A requiem was held at Ba Da Pagoda in Hanoi on December 18 to pray for victims and Vietnamese and foreign soldiers who died while protecting the country during a US airstrike in December 1972.

President Tran Dai Quang has called on the entire Vietnamese people to bring into play the national resistance spirit, step up the national industrialisation and modernisation, while firmly protecting the socialist Vietnam.

 A delegation from the Ministry of National Defence led by Deputy Minister Be Xuan Truong paid an official visit to Cuba from December 12-18.

 Minister of Public Security To Lam has proposed Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha instruct relevant bodies to accelerate the signing of an agreement on criminal extradition as a legal foundation for the two countries’ law enforcement forces.

The National Assembly’s (NA) Standing Committee on December 19 discussed the preparations for the third session, which is scheduled to last 22 and a half days from May 22, 2017.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Pollution from pesticides has reached alarming levels in some provinces of the Red River Delta, known as the granary of Viet Nam’s north.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Culture is producing two documentaries aimed at advertising domestic tourism following the ministry’s tourism advertising through cinema project.

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City has set a target of saving 2 - 2.5 percent of energy consumption per year between now and 2020, with a view to protecting the environment.

Thirty-nine agricultural products and 40 outstanding companies were honoured at a programme displaying high quality agricultural products by the Viet Nam General Council of Agriculture and Rural Development. 

 Police yesterday arrested a suspect in a robbery at a branch of the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) in Hue City earlier this month.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese fighters won six of eight gold medals at an international taekwondo tournament, the President Cup, in HCM City on Saturday.

 VietNamNet would like to introduce the last part of the talks about Vietnam after 30 years of renovation. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – Art troupes and theatres in HCM City are offering new shows with a variety of interesting themes to celebrate the Christmas and New Year holiday season.

VietNamNet Bridge – Ineffective forest management has exposed shortcomings in the 2004 Law on Forest Protection and Development that need to be addressed through amendments, 

VietNamNet Bridge - E-commerce revenue in Vietnam in 2017 is forecast to reach $2.08 billion as the market becomes more competitive. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – Octogenarian war veterans, young people, State leaders and thousands of delegates took part yesterday in a solemn event in Ha Noi commemorating the 70th anniversary of National Resistance Day (December 19)

 VietNamNet Bridge – The classical music concert Luminous Night will be held at the HCM City Conservatory of Music today to welcome Christmas.

 VietNamNet Bridge – An exhibition of Ho Chi Minh’s appeal for national resistance has opened at the preserved house used by the late President in Van Phuc Village in the capital’s Ha Dong District.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam’s fertility rate has declined from 6.4 to 2.1 children per woman over the last 55 years, but the rate varies widely among provinces,

VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City People’s Committee has approved construction of embankments at 28 outlying locations to prevent erosion of river and canal banks.