Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

In first nine months, the country's export turnover only gained $41.7 billion, dropping 14.3 percent year-on-year because of the impact of global economic downturn, Ministry of Industry and Trade reported.

There is great potential for American-style universities in Vietnam, but these will most likely be private sector initiatives, US Ambassador Michael Michalak said on Wednesday.

Efforts to clean up contamination from the wartime herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam took a step forward Thursday when the United States awarded a contract to prepare for dioxin containment.

Vietnamese and US scientists wrapped up their annual meetings on Agent Orange on Thursday, launching a task force to examine health issues in areas where the defoliant was used during the Vietnam War.

The U.S. and Vietnam want to limit Chinese influence in Southeast Asia by maintaining a balance of power with other countries in the region, a former American ambassador in Hanoi said.

WASHINGTON — After more than 40 years the former US army officer found guilty of involvement in the massacre of women and children in the Vietnamese village of My Lai during the war has made a public apology.

A group of US lawmakers on Thursday were to urge Vietnam to release non-violent political prisoners, some held for criticising the government, as part of an annual September 2 amnesty.

HANOI - Vietnam said on Thursday that normal legal procedures must apply in the case of a Catholic priest found guilty of spreading anti-government propaganda, after U.S. senators called for his release.

WASHINGTON — L'ancien secrétaire américain à la Défense Robert McNamara, qui fut un des principaux architectes de la stratégie américaine pendant la guerre du Vietnam, est décédé à l'âge de 93 ans, a rapporté lundi le quotidien Washington Post.

HANOI — The United States is on track to become the leading foreign direct investor in communist Vietnam, more than 30 years after the end of their war, the head of a US business delegation said Wednesday.

US Sen. John McCain, on a visit to Vietnam where he was held prisoner of war, urged the Hanoi government Tuesday to follow through on economic progress with political reforms and improvement in human rights.

WASHINGTON — Twelve US lawmakers have urged Internet giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to resist what they called communist Vietnam's "worsening" efforts to restrict online political speech.

Vietnam has denounced the false information contained in an annual report on human rights issued by the US Department of State on Feb. 25.

Hundreds of Vietnamese Americans demonstrated Saturday outside a provocative art exhibit in Santa Ana that had featured Communist symbols that protesters claimed mocked their painful experiences as political refugees.

Export-led economies such as Vietnam should rely less on trade with the United States and more on stimulating their internal markets for economic growth, a senior US senator said Wednesday.