Farmer turns down VND30m offers for giant chicken; Expressway crack repairs completed; Two men caught drug trafficking in Laos; Bodies retrieved after boat crash; Youth urge access to sex education; Don Sahong dam would block river

 The taxman has drawn up a plan for taxing Uber’s Internet taxi service and will submit it to the Ministry of Finance for approval, according to a report on the Government web portal at chinhphu.vn.

 The Ministry of Industry and Trade said it will not monitor the trading activities carried out on social networks not registered in Viet Nam.

 Masscom Viet Nam last Saturday unveiled a new budget smartphone targeted at customers aged between 16 and 35.

Vietnam’s low-cost airline VietJet yesterday launched its joint venture ThaiVietjet in Bangkok, Thailand, at a ceremony with the presence of PM Nguyen Tan Dung, Thai Minister of Tourism, and many high-ranking officials of Vietnam and Thailand.

 Eleven out of 12 workers used to be trapped in a collapsed tunnel of the Da Dang-Da Chomo hydropower plant in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong fully recovered and were discharged from hospital on December 22.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) admitted it still has not found reasonable methods to prevent outdated technologies from entering Vietnam.

 The Philippines’ movie stars Richard Yap and Jodi Sta.Maria were warmly welcomed at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on December 22 by local fans.

 Leading table tennis player Adam Bobrow will take part in the Viet Nam Open 2014 on Thursday.

 Viet Nam's national women's football team remained world No 34, according to the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA)'s latest rankings.

 A night of Vietnamese folk music featuring ca tru (ceremonial singing), cheo (popular theatre), chau van (spiritual singing) and xam (minstrel singing) will take place in Ha Noi on January 10.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The exhibition titled "Vietnam - Thailand Art Exchange" displays works by artists and lecturers from art schools in the two countries. The exhibition opened on December 21 at 29 Hang Bai, Hanoi.

 A memorandum of understanding was signed between JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp and the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) late last week in Ha Noi.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Along the coast of Ha Long Bay, the most famous World Heritage site of Vietnam, there are nine vessels worth dozens of million USD that have been abandoned for a couple of years.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Hang Ma is a familiar address to Hanoians as it sells decorative items for the Christmas and New Year holiday.

 More than 7.5 million people in four cities, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Can Tho and HCM City, have been the direct and indirect beneficiaries of the Viet Nam Urban Upgrading Project, which was carried out over the past 10 years.

Party chief greets Cuban minister of armed forces; NA Standing Committee convenes 33rd session; President Truong Tan Sang leaves for Cambodia; Ho Chi Minh City honours RoK’s Consul General

 VietNamNet Bridge – A Boeing 727-200 bearing the logo of the Cambodian Royal Khmer Airlines, which has been left abandoned for seven years at the Noi Bai International Airport, will be put up for auction.

Due to colder air, the waters from Binh Thuan to Ca Mau will be subjected to a strong northeast wind and the tide in downstream Saigon - Dong Nai river will continue to rise over the next few days.

VietNamNet Bridge – The coal industry must invest VND18-19 trillion (US$857-$904 million) to complete production on schedule,

 VietNamNet Bridge – Terminalia catappa, or bang in Vietnamese can be seen around the country. However, visitors to Con Dao Island off mainland Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province may be astonished to learn that the roasted fruit of Terminalia catappa

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese show business activities in 2014 generally had more good news than last year, with many awards for Vietnamese artists and art organizations.

VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam continued to attract further investment from ASEAN countries this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency.  

 VietNamNet Bridge – The first dinner show in a weekly program named “Lung Linh Sai Gon” (Sparkling Saigon) will be unveiled to audiences starting from December 17 at Queen Hall in HCMC’s District 4.

 VietNamNet Bridge – During Japanese Literature Week in Ha Noi (December 26 to January 8), Japanese books will be promoted at seminars, film screenings and exhibitions.