VietNamNet Bridge – About 96 percent of the mobile phones imported to Vietnam in 2013 are from China, a report shows.

 Dennis Hussey, the current chief executive officer (CEO) of Citibank Vietnam, will become the new CEO of ANZ Vietnam Bank from March next year as announced by ANZ Group.

 "I want to win the cup. I want to win it for the people of Thailand," head coach Kiatisuk "Zico" Senamuang said before his team went on to compete in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup's first-leg final match.

 The Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam set up a team to investigate an emergency landing made Tuesday evening by a passenger plane flying from HCM City to Vinh City.

 Yonhap news agency on December 17 reported that a Vietnamese bride was strangled to death by her Korean husband in Cheongdo district, Gyeongsangbuk-do province, about 330km from Seoul.

VietNamNet Bridge – The northern province of Thanh Hoa will host the National Tourism Year 2015 in mid-March next year, with a focus on connecting Viet Nam's world heritage sites.

 Local marksmen clinched four gold, six silver and six bronze medals at the 38th Southeast Asian Shooting Championships (SEASA 2014), which concluded in Singapore on December 17.

 Former football player Robbie Fowler arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on December 16 at the invitation of milk brand Love’in Farm Kun.

 Vietnam has submitted its first Biennial Update Reports (BUR) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat at the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP 20) held recently in Lima, Peru.

 Vietnamese students earned four gold, three silver and two bronze medals on December 17 at the ongoing 17th ASEAN University Games (AUG 17) in Palembang, Indonesia.

 Two Long nao trees, scientifically known as Cinnamomum Camphora, at Bao Dai Palace in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak officially received the Vietnam Heritage Tree title at a ceremony on December 17.

VietNamNet Bridge – Ben Thanh Tourist Service Company sold 5.93 million shares to investors at its initial public offering last week at the lowest winning bid of VND21,000 each, double the starting price of VND10,500.

 Vietnam plans to cease the import of 38 kinds of fruits from Australia from 2015, the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced on December 17.

 Rescuers are working hard to drain water from the collapsed tunnel section where 12 workers were trapped at the construction site of Da Dang-Da Chomo hydropower plant in Central Highlands Lam Dong province.

 Sierra Leone has begun house-to-house searches in the capital Freetown to find hidden cases of Ebola.

US Pacific Fleet Commander visits Da Nang; Angola’s capital eyes twinning relations with Hanoi; Vietnam wishes to promote all-round cooperation with Pakistan; Vietnamese, Lao border guard units set up twinning ties

The Economy Minister of the United Arab Emirates has called on both UAE and Vietnamese businesses to seize the opportunities offered by the great potential in economic and trade ties between the two countries.

 Vietnam condemns terrorist acts in any form, Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Hai Binh has said in response to a school attack in the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar that left hundreds of people dead and injured on December 16.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Music and Press Club, under the Vietnam Musicians’ Association (VMA), and the Vietnam Journalists’ Association on December 16 announced the top ten Vietnamese musical events and activities of 2014.

 Cuban President Raul Castro has urged the US to end its trade embargo after the two countries opened formal talks on restoring diplomatic relations.