Vietnam boy first H5N1 fatality this year

A 4-year-old boy has been reported to have died of the bird flu strain H5N1 in the Mekong Delta, authorities say, the country's first fatality from the virus this year.

• Bird flu 'devastates' poultry business
• Two new bird flu cases in China
• 'No bird flu transmission between people'

Fish farmer's foiled defence strategy

A fish farmer, who became a cult hero in Vietnam after fighting off an illegal eviction with home-made guns and mines, has been jailed for five years for attempted murder.

• Vietnam police beat reporters
• 5 wood collectors killed in Vietnam
• Vietnam to make own execution drug

China fired flare at fishermen: Vietnam

Vietnam has accused a Chinese vessel of firing a flare on a Vietnamese fishing boat that set its cabin alight in the disputed South China Sea.

• Vietnam won't stamp China passports
• Vietnam in flag gaffe with China
• US: Settle sea disputes without coercion

African rhino targeted by criminals

Illegal killing of African rhino is on the rise with at least 745 poached last year and over two a day being shot by poachers so far this year.

• 102 rhino killed this year
• SA opposes total ban on rhino trophy exports
• Nearly 100 rhino poached in 2013

Vietnam frees lawyer from prison early

A US-trained human rights lawyer has been released early from a Vietnamese prison even as the Communist government intensifies its crackdown on activists and bloggers.

• Vietnam police beat reporters
• Vietnam censors battle bloggers

New flying frog species discovered

An Australian researcher who discovered a new species of flying frog near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and named it after her mother has said it was a rare find so close to such a big city.

• SA prof discovers new frog
• 12 new frog species discovered in India
• New frog species found in NYC area

Vietnam bans glass-top coffins

A new government decree has banned civil servants from having glass-topped coffins in Vietnam, state media has reported.

Vietnam, South Africa sign wildlife deal

The Vietnamese and South African governments have signed an agreement on the wildlife trade, a move hailed by conservationists as a "turning point in tackling rhino poaching crisis".

• Rhino poaching on the rise
• SA using aircraft to fight poaching
• 588 rhino killed so far in 2012

Vietnam won't stamp China passports

Vietnamese authorities are refusing to stamp Chinese passports featuring a map that includes disputed islands in the South China Sea as Chinese territory.

• US: Settle sea disputes without coercion
• China, Vietnam agree on sea talks
• Vietnam holds naval drill amid China spat

12 dead in Vietnam rock slide

At least 12 people have been killed and six others are still missing after a rock slide hit northern Vietnam, local police have said.

• Typhoon hits northern Vietnam
• German rockslide - rescue efforts end

Vietnamese 'dog thieves' lynched

Two suspected dog thieves have been beaten to death in Vietnam by an angry mob that caught them allegedly trying to sell the animals to local restaurants.

• Thais - no dogs to Vietnam restaurants
• Chinese dogs saved from cooking pot

Typhoon hits northern Vietnam

At least nine people have been killed, thousands of homes damaged and swathes of farmland flooded as Typhoon Kai-Tak swept across northern Vietnam.

• Typhoons shut down Taiwan, China on alert
• Scores injured as typhoon hits Hong Kong
• Typhoon Vicente slams Hong Kongwatch

Delicacy and best friend - a dog's life

At a packed Hanoi restaurant, one of Vietnam's growing ranks of proud pooch owners tucks into a traditional delicacy to mark the end of the lunar month - a plate of juicy dog.

• Thais - no dogs to Vietnam restaurants
• Dognappers spark deadly violence
• Dealing with SA's 'Vietnam war'

Vietnam: Roaming airport bull dies

A wandering bull that forced the closure of a Vietnam airport has died after being captured. Authorities say it may have killed an elderly villager.

• Roaming bull forces airport closure

Clinton reaches out to Laos

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Laos will gauge whether a place the US pummelled with bombs during the Vietnam War, could evolve into a new foothold of US influence in Asia.

• Leon Panetta heads to India
• Pentagon to shift warships to pacific
• China warns against US military focus

Vietnam to open sites for MIA search

The Vietnamese government has agreed to open three restricted sites to help the search for and excavation of the remains of US servicemen listed as missing in action, says an official.

• Vietnam War 'Napalm girl' photo turns 40
• My Lai: ex-US troop apologises
• Afghan war won't end like Vietnam - Nato

Drug shortage offers death-row reprieve

Death-row prisoners in Vietnam have been given a reprieve of sorts due to a shortage of the drug used for lethal injections.

• 17 sentenced to death in Somaliland
• 'Black widow' sentenced to death in Japan
• Malaysia: Mexicans face death over drugs

Vietnam police beat reporters

Police have beaten two journalists from Vietnamese state radio while they were covering the eviction of farmers from land slated for a housing project, the journalists and reports say.

• Vietnam bans police from wearing shades
• Jordan police beat journalists
• Turkish police search journalists' homes

Vietnam 'cancer-cure' threatens rhinos

For desperate Vietnamese cancer patients ground rhinoceros horn is seen as an elixir of life - an illegal obsession that threatens the very survival of the world's wild rhinos.

• 210 rhino poached, Kruger main target
• SA rhino under threat from poaching

Rhino horn: Vietnamese man in court

A Vietnamese man allegedly found with three rhino horns in his luggage as he was about to leave the country, has appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court.

• Alleged Vietnamese horn smuggler in court
• Man caught with rhino horns worth R7m
• SA considering rhino horn trade, minister says

Philippines, US stage war games

Thousands of American and Philippine have taken part in a mock assault to retake a small island in the South China Sea as tensions bubble over rival claims to disputed areas.

• Leave our waters, China tells Philippines
• Vietnam live-fire drill lifts tensions
• Vietnam holds naval drill amid China spat

Mystery skin disease hits Vietnam

Vietnam's health authorities will seek foreign assistance to deal with a resurgence of a mystery skin infection that has already killed 19 people in the central region and terrified villagers.

• Doctors remove man's giant tumour
• New scorpion species found in Vietnam
• Habitat loss threatens Vietnam 'unicorn'

Vietnam can't get enough rhino horn

Vietnam's rhino horn obsession is threatening world populations, particularly SA rhino, with prices reaching $55 000/kg - more than cocaine.

• Groups to protest at rhino poaching case
• 'Poacher' dehorns fibreglass rhino
• African rhino poaching a crisis

Woman gets life for burning husband

A court in the Mekong Delta has sentenced the wife of an investigative journalist to life in prison for causing her husband's death by setting him on fire, local media reports.

• Vietnam reporter's death: Wife held
• Vietnamese journo set alight
• 'Gambling wife torched Vietnam journalist'