Kids at an Internet shop in Dien Ban District, Quang Nam Province.

The “information superhighway” is supposed to spread knowledge, but parents in poor rural communities find their children use it more for smut and video games.

For years, big hotel companies have fought to gain entry to the lucrative Las Vegas Strip. Now, MGM Mirage, one of the Strip's biggest gambling houses, is making a grand entrance into the hotel industry, with plans to export the Strip's glitz to such sites as Cairo and Vietnam.

Police in Ho Chi Minh City are warning of a new scam in which overseas marriage brokers are swindling local women out of thousands of dollars.

Several victims have come forth saying they were cheated by individuals who promised to arrange marriages for them with South Korean men, but then absconded with their money after filing phony marriage papers for the women, police said.

Travel agents report a new trend: many high income Vietnamese vacationers are choosing holidays at ‘international standard’ resorts in Vietnam instead of going abroad on tours. Such bookings now account for 20% of the clientele of some travel firms.

Mekong Delta’s Can Tho City police last year discovered nearly 245 young women being illegally paraded as potential brides for foreign husbands, a local conference heard Thursday. The meeting was held to review a program to combat women and children trafficking and prevent and crack down on illegal match-making rings in the area.

It is inconvenient for tourists that discotheques and karaoke bars are not allowed to stay open after 12 at night. Forbidding dancing at karaoke bars is a new point in the draft decree and regulations on cultural activities and public cultural services, which the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism submitted to the government for approval recently.

Students receive information at an education exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City last year. The global economic downturn is changing choices and trends in foreign study.

The economic downturn is reflected in the declining number of well-heeled parents sending their children to study at foreign schools and universities.

Vietnam raised its swine flu alert to level 4 Tuesday, warning that the threat of “community level outbreaks” could rise at anytime.

The move came after the World Health Organization upgraded its international warning to the same level and issued the same warning Tuesday.

The Sea Festival 2009 to be held in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa will feature 67 cultural, arts, sports and tourism activities held at several locations in Nha Trang City.

The provincial People’s Committee announced the details of the festival, to be held from June 6-12, at a press briefing in Ho Chi Minh City Saturday.