After five months of stable gas prices, Vietnamese motorists will feel the pinch at the gas pump after the government decided to push up domestic retail gas prices by seven per cent as of 7 p.m. Nov. 1.

Vietnam hosted nearly 2.4 million foreign visitors in the first 10 months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 27.5 per cent, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The Miss Vietnam 2004 Crown was recently captured by Miss Nguyen Thi Huyen from Hanoi, who also received the best speech presentation award.

Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja will begin their official visit to Vietnam on Monday Nov. 1 at the invitation of Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong, marking a new milestone in Vietnam-Norway relations.

The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Oct. 21 called on Russian authorities to take strong measures to protect the Vietnamese community living in Russia after a Vietnamese student was murdered by racist skinheads.

Around 30 American leading conglomerates and companies held a seminar Oct. 26 with U.S. government bodies in Washington D.C to debate Vietnam's bid to enter the World Trade Organization.

A 22-year-old Vietnamese environmental activist set off for Tokyo, Japan on Oct. 21 to attend the 47th cruise of the Japanese Peace Boat as a special guest speaker.

A consortium of oil companies led by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd has struck oil at a northern Vietnam oilfield with recoverable reserves estimated at 320 million barrels, reported Reuters Oct. 19.

The 24th tourism forum of the Southeast Asian countries will be held in Langkawi, Malaysia from January 21-29, 2005 to promote the region’s tourism, attract investment and enhance tourist service quality.

Asian and European leaders have determined to bring Asia-Europe relations to a new stage with more vitality, issuing a declaration on economic, political and cultural cooperation at the end of the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 5) in Hanoi last week.