News Summary: Vietnam station drops foreign news

TUNING OUT: A Vietnamese satellite TV company stopped airing 21 international channels, including BBC and CNN, on Thursday.

COMMUNICATIONS BREAKDOWN: The company cited a new Vietnamese law that requires translation and editing be performed by an agency licensed by the government and that content is "appropriate to the people's healthy needs and does not violate Vietnamese press law." Commercials running on foreign channels must also be available in Vietnam.

STATIC: Some foreign governments say the law will result in international news and entertainment channels ending programming in a country that has been cracking down on freedom of expression. Vietnam's other major cable and satellite providers continued to carry international channels.