One-party Vietnam holds parliamentary election

The Southeast Asian nation of 100 million is both an economic success story, boasting eight percent growth last year, and a repressive one-party state that often jails its critics. Out of 864 candidates for the 500-seat parliament, only 65 are not members of the Communist Party -- down from 74 in the last vote five years ago. In the capital Hanoi, patriotic red-and-yellow banners flutter from lampposts and traffic lights, extolling the "national festival" where people "eagerly cast ballots". ...