World

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered its military, the munitions industry and the nuclear weapons sector to accelerate war preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the U.S., state media said on Thursday. Speaking on the policy directions for the new year at a key …

President Vo Van Thuong signed a decision on Wednesday to reduce death penalties to life imprisonment for 18 prisoners who filed petitions for commuted sentences. The decision is made as stipulated in the Constitution and laws, and at the proposals of the presiding judge of the Supreme People’s Court, the …

Two men in the central Ha Tinh Province were arrested on Wednesday after seven tiger cubs, along with six pangolins and a head of a serow, were found frozen inside their house. Tran Anh Tuan, 49 and Nguyen Tien Dung, 50, have been put under investigation for “offences against regulations …

A toy horn was stuck inside a teenager’s lung for seven years, causing him to breathe out notes. The boy from central Phu Yen Province, then 8 years old, was blowing a toy horn when his friend slapped his back, causing him to choke on it. However, he did not …

China – grappling with one of its coldest Decembers on record – will likely have to brace for another round of scorching heat and an increase in extreme weather next year due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, a senior climate expert said. This year has seen China lurch from …

India turned a net importer of finished steel in the first eight months of the fiscal year that began in April with shipments from China reaching their highest in five years, according to provisional government data seen by Reuters on Wednesday. China was the top exporter of finished steel to …

World stocks rallied to their highest levels since late 2022 on Wednesday, with year-end optimism high on hopes that major central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates early next year. U.S. stock futures were flat a day after the S&P 500 touched its highest …

Vietnam’s total fertility rate this year is at 1.95 children per woman, a drop compared to last year’s 2.01 ratio and a replacement ratio of 2.1. Mai Trung Son from the Vietnam Population Authority under the Ministry of Health said at a session on population data on Tuesday that falling …

The sentence for former deputy foreign minister To Anh Dung for receiving bribes in organizing Covid-19 repatriation flights has been reduced from 16 years to 14 years in prison. An appeal court on Wednesday in Hanoi also commuted the sentence for Do Hoang Tung, former deputy head of the Consular …

Hanoi’s air quality monitoring systems on Wednesday morning showed unhealthy air quality levels, with four areas showing very unhealthy levels. All 35 air quality monitoring stations by the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and the Environment showed air quality index (AQI) at 100-300 at 9 a.m., meaning air quality was …