Government requests flexible monetary policy; Hanoi cuts new business registration time; SBV allows foreign currency lending to continue through 2015; SBV to get rid of old banknotes; Small banknotes come with exorbitant fees;

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam will send its sport teams to 25 international sport events in the first quarter of 2015, according to the General Department of Sports and Physical Training.

 An oil spill on Uong river in the northern province of Quang Ninh, stemming from Uong Bi thermo-power plant on January 7, has been cleaned up within the day.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese M&A market heated up again in 2014 after a chilly 2013 with a higher number of deals completed and higher transaction value.

Ministry vows to take drastic measures against unsafe food; Beggars still rampant in HCM City despite crackdown; Newspaper fined for violating regulations; First fatal case of hand-foot-mouth disease in 2015;

VietNamNet Bridge – Though anticipating revenue could drop by billions of dong this year if low oil prices continue, PetroVietnam says this will not seriously affect its production and business.

 US Federal Reserve officials do not believe that they will raise the benchmark short-term federal funds interest rate before April, minutes released on Wednesday revealed.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Upon arrival at Bishop of Kontum’s Building, tourists will have a chance to visit a traditional museum rich in cultures of ethnic minority groups.

VietNamNet Bridge – US Magazine Condé Nast Traveler has introduced a black and white photo collection of Ha Long Bay on its website along with suggestions of things to enjoy at the UNESCO World Heritage Site this winter.

 HBSO to kick off Johann Strauss's concert; Live folk-rock on Saturday with Soundsylvania; Vietnamese symphonic poem to be performed; Classical orchestra concert celebrates New Year; New Year's flea market to open in District 2

Banks increase foreign exchange rate; Vietnam expects to manufacture 200,000 automobiles in 2015; Oil import tax raised as global prices fall; Government adopts Vinamotor’s state capital sale; Vietnam manufacturing PMI peaks for eight months

French police have named two brothers as suspects in the attack on the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, as a manhunt continues.

 VietNamNet Bridge – There is a serious lack of O and A blood types at Blood Transfusion Centers in many provinces and cities like Hai Phong, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, and Dien Bien.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Of the total 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam, the telephone area code of only four provinces, Phu Tho (210), Vinh Phuc (211), Hoa Binh (218), and Ha Giang (219), will be maintained.

  Tiger Remix 2015 music festival will take place in Kien Giang, Nha Trang, Danang, and HCMC from January 10 to 31.

Member enterprises of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) have already clinched export contracts for at least one million tons of rice with delivery scheduled for this year.

  Hooded gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly satirical magazine known for lampooning radical Islam, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades.

Hoang Nguyen Thanh successfully defended his title at the national mountain-climbing tournament, entitled "Conquering Ba Ra Mountain 2015", in Phuoc Long Town in Binh Phuoc Province yesterday.

 Nearly one year after withdrawing from V-League 1, a Ninh Binh club official asked the Ninh Binh Province's People's Committee to dissolve the club on Tuesday.

  Vietnamese track-and-field queen Truong Thanh Hang has decided to retire from competition.

VietNamNet Bridge – Though the Dung Quat Economic Zone (EZ) attracts 10 new investment projects every year, the same number of licenses are revoked each year.

 The State Bank of Viet Nam weakened the Vietnamese dong by 1 per cent, raising the US$-VND daily reference rate from VND21,246 to VND21,458.

 Fares have been slashed by 69 taxi and 15 long-distance passenger transport companies in the capital since last November, after authorities urged them to do so following fuel price reductions.

VietNamNet Bridge – Children will be given inactivated and injectable polio vaccine shots in October besides the existing oral vaccine as part of the country's efforts to switch to the former,

 Sixteen Vietnamese martial arts delegations are expected to participate in the 2015 World Martial Arts Festival slated for April 19-25 in Ho Chi Minh City.