More than 40 commercial banks are providing mobile payment services, while more than 90 million mobile transactions were made in the first nine months of the year, worth VND423 trillion.

 Police in Toronto have confirmed that its homicide unit has taken over the investigation into the death of a Canadian billionaire and his wife.

 VietNamNet Bridge – World cup winning former French football star, Christian Karembeu, will arrive in Vietnam to meet Vietnamese fans at the Hoa Lu Stadium, HCM City, on December 23.

 The operations of a stone quarry run by the  Asia Mineral Joint Stock Company were suspended yesterday after a collapse killed a worker and injured two others in Nghe An Province.

 The job market in Viet Nam is expected to be largely positive next year as the country continues to develop its manufacturing base, recruitment companies say.

 The state-owned Song Da Corporation will offer 219 million shares at its initial public offering (IPO) scheduled on December 25.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a reception for visiting Lao Defence Minister Chansamone Channhalat in Hanoi on December 18.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Noted water puppeteer Phan Thanh Liem has just opened his second miniature theatre for water puppetry at his private home in Hanoi’s Long Bien District.

 Using iodine in salt, a health step long enforced in Western countries, cannot by itself improve iodine shortages in Vietnamese people, experts agreed at a conference held last week in Hanoi.

 A huge potential exists in the country for start-ups that find innovative solutions for existing problems, and young people must be the game changers for this to happen.

 A pedagogy university in Ho Chi Minh City is struggling financially after implementing a tuition-free policy issued twenty years ago.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Department of Transport has proposed the city People’s Committee allow a pilot electric motorbike rental programme in District 1.

 The Vietnamese team has won the first prize of the WhiteHat Grand Prix 2017 international Cybersecurity contest.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Two companies involved in an illegal case of hazardous waste landfill in central Ha Tinh Province have been fined a total VND1 billion or US $45,000.

 Singapore’s entrepreneur training debuts in Vietnam, Large steel structure factory inaugurated in Dong Nai, Experts: HCMC apartment supplies seen rising next year, Growth continuing in FMCG

People are rushing to buy bitcoin mining machines. Bitcoin ATMs can be found at some cafes in HCMC. Numerous calls for investments in bitcoin have appeared on the internet. And some travel firms accept payments in bitcoin.

Experts say ransomware continues attacking businesses, and that cryptocurrency mining malware has appeared on websites in Vietnam, while spyware is attacking Android smartphones.

VietNamNet Bridge - Residents are complaining about columns of smoke from burning stacks of straw in the Hanoi suburbs. 

VietNamNet Bridge - HCMC has received approval from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) for its plan to compile textbooks for use at general schools in the city. 

The People’s Court in Mekong Delta’s Can Tho City sentenced one foreigner and three Vietnamese to prison for cheating 37 people of some VND5.3 billion (US$235,500) via social network Facebook.