Japan's ruling coalition has won a new two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policy.

 The 4th Coconut Festival will take place in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre from April 7-13, reported the event’s organising board at a press conference on December 12.

Several people have been taken hostage by at least one armed man at a Lindt cafe in Sydney, Australia.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training is currently discussing the criteria for choosing suitable candidates to compile new textbooks, an important part of the education reform program.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has sharply raised the tariff on petrol imports in order to cope with plummeting crude oil prices.

VietNamNet Bridge – Under the program BridgeSE, FPT Software aims to bring 5,000 young people to Japan for training.

Construction starts on new branches of central hospitals; Rare pheasant spotted in central province; Two detained for human trafficking; Troubled cargo vessel saved by Coast Guard; Vietnam-Finland Innovation Programme enters second phase

 Noteworthy arts and culture events in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from December 15-21.

 At least 129 bodies have been recovered from Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after a ferry capsized on Friday.

 The Prime Minister has approved a scheme to improve management of logging in natural forests for the 2014-2020 period, with the goal of increasing coverage to meet domestic demand for timber.

 High waves isolated a dozen households in Ro village on Saturday night sweeping away 100m of embankment made from rock and sand bags.

 Four more foreign airlines began to launch their flights to Tan Son Nhat international airport between mid-October and mid-November, according to the Saigon Ground Services Company Limited (SAGS).

 VietNamNet Bridge – A recent excavation at the Lo Gach archaeological site in the vicinity of Kom Pong Thmo Pagoda, the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, has revealed intact large-scale earthen ramparts believed to be the largest found

 VietNamNet Bridge – At the Petrol Materials Joint-Stock company's branch No 9 petrol station in HCM City's Ly Thuong Kiet Street, the pump dispensing E5 bio-petrol is in the centre with two employees often standing beside it.

Chief justices and senior members of judiciaries from ASEAN member countries discussed ways to step up their cooperation in addressing environmental challenges at a roundtable that opened in Hanoi on December 13.

VN-Qatar trade value heads to US$1bln; NA’s Law Committee delegation on UK tour; Vietnamese parliamentary delegation visits Peru, Argentina; President meets with ASEAN chief justices; PM clears up political, social, economic issues

 Vietnamese businesses will be granted licences to provide e-wallet services from March 2015, after five years of a pilot programme.

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCMC, the biggest city in Vietnam, is famous for its dense population, heavy traffic, and bustling life. However, there exists a lovely flower market named Ho Thi Ky in a small corner of the city.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Tens of thousands of people without registered nationality in Vietnam will have great chance of gaining full citizenship rights and obligations once the country joins the 1954 Convention on the status of stateless persons.

 A population of 90 million with 65 percent under 35 years of age, rising incomes, increasingly busy lifestyles - these are the factors supporting the strong growth of the fast food industry in Vietnam.