VietNamNet Bridge - Le Hang and other contestants have joined the first activities of the Miss Universe 2016 pageant in the Philippines.

 The Hanoi Museum has launched a major exhibition presenting life in the capital City during the French War period (1945-1954).

 Riding bikes to rural villages, enjoying street food in Hanoi, learning to cook in Hoi An or watching Water Puppet shows are unforgettable experiences of foreign visitors to Vietnam.

 American rapper and producer T-Pain will have a gig at Envy Club on December 18.

 Richard Marx, American pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, who is famous for the songs "Right here waiting" and "Now and forever" will have a performance in Hanoi this month.

 More than 70 firefighters were called to control a large blaze at the Little Saigon Market in Footscray, in Melbourne's west, reports ABC News.

The tropical storm has left much of Nha Trang sodden and beleaguered as ankle to knee deep floodwaters advanced through the city submerging schools, hospitals and homes—leaving residents without electric power.

 The Vietnam Directorate of Fisheries and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers jointly launched a training course on protecting dolphins during fishing tuna in Phu Yen province on December 13.

 The 100 Resilient Cities programme was launched in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, which joined the programme in May this year, at a conference on December 13. 

 The environment in the country is “good” for the modernisation of technical and professional training, a project director of the Vietnamese Skills for Employment Programme (VSEP) has said.

 The Embassies of the UK and Australia in Vietnam have launched a new visa application centre in the central city of Da Nang on December 13.

 The Hanoi People’s Committee on December 13 decided to continue maintaining walking streets surrounding Hoan Kiem Lake and its nearby areas in 2017, and increasing measures to make them trimmer.

 Students from northern mountainous Tuyen Quang and Lao Cai provinces swept the first prizes in the Green Creativeness Contest held to unearth outstanding environmental protection ideas and models.

Asia shares crept cautiously higher on Wednesday while a hush settled on the U.S. dollar as investors felt certain the Federal Reserve would raise rates for the first time in a year, but were less sure what it might herald for 2017. 

 The Vietnamese Party, State and Government always pay special attention to Vietnamese communities abroad, including those in the Macau Special Administrative Region, a diplomat has said.

 Vietnam pursues a consistent policy of treating all investors, both domestic and foreign ones, equally, President Tran Dai Quang told Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem – Group Chairman and CEO of the UAE’s DP World, on December 13.

 Minister of Public Security To Lam and Troy Grant, Minister of Police and Justice of Australia’s New South Wales state agreed to expand cooperation between the two agencies in fighting crimes at their meeting in Sydney on December 13. 

 The World Bank (WB) is willing to assist Vietnam in reforming State-owned enterprises (SOEs), WB Country Director for Vietnam Ousmane Dione told Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue.

 The Vietnam Post has protested against China’s recent issuance of a collection of postage stamps featuring five lighthouses it has built on Chau Vien, Gac Ma, Si Bi, Chu Thap and Vanh Khan reefs on Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc heard a number of recommendations from domestic and foreign experts for the country’s future development at a roundtable conference in Hanoi on December 13.