Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

The Vatican says Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, the retired archbishop of Hanoi, Vietnam, has died at age 89.

HANOI — A senior Vatican official on Thursday hailed progress in talks with Vietnam aimed at the establishment of diplomatic ties between the Holy See and the communist country.

HANOI - Communist-ruled Vietnam and the Vatican have agreed to hold their first meeting next week to discuss the establishment of diplomatic ties, Hanoi's Foreign Ministry said.

A court in communist Vietnam Monday Dec 8 allowed eight Catholics to walk free after sentencing seven of them to suspended jail terms for disturbing public order and damaging property in land dispute protests.

HANOI - Hundreds of Vietnamese police and riot police sealed off streets leading to a government building on Monday as eight Catholics went on trial over their attempt to claim a plot of disputed land in the capital.

Communist authorities in Hanoi have threatened to take legal action against the city's archbishop unless he immediately disbands illegal prayer vigils to demand the return of former church lands, state media reported Monday.

Du jamais-vu au Vietnam communiste : par centaines, venus de toutes les paroisses d'Hanoï, des prêtres, des séminaristes et des fidèles laïques chantent et prient derrière des barbelés et barrières métalliques. En plein centre de la capitale, la propriété de l'ancienne délégation apostolique (représentation du Vatican), voisine de la cathédrale Saint-Joseph et de l'archevêché, a été transformée, en trois jours, en espace vert.

HANOI — Communist authorities in Hanoi have threatened to take legal action against the city's archbishop unless he immediately disbands illegal prayer vigils to demand the return of former church lands, state media reported Monday.

Tensions are high in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, after the authorities began construction work on land claimed by the Catholic Church.

BANGKOK — An Associated Press reporter in Vietnam was punched, choked and hit over the head with a camera by police who detained him Friday while he covered a Catholic prayer vigil in the communist country.

HANOI - Vietnam's communist rulers are easing restrictions on Catholics after a history of land and ecclesiastical disputes, but formal ties with the Vatican appear far off, according to diplomats and government statements.