Credit institutions gained an accumulated profit of VND29.5 trillion (US$1.34 billion) during the first 11 months of this year, up 3.2 per cent from the same period last year.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Mekong Artists Corp has announced the launch of a weekly cai luong (reformed opera) show starting next month at Ho Chi Minh City's Institute for Cultural Exchange with France, or IDECAF.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Information Centre for Military Science under the Ministry of National Defence unveiled its English version of its web portal, found at www.bqp.vn and www.mod.gov.vn,

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Phu Tho provincial People’s Court on December 19 gave life sentence to seven defendants involved in a ring trafficking 200 heroin cakes (approximately 67kg).

 A total of 88 people were injured after the ceiling of a packed theater in downtown London collapsed Thursday, according to local authorities.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Local experts have urged HCM City authorities to better coordinate activities on climate-change adaptation as the city is one of 10 in the world that is most vulnerable to such changes.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Government Committee for Religious Affairs yesterday (Dec 19) held a seminar to review its performance in 2013 and discuss plans for 2014.

A series of inspection tours have been made recently to find out the businesses and individuals using pirated software. Meanwhile, a software piracy lawsuit has been raised, for the first time in Vietnam.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Refresher courses cannot help English teachers improve their listening and speaking skills. The lack of qualified teachers may lead to the failure of the national English teaching program.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Hung on December 19 set a new men’s triple jump record (16.67 metres) and brought home a gold at the on-going 27th SEA Games. The previous record was 16.51 metres.

Banks now queue up for their turns to sell bad debts to the Vietnam Asset Management Company. They need to “clean up the balance sheet” by the time when the circular on classifying bad debts according to international standards takes effects.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Six corpses, dating to 6,000 years ago, have been unearthed in a cave in Ngan Son District of northern Bac Kan Province, according to scientists from the Viet Nam Archaeology Institute.

 VietNamNet Bridge – When British artist Lee Kirby uploaded a Youtube clip featuring himself singing the Vietnamese ballad Diem Xua in 2009, he didn't expect to create a "phenomenon" in Viet Nam.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The lives of residents in northern mountainous provinces have been disrupted due to the continuous heavy snowfall.

 VietNamNet Bridge – 60kg Vovinam representative Nguyen Duy Khanh defeated Myanmar’s challenger to win the Vietnamese squad’s third SEA Games gold medal on December 19.

VietNamNet Bridge – According to a source from the US General Consul in Ho Chi Minh City, US-based sandwich chain Quiznos will come to the city on December 18 to start sourcing local partners for franchising, the Vietnam Investment Review heard.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Staff of the General Hospital of Phu Yen Province are very upset that a doctor and a nurse were forced to be involved in lethal injection.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Samsung’s Empire, which has been built up on the profuse and low labor cost in China, tends to move to Vietnam, where it can find better conditions.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam is expected to have one smart phone user in every four citizens, increasing the number of smartphones in use in the local market to 20 million units next year, according to market research and consulting company Spire.

VietNamNet Bridge – Considered the Dalat of the country’s southeastern region, Ma Thien Lanh Valley located in Thanh Tan Commune in Tay Ninh Province is formed by three mountains, Ba Den, Heo and Phung.