Hanoi - Vietnamese farmers in the southern province of Dong Nai have caught 14 crocodiles that escaped from crocodile farms during floods last week, a commune official said Wednesday.

The crocodiles broke out of their cages on unidentified farms in the region during floods on September 10 and made their way into rivers and streams. Since then, villagers in a commune called Phuoc Tan, 70 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, have gradually been recapturing the reptiles.

Police and forest rangers visited the commune to seize the crocodiles, according to regulations, but could find no trace of them.

Hanoi - Vietnam's VN-Index fell 20.8 points Tuesday to close down 4.38 per cent at 455.95, as traders reacted to the collapse of two US investment banks, the threat to international insurance titan AIG Group and falling exchanges elsewhere in the world.

The Ho Chi Minh City exchange had bucked world trends Monday, rising very slightly while markets across the rest of Asia dropped sharply.

On Tuesday the market rejoined the rest of the world, as investors worried about the effects of turmoil in the economy of the United States, Vietnam's largest export customer.

"It's proof that Vietnam is not totally uncorrelated, at least in terms of sentiment," said Dominic Scriven of Vietnam-based portfolio investor Dragon Capital.

Hanoi - At a weekend meeting with economic experts, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung agreed the country needed to shore up macroeconomic problems, but postponed recommendations on cutting back wasteful government investment, an economist who was present said Monday.

The roundtable discussion with 19 prominent economic experts and ministries, which was closed to the press, was held on Saturday in Hanoi.

Hanoi - Some 2,000 workers at two foreign-owned companies have gone on strike, demanding better pay and allowances, company and union officials said Friday.

More than 1,400 workers at Valley View Vietnam, a Taiwanese-owned garment company based in the central city of Danang, have been on strike since Thursday, demanding a monthly petrol allowance of 100,000 dong (6 dollars) and an increase in their daily meal allowance.

Hanoi - A court in Hanoi sentenced three men to death for trafficking heroin, a criminal court official said Thursday.

Hanoi - A Vietnamese man who survived after jumping from the ninth floor of a Ho Chi Minh City building has been discharged from the hospital, a doctor said Thursday.

Bui Anh Hao, 26, was visiting a relative at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on August 8 when he attempted to commit suicide by jumping from a ninth-floor balcony, according to doctor Tran Quang Vinh.

Hao fell 40 metres and landed on the roof of a seven-seat van, breaking his shoulder blade and arm and receiving minor head injuries, the doctor said.

"The roof of the van saved him, but it's still a miracle," Vinh said. "If he had jumped to the ground, there wouldn't have been any chance of survival."