My thoughts on the first news link:

I am certain that Vietnam has improved a lot not just in terms of tourism but in all other aspects. 3 years ago, when I decided I would want to live in Vietnam, it was so difficult to find English news online @nuoctuong. Almost all of the websites were in Tieng Viet. It was always disheartening for me to be unable to connect to a deeper level to some friends because of the language barrier. But thanks to the never quitting attitude of my Viet friends, they have tremendously improved their English and the whole VN communities as well. To date, I can pick any topic up (especially politics) and talk about it with my Vietnamese friends.