Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

China's vice President Xi Jinping, likely to take over as top leader late next year, will visit Vietnam for three days from Tuesday in what could be a test of how he handles festering territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Shimon Peres on Wednesday began the first visit by an Israeli president to Vietnam, about 18 months after Hanoi postponed the trip following condemnation of Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.

Fresh from a crisis meeting with France on the euro, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to embark Monday on a visit to Vietnam and Mongolia hoping to push deals on trade and precious raw materials.

HO CHI MINH CITY — Nearly four decades after the end of a war which divided Vietnam, a debate over national reconciliation between former foes has been rekindled by tensions with China.

TAIPEI - Taiwan lodged a protest with Vietnam on Wednesday for labelling the island a Chinese province in some official documents.

Sri Lanka could attract investments from Vietnam if the path is clear and the two nations could increase two-way trade and tourism rapidly, Ton Sinh Thanh, Hanoi's envoy heading a newly re-opened embassy in Colombo, said.

The U.S. government Thursday said it has strongly protested Vietnam's treatment of a U.S. diplomat who was detained and wrestled to the ground while attempting to visit a dissident Roman Catholic priest—a development that could further inflame concerns in the U.S. about the Southeast Asian nation's human rights record.

Three weeks ago, an exhibition opened at the Vietnam Military History Museum. On one side of a long hall, the mementos of Vietnam's 25 years of war against the United States and France - letters of surrender, quotations from Ho Chi Minh, hand grenades and AK-47 rifles - lined the walls. Nothing new there.

The US and Vietnam pledged on Thursday to deepen their relationship despite their differences over human rights.

Vietnam has become an attractive destination for Swiss investors. Switzerland attaches great importance to expanding economic relation with Vietnam, which is one of the seven prioritised countries receiving Switzerland’s development assistance.

Prime Minister of Finland, Mr. Matti VANHANEN will be conducting an official visit to Vietnam 15.-17. November 2009. The Prime Minister will visit both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with a representative Finnish business delegation accompanying him.

The Wallonie-Bruxelles International organization has pledged to provide Vietnam with an additional four million euros for cooperative projects between the agency and the Southeast Asian country.

Sri Lanka and Vietnam have signed five bilateral agreements. Vietnam has expressed full support for oil exploration in Sri Lanka.

Vietnam and Russia should re-examine their prioritised projects regularly in the 2009-2012 period, especially those in energy, science and technology as part of an effort to deepen their strategic partnership and bring practical benefits to their people.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday offered Vietnam aid for typhoon victims during wide-ranging talks here with Vietnamese Foreign minister Pham Gia Khiem.