Japanese Manga comic series marks 20th anniversary in Vietnam; Artist unveils work at her studio; Film of B52 blitz marks anniversary; Ha Noi team wins dance contest

VietNamNet Bridge - Despite the difficult economic situation in Vietnam, the highest year-end bonus in export processing zones (EPZ) and industrial parks (IP) in HCM City is at VND217 million (over $10,000).

A General Department of Taxation's official confirmed that it is no such thing as the tax authorities are powerless and they would conduct tax inspection at these companies.

VietNamNet Bridge – Lace and chiffon will be the major materials in the spring-summer 2013.

 More support needed in fight against HIV/AIDS; Vietnam, India strengthen IT cooperation; Ireland increases scholarships for Vietnamese students; Train booking system crashes

VietNamNet Bridge – On the afternoon of December 10, an earthquake of 4.6 on the Richter scale occurred at the border between Vietnam and Laos.

Patrolling the Serepok River, rangers of the Yok Don National Park found a lot of rare wood floating on the surface. They said it is highly possible that the timber was illegally exploited by loggers in the Yok Don National Park.

VietNamNet Bridge – Mrs. Nguyen Thi Vung, known as the strange woman who did not eat grain for nearly half a century, died on December 7, at the age of 95.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Dang Chau Anh is the only Vietnamese to join with four foreign famous artists in the jury board of the International Choir Festival scheduled for December 12-16 in the central city of Hue.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam and South Africa have built a joint action plan to combat rhino horn smuggling.

After the Hanoi Party Committee asked government agencies to cut programs unnecessary overseas business trips, the city has saved VND81 billion ($4 million) to invest into the new rural construction program, said Chairman Nguyen The Thao.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Information and Communications on Dec 10 revoked Dong Duong Telecom's licence to provide mobile virtual network service due to its sluggish implementation of services.

VietNamNet Bridge - Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang talked with VietNamNet about the concerns related to the two airlines Air Mekong and VietJet Air.

 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has chosen a total of 104 scores from feature-length motion pictures to vie for nominations in the Original Score category of the 85th Academy Awards, it was announced on Monday.

 The 2012 Nobel laureates in medicine, literature, economics, physics and chemistry received their prizes from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf at a gala ceremony in Stockholm on Monday.

 VietNamNet Bridge – International donors have pledged to provide close to 6.5 billion USD in official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam in 2013, a decline of 1 billion USD from last year.

  Vietnam keen to receive donor support; Uncle Ho monument inaugurated in Gia Lai; High-ranking Hanoi officials visit Laos; PM praises progress on VN, Laos border  

 VietNamNet Bridge – Senior delegates at the 10th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) have made positive remarks about the spiritual life in Vietnam.

 US authorities plan to announce a record $1.9 billion settlement with British bank HSBC to end allegations of money laundering, The Wall Street Journal reported on its website.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Teams of inspectors will begin checking retail and wholesale goods in major cities to ensure food safety for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son has stressed the significance of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in an article on the occasion of the convention’s 30 th anniversary, which falls on Dec. 10.

More than 10 commercial banks have submitted applications to the State Bank of Vietnam, seeking the permission to trade bullion gold. This is really a lucrative business field, in their eyes.

The words “taking off” or “in full swing” have not been used any more when talking about the prospect of e-commerce in Vietnam, because they were used many years ago and the predictions did not come true.

The goal of physical education at general schools is to help students improve their health. However, this remains unattainable. The majority of Vietnamese students dislike the learning subject.

Big real estate firms have tried to escape from the projects invested under the mode of “exchanging infrastructure items for land,” and from the golden land areas they once had to struggle hard to obtain.