Hanoi’s narcotics police have caught two men for illegally transporting a large amount of heroin from the mountainous Northwest for retail dealers in the capital city.

 Bai Choi singing, a folk music genre practised in Vietnam’s central region, has been added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 

 The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council (ninth tenure) set a gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth rate of 8.3-8.5 percent for 2018 during its sixth session that took place from December 4-7. 

 Vietnam is witnessing a wave of digitalisation in the retail banking industry, driven by industry 4.0 technologies.

 The Hanoi People’s Court on December 6 opened proceedings in the case of ex-deputy director of the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Pham Minh Nguyet, and five others accused of violations in economic management.

 The 10th Ho Chi Minh City Book Festival will return to Le Van Tam Park in District 1 from March 19-25, 2018 with over 35 million copies of books planned for display.

 Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has applauded contributions of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to Vietnam’s socio-economic development as well as national management.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made it clear that Hong Kong is an important partner and market of Vietnam at a reception for Shen Tian Qing, Chairman of Jia Yuan group of Hong Kong (China) in Hanoi on December 7.

 Seventeen million babies under the age of one are breathing toxic air, putting their brain development at risk, the UN children's agency has warned.

 REE and Vingroup acquires Vinaconex subsidiary in US$50-million deal, Garment exports likely to hit 31 billion USD in 2017, THACO becomes Mitsubishi Fuso's general distributor, NFSC: 11M credit growth at 15.3% 

The deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Le Tuan Dinh has reassured the public that the air quality in Hanoi is not as bad as the figures in the Green Innovation and Development Centre’s (GreenID) report.

VietNamNet Bridge - More and more foreign capital is being poured into Vietnamese companies as the government speeds up the equitization and divestment process.

VietNamNet Bridge - Of more than 3,300 highly cited scientific researchers named by Clarivate Analytics, four are Vietnamese.

According to the MInistry of Science and Technology (MST) and Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Vietnam now has 24,000 PhDs and 16,514 lecturers with a doctorate, and needs to have 36,000 more PhDs in the 2018-2025 period.

 HCM City’s waterway buses have already transported thousands of passengers in the ten days since beginning services.

 Clinics in Nha Trang City deteriorated, Ministry proposes three scenarios for Cai Lay tollgate spat, ASEAN student leaders meet in HCM City, Can Tho, Workshop looks to boost NGOs capacity in Vietnam

 VietNamNet Bridge – The country has required a legal labour contract between the employers and their domestic workers since 2014. Three years later, implementation of the labour contract law has fallen far short of hopes, 

 The Ministry of Finance will continue coordinating with the State Bank of Viet Nam and other competent authorities to review the use of Malaysian company Grab’s grants from the mother company to its local branch.

 Samsung Electronics Viet Nam has overtaken Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to become the largest firm in Viet Nam in 2017.

 Six new agreements were inked between organisations from Viet Nam and Ontario in Canada, including five in education, during a trade promotion event in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

 Tour operators have proposed immigration authorities issue visas for Chinese tourists in transit at international airports and seaports in HCMC and Hanoi to attract more tourists from the northern neighbor.

 Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley says becoming famous made her delete her social media. The 25-year-old, who stars as Rey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, quit Instagram earlier this year.

 Europe's top court has ruled that luxury brands can stop distributors selling their products online on websites such as Amazon and eBay.

 Pharmaceutical stocks are once again under the limelight thanks to upcoming state withdrawals, new capital inflows, and possible removals of foreign ownership limits.

Violations have been uncovered in Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) and its member companies’ investment and management activities, leading to massive losses.