Latest Vietnam government News

Real estate tycoon's death sentence is a turning point in Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign

Apr. 12, 2024 06:21 AM EDT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The unusually harsh death sentence given to a real estate tycoon in Vietnam was a pivotal moment in the decadelong “Blazing Furnace” anti-corruption campaign as the Vietnamese business community wrestled with an uncertain future Friday. Real estate tycoon...

Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest-ever fraud case

Apr. 12, 2024 00:29 AM EDT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced Thursday to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam in the country's largest financial fraud case ever, state media Vietnam Net said. The 67-year-old chair of the real estate company Van Thinh...

Jailed Vietnamese dissident Pham Doan Trang to be honored by PEN America

Apr. 11, 2024 08:07 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Imprisoned Vietnamese author-blogger-journalist Pham Doan Trang will be this year's recipient of PEN America's Barbey Freedom to Write Award, given by the literary and free expression organization to a “jailed writer of conscience.” Trang, 45, has written...

Vatican's top diplomat begins a 6-day visit to Vietnam aimed at normalizing relations

Apr. 10, 2024 13:26 PM EDT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The Vatican's top diplomat began a six-day visit to Vietnam on Tuesday as a part of efforts to normalize relations with the communist nation. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s foreign minister, met his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son and...

An Iowa woman is sentenced in a ballot box stuffing scheme that supported husband's campaign

Apr. 01, 2024 19:06 PM EDT

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The wife of an Iowa county supervisor was sentenced Monday to four months in jail after being convicted in a scheme to stuff the ballot box to support her husband’s unsuccessful campaign for a congressional seat. Kim Taylor also was ordered to serve four...

Vietnam's vice president becomes interim president

Mar. 21, 2024 03:54 AM EDT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam's Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will serve as acting president after the previous president's resignation a year into the position, a Communist Party newspaper reported Thursday. Analysts said a permanent candidate was unlikely to be selected soon,...

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigns amid anti-corruption campaign

Mar. 20, 2024 09:14 AM EDT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigned after a little over a year in the position, the Communist Party said Wednesday, making him the latest senior official to leave office after likely being implicated in an intense anti-corruption campaign. The party...

Australian and Vietnamese prime ministers elevate their nations' booming economic relationship

Mar. 06, 2024 22:12 PM EST

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian and Vietnamese prime ministers on Thursday discussed ways of improving an already booming economic relationship, as part of Australia’s strategy to diversify trade away from China. Vietnamese Pham Minh Chinh’s official state visit came...

A Vietnamese property tycoon accused of embezzling $12.5 billion begins her trial

Mar. 05, 2024 00:15 AM EST

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan faces the death penalty in a trial that began Tuesday over alleged fraud amounting to $12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP and Vietnam's largest financial fraud case on record. The 66-year-old chair of the...

Putin gives Kim Jong Un a luxury limousine. It's a violation of UN sanctions on North Korea

Feb. 20, 2024 09:01 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has gifted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a Russian-made luxury limousine for his personal use, both countries announced Tuesday, in another sign of their expanding cooperation. Observers said the shipment violates a U.N....