Two executives at a banknote-making firm part-owned by Australia's central bank have been suspended over a police probe into alleged bribery and kickbacks, officials said.

A police officer says four fishermen were killed when a Vietnam War-era bomb they were handling exploded.

Four men were instantly killed when a bomb left over from the Vietnam War blew up as they were trying to open it to remove explosive material, police said Wednesday.

Vietnam is expected to take a key step towards meeting its burgeoning appetite for electricity by paving the way for its first nuclear power plant, but debate is still raging over the controversial project.

Cambodia's parliament stripped immunity from main opposition leader Sam Rainsy Monday, clearing the way for charges against him for uprooting markings at the border with neighbouring Vietnam.

At least 13 people have been killed in a landslide in central Vietnam following storms and flooding that have now left almost 130 people dead, according to officials.

The number of people killed by floods in central Vietnam rose to 98 on Thursday, as rescuers ferried emergency aid by helicopter to coastal regions battered by Tropical Storm Mirinae, officials said.

Newly released White House tapes from the Vietnam War era portray President John F. Kennedy wrestling over the fate of South Vietnam's strongman in a situation that appears to mirror President Barack Obama's quandary today in dealing with Afghanistan's shaky government.

Tropical storm Mirinae, which hit the Philippines as a deadly typhoon at the weekend, killed at least 40 people and left 11 missing in Vietnam, a national disaster official said Tuesday.

Disaster officials say Tropical Storm Mirinae has killed 11 people, left two missing and forced families onto rooftops in central Vietnam.

An official says authorities in southern Vietnam have found a mass grave containing the remains of 12 communist soldiers killed during the Vietnam War.

Vietnam has demanded that China investigate "brutal" treatment of Vietnamese fishermen who sought shelter during a typhoon in disputed South China Sea islands, where officials allege they were beaten and robbed by Chinese personnel.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday called on Vietnam to free jailed bloggers, voicing concern that the communist country is stepping up curbs on Internet freedom.

The Vietnamese and South Korean presidents have agreed to expand their countries' relationship beyond economics and trade and to develop security ties.

Former US president Jimmy Carter will head to Asia next month to lead thousands of volunteers building homes for the poor in five nations along the Mekong River, a humanitarian group said Tuesday.

After nearly a month at the Danish embassy, nine North Korean asylum-seekers flew out of Vietnam on Tuesday minutes before the South Korean president arrived for a state visit, sources said.

Nine North Korean asylum-seekers left Denmark's Hanoi embassy for Seoul on Tuesday, just hours before the South Korean president was to arrive for a state visit, a diplomatic source said.

Environmental authorities have seized two frozen tigers in Vietnam, where only a few dozen of the animals remain in the wild, state-linked media said Saturday.

Evening gowns and motorcycle helmets were the contrasting attire as the New York Philharmonic played its first concert in communist Vietnam after a historic visit to Stalinist North Korea last year.

The prime ministers of China and Vietnam pledged Friday to handle border disputes between their countries peacefully, amid deep suspicion among some Vietnamese over Beijing's intentions.