Vietnamese Consul General to Guangzhou province Nguyen Tien Hong on January 14 hosted a banquet to mark the 66th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and China (January 18, 1950).

 The national futsal team will play two friendly matches with Malaysia to prepare for the 2016 AFC Futsal Championship finals, which is scheduled to be held from February 10-21 in Uzbekistan.

 Vietnam and Thailand have agreed to complete their domestic procedures at an early date, in order to reach an agreement on setting up a hotline for their fishing activities in the first quarter of this year.

 General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) Blade Nzimande has extended his warmest greetings to Vietnam over the upcoming 12th National Party Congress slated for January 20-28.

 State President Truong Tan Sang hosted separate receptions for newly accredited and outgoing ambassadors in Hanoi on January 14.

VietNamNet Bridge - Both domestic and foreign brands of food and beverages in Vietnam have already or are preparing to launch new plants in Vietnam through direct investment or joint ventures.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved an additional grant of 69 million euros (US$75.1 million) for the Ha Noi Train Station-Nhon urban metro rail project.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Education and Training’s (MOET) decision on setting limitations on universities’ training scale has raised strong opposition from schools.

VietNamNet Bridge - Netflix’s services are now available in Vietnam but Vietnamese state management agencies say the service is violating state laws.

VietNamNet Bridge - If the sea water level rises by one meter, the rice growing area will be cut by half, from 4 million to 2 million hectares, experts say.

Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam has been officially transferred to TCC, a giant firm from Thailand. Big C, which has been put up for sale, is also expected to be bought by a Thai company by the end of the first quarter of 2016 at the latest.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said in an interview on VTV on Sunday that one of the key tasks that his ministry will fulfill this year is to balance the state budget.

 Vietnam could not spring the expected surprise in the first match at the Asian U-23 Football Championship in Qatar on January 14.

 20,000 workers receive free bus ticket to return homeland for Tet, Hung Yen hospital treats 34 for food poisoning, Woman punished in scheme to smuggle 7 Vietnamese into UK, Ha Noi authorities seize expired food

 Vietnam condemns terror attacks in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 14, which caused deaths and injuries, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Hai Binh.

The significant improvement in Vietnam’s business environment is expected to be the major reason which helps Vietnam obtain high economic growth rate in difficulties, and helps ‘the fish swim against the current’ as economists commented.

VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi’s newly elected chairman Nguyen Duc Chung served more than three years as the city police chief. He directly commanded investigations of many major cases.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Department of Health instructed relevant agencies to severely penalise small food stores and vendors on streets who continue to flout safety and hygiene regulations.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The agricultural and rural development sector expects to gain US$39-40 billion in total farming, forestry and fishery products by 2020, according to officials.

 VietNamNet Bridge – As most of us enter adulthood, one of the things that we encounter is the gradual disappearance of a habit, a place or a thing we loved as children.

Chinese stickers containing phthalates – a group of toxic chemicals believed to be harmful to human health – are still being sold by street vendors and toy stores near primary schools in Ha Noi despite warnings from local agencies.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Competition is getting tougher for domestic brewers as foreign rivals are increasing their share of the country’s output.

VietNamNet Bridge – The central province of Quang Ngai has decided to establish the Ly Son marine reserve of nearly 8,000 hectares in order to preserve marine resources and biodiversity and improve livelihoods for local people.

 The People's Court in Ha Noi yesterday sentenced a foreign teacher to four years in prison for sexually abusing teenagers.

 Military authorities transported a bomb, discovered in My Duc District, on the outskirts of Ha Noi, to Mieu Mon Military Airfield yesterday to safely destroy it.