purchased from a local shop in Dien Chau Commune, health officials confirmed on Saturday.

Hoa Phat Steel Pipe Company Limited and local authorities on Saturday inaugurated a steel pipe plant worth VND2.6 trillion (US$98.7 million) in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam.

The Taste of Australia Expo opened in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, featuring 40 booths displaying a wide range of premium Australian food, beverages, and supplements.

Hanoi police on Friday warned that QR code-enabled photobooth services pose risks of personal data leaks due to security vulnerabilities in some systems.

Storms and tropical depressions in the East Vietnam Sea are expected to be more active than average from May to July and affect Vietnam’s mainland more frequently, before easing later in the season, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said.

BEIJING -- More than 300 humanoid robots participating in China's second robot half-marathon on Sunday will be facing tougher terrain designed to test their technical advancements, as Beijing seeks to develop the industry into a major pillar of its economy.

CHICAGO -- The U.S. State Department on Friday said it had supported HIV treatment for 20.6 million people as of September last year, including 3 million people whose care was provided by their own governments rather than the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), while testing rates dropped sharply due to funding cutbacks.

Police in Thai Nguyen Province, northern Vietnam have detained three people, including a food supplier, a former school principal, and an accountant, over alleged bribery linked to the supply of substandard food to a local school, the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday.

Vietnam’s Party General Secretary and State President To Lam returned to Hanoi by special train on Friday, concluding a four-day state visit to China.

Turkey is committed to strengthening relations with Vietnam and taking bilateral ties to a higher level, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during talks with Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man in Istanbul on Thursday.

A tornado injured one person in Phu Tho Province, northern Vietnam on Friday morning, while strong winds and heavy rain uprooted a large tree in Thai Nguyen Province, killing a woman.

The sound of tinkling bells drifts through an alley in central Seoul, an unmistakable sign that a shaman is near -- although in this case the mystic is a robot powered by artificial intelligence.

A Paris court on Thursday handed a former silverware keeper at France's presidential palace a two-year sentence for stealing hundreds of thousands of euros worth of luxury items between 2023 and 2025.

NANTERRE, France -- France has seen more than forty cases of kidnappings or hostage takings linked to cryptocurrencies since January, a worrying surge since last year as criminals seek to extort digital currency investors for ransom, authorities said Thursday.

A 56-year-old American chef has traveled thousands of miles from the United States to Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam to undergo cataract surgery, after being told he would have to wait nine months for treatment in his home country.

All eight people on board a helicopter were killed when it crashed in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province, authorities said on Friday as search teams tried to retrieve the bodies and wreckage.

Purple, foul-smelling water affecting households in Thanh Hoa Province, north-central Vietnam since Tuesday was caused by untreated wastewater discharged by a local company, according to authorities.