Good morning from Vietnam!

The annual flood season is an important part of life in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, but the natural cycle of rising waters has changed in recent years, with floods tending to arrive later and reach lower levels.

Vietnam defeated Malaysia 2-0 in the second leg of their 2026 ASEAN Cup semifinal at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on Wednesday, completing a 4-0 aggregate victory to reach the final.

Investigators in Khanh Hoa Province, home to the famed beach destination of Nha Trang in south-central Vietnam, are searching for two men allegedly linked to the transfer of US$12 million overseas through suspected fraudulent customs and banking documents.

A waste-to-energy plant that will convert waste into electricity, with an investment of about US$155 million and a capacity to process 1,500 metric tons of waste per day, broke ground in Nghe An Province on Wednesday, with the project expected to become the largest facility of its kind in central Vietnam.

Thai schools conducted active shooter drills on Wednesday, as authorities moved to strengthen security measures two weeks after a 14-year-old opened fire at a school and killed at least eight people.

Northern Vietnam is forecast to see widespread heavy rain through Thursday as a tropical depression moves westward over the East Vietnam Sea. A new direct air route between Can Tho and Da Lat began operating. The government has proposed reducing the number of offenses subject to the death penalty from 10 to four while adding nine new criminal offenses to the country's Penal Code. And more in our podcast.

Vietnam will look to overturn a long-standing struggle at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi when they host Malaysia in the second leg of their 2026 ASEAN Championship semifinal on Wednesday evening.

At a ceremony marking India’s 80th Independence Day this week, Ho Chi Minh City chairman Nguyen Van Duoc and Indian Consul General Vipra Pandey emphasized closer cooperation toward a shared future.

Vietnam’s Cong An Ha Noi FC will face five Japanese clubs, along with two Chinese sides and one Malaysian opponent, in their debut AFC Champions League Elite campaign, setting up a demanding test for the Vietnamese club but also a valuable opportunity to compete against some of Asia’s best teams.

As younger villagers leave for better-paying jobs, elderly women in a rural village in Quang Ngai Province, central Vietnam, continue hand-weaving hammocks during their spare time, preserving a craft that has been passed down for nearly a century while earning a modest extra income.

Northern Vietnam is forecast to see widespread heavy rain through Thursday as a tropical depression moves westward over the East Vietnam Sea, while strong winds are expected in the northern waters, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

An Indonesian court began a trial on Tuesday for 11 daycare staffers alleged to be involved in a high-profile case of abuse against children in their care, as the chairperson of the daycare faced a separate hearing.

Japanese households will likely receive a further blow as companies reflect rising costs, stemming from high crude oil prices, in their goods and services prices in and after summer, putting a drag on economic growth.

Good morning from Vietnam!

Thailand secured a place in the final of the ASEAN Championship on Tuesday despite losing 2-1 to Singapore in Bangkok as the seven-times champions completed a narrow 4-3 aggregate victory.

A coalition of states suing Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab over claims Facebook and Instagram were designed in ways that harmed young users' mental health will begin making its case on Tuesday in California federal court in a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet.

WASHINGTON -- The Milky Way, a large and spiral-shaped galaxy that is home to hundreds of billions of stars including our sun, has taken a long and complicated path to achieve its current dimensions, as illustrated by new research documenting a milestone event early in its history.

The two sides expressed their delight at the positive and substantive development of traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and the Czech Republic, and welcomed the elevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership in January 2025, which has created a new framework and impetus for deeper, more effective and sustainable cooperation.

More than 500 durian pickup trucks in Dak Lak have set a Guinness World Record. The 66-kilometer La Son-Hoa Lien expressway linking Hue City and Da Nang City is slated to open to four-lane traffic this month. A Nigerian man has been arrested in Ho Chi Minh City over a shipment of methamphetamine and heroin. And more in our podcast.

Soldiers and military forces from various units under the Air Defense and Air Force Service began a large-scale exercise in the central region of Vietnam on Tuesday morning.

Vietnam Post has launched Pottel, a new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) targeting international tourists seeking convenient Internet access during their stay in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City should develop transit-oriented development (TOD) corridors in tandem with the 15-minute city model as it moves toward a polycentric megacity, experts said at a consultation conference on Tuesday to discuss the city's master planning for 2025-50 with a 100-year vision.

Dong A University has partnered with the Korean Language Education Center under South Korea’s Ministry of Education to launch free Korean language classes for local residents in Da Nang City, central Vietnam.

Visitors to the 2026 Dak Lak Durian Festival will have the chance to venture into the forest for free elephant viewing and learn about local wildlife at the Elephant Conservation, Animal Rescue and Forest Protection Center.

Ho Chi Minh City will spend VND288 billion (nearly US$11 million) providing textbooks free of charge for all disadvantaged students across all grades and lending the books to all students who need them during the 2026-27 school year.

Following a series of inland waterway accidents, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has called for tighter controls over vessels and coordinated measures to ensure the absolute safety of tourists, including in Nha Trang, one of Vietnam’s largest beach tourism hubs.

U Minh Thuong National Park in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam, welcomed just 43 international tourists in January-June 2026, highlighting the untapped potential of its distinctive melaleuca forests and wetland ecosystem.

The Ho Chi Minh City University of Science has awarded its first honorary professorship to Japanese Prof. Norimichi Takenaka of Osaka Metropolitan University, recognizing more than two decades of academic collaboration between the two institutions.

Khanh Hoa and Quang Tri Provinces, home to beach and cave destinations in central Vietnam, on Monday signed a cooperation program aimed at strengthening ties in tourism, culture, and sports for 2026-30.

More than 38,800 businesses exited the Ho Chi Minh City market in January-July 2026, reflecting growing pressure on companies to adapt to global uncertainty, tighter operating requirements and structural changes.

The 2026 ASEAN Cup is rapidly approaching its climax, with the «dream final» between Southeast Asia's two heavyweights, Thailand and Vietnam, appearing more inevitable than ever.

The 66-kilometer La Son-Hoa Lien expressway linking Hue City with Da Nang City in central Vietnam is slated to open to four-lane traffic on August 31, with the expansion project now more than 97 percent complete.

Vietnamese tra fish (pangasius) exporters are facing greater pressure in the U.S. market after the U.S. Department of Commerce significantly raised final anti-dumping duties on products from several Vietnamese companies, on top of a 12.5-percent Section 301 tariff.

As the earth shook around her, tearing apart homes, buildings, and bridges in eastern Indonesia, Maria Florida Nogo Kelen was giving birth to her daughter.