Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

Vietnamese propaganda officials have admitted deploying people to engage in online discussions and post comments supporting the Communist Party's policies.

One afternoon in mid-December, Colonel Tran Dang Thanh shared his views on foreign affairs with an audience of deans and professors drawn from Hanoi's many universities. Like all Vietnamese Communist Party business, Thanh's comments were considered state secrets.

A delegation of top leaders of the Party, State, Government, National Assembly and Vietnam Fatherland Front laid a wreath at the mausoleum of President Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, commemorating the 66th anniversary of Vietnam’s August Revolution and National Day - September 2.

The streets of Hanoi may be festooned with election posters, but the people are not showing the enthusiasm one might expect in the run up to Sunday's election.

Vietnam's grand meeting to pick its top Communist leaders wrapped up Wednesday with the reshuffling of many familiar high-ranking party members, as the government clung to its one-party system while boasting of true democracy.

Communist Vietnam's two top leaders have not been re-elected to the new Central Committee according to the Communist Party's Election Committee's Tuesday report.

HANOI - Vietnam's ruling communists Wednesday wrapped up a secretive five-yearly congress with the prime minister apparently fending off a leadership challenge as the party cements its absolute hold on power.

General Secretary of the Vietnam Communist Party Nong Duc Manh said on Wednesday in Hanoi that while high growth would be pursued in the 2011-2020 period, the country will attend more to the quality of growth.

Ho Chi Minh City - Activists use blogs and social networking sites to highlight human rights abuses and corruption

HANOI - All too frequently Vietnam’s capital is plagued by power blackouts. Hotel lifts get stuck, and even the espresso machines in Hanoi’s Parisian-style cafés splutter to a halt. Many thought this fast-developing country had left such symptoms behind. Yet the economy is now straining, and often failing, to keep up with the ambitious growth targets set by Vietnam’s Communist bosses. Inflation is rising; the budget is in deficit; the currency is falling; and people are rushing to turn their savings into dollars or gold.

HANOI - Vietnam's new leadership will be determined at a Communist Party Congress from January 11-19, state radio reported Wednesday, with embattled Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung expected to retain a key post.

Hanoi - Two Ho Chi Minh City men were arrested for allegedly forcing their way into the house of a government official, stabbing her and her daughter, and killing a district Communist Party official, police said Tuesday.

Vietnam's ruling Communist Party has expelled a provincial governor from its ranks for soliciting prostitutes.

Hanoi - The Communist Party of Vietnam's Central Committee wrapped up its plenary session with a call for more socialism in the coming decade, Vietnamese press reported Monday.

HANOI - Readers of the newest website of Vietnam's government-controlled press can't complain of any hidden bias in reporting. Propaganda magazine, the official organ of Vietnam's Committee for Propaganda and Training, launched its website (www.tuyengiao.vn) Monday, featuring articles about Ho Chi Minh Thought and a visit by representatives of the Russian Communist Party.