Five new countries joined the UN Security Council as non-permanent members on Thursday, while Chile assumed the rotating presidency of the Council for January.

The Ministry of Education and Training’s (MOET) new mechanism on recognizing general education completion reportedly has motivated students to “buy” marks from teachers instead of studying hard.

A nature conservation centre in Danang City has organised education trips for students to learn about wild animals in local forests.

 The press in Hanoi have selected ten outstanding events of the capital city in 2014 as follows:

 The HCMC People’s Council at an extraordinary meeting on December 30 approved collecting the road maintenance fee from motorbikes from Thursday as proposed by the city government.

 Vietnam has received thousands of foreign visitors from across the continents who chose Vietnam as their destination on the first day of 2015.

 The amended Law on Marriage and Family lifts the ban on the same sex marriage and allows surrogacy for humanitarian purposes in Vietnam.

The 18th Miss Tourism International 2014 World Final came to its climactic conclusion on December 31 as Dieu Linh of Vietnam took home the titles for Miss South East Asia 2014 and Best in National Costume.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Top officials of the three largest corporations in group in Thailand have proposed to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung investment projects worth tens of billions of dollars in Vietnam.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The year of 2014 was a time of big changes, from reforms in the state management mechanism to a reshuffling of the national economic structure.

 Millions of people throughout Vietnam flocked to colourful countdown parties to welcome the New Year’s Eve in festive mood.

 Local people have accidentally unearthed nearly 100 age-old cannon balls recently at a site located 3 km away from the world-heritage Ho Dynasty Citadel, Vinh Loc district, central Thanh Hoa province.

Vietnamese leaders send condolences to Malaysia over historical flood; Four major tasks set to boost external information work; Leaders send greetings to Cuba on National Day; External information work under scrutiny

 Seizing opportunities and promoting the strength of the entire nation to safeguard national interests and take the country forward is the message that President Truong Tan Sang sent to the nation in an article on the occasion of the New Year 2015.

Vietnam hopes the search and rescue efforts will help find the missing victims of the AirAsia QZ8501 flight soon, Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Hai Binh said in response to new information related to the flight.

 Vietnam was announced as one of the top 20 Telegraph readers’ most favourite countries, with votes cast by almost 90,000 people in the widest-ranging travel survey of its kind.

 VietNamNet Bridge – As of the end of October, nearly 834,400 enterprises have legally registered to do business in Vietnam and 96% of them are ‘mom and pops’

 The IRONMAN triathlon, a world famous competition of running, swimming and bike riding, will make its Vietnam debut in the central coastal city of Da Nang on May 10, 2015 under the name ‘VNG IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam’. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – Most of the members of the list of 40 under-40 richest millionaires in Vietnam have made their fortunes through inheritance. Some others built their assets themselves, starting business at an early age.

 VietNamNet Bridge – With a great aspiration for creating new things, Do Nhu Ngon from Dong Ket Commune in the northern province of Hung Yen successfully turned out a new chess playing style called thuong truong.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Science and Technology’s legal documents on the value of scientists’ inventions are insufficiently clear.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Tranquility and charm have been holding back many foreigners to live and work in Hanoi. But what they fear the most is traffic chaos in the city, which has driven many out of the city.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai spoke to VIR’s Thanh Huong about the main challenges facing the nation’s power sector in the coming years.

 Viet Nam must practice thrift and fight waste, Le Hong Son, director general of the Bureau of Legal Nominative Documents Post Review under the Ministry of Justice, told Ha Noi Moi (New Ha Noi).

Vietnam’s tourism industry maintains stable growth in 2014 despite facing changes in the international political and economic situation, and difficult domestic situation.