Vietnamese and Russian scientists met in a conference in Nha Trang city in the south central province of Khanh Hoa on December 22 to review their one-month voyage to survey marine biodiversity in the sea of Vietnam’s central region.

The Taiwanese business association in the central city of Danang handed over 170 gifts to old people and children being cared at the local social support centre on December 22.

The Prime Minister has decided to allocate VND165 billion (US$7.2 million) as relief aid to seven central localities from Nghe An to Quang Nam and northern Quang Ninh province which have been hit by recent devastated floods.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on December 22 had a working session with leaders of the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh on the socio-economic development situation of the locality and orientations for its robust growth in the future.

VOV.VN -  A special arts performance and exchange program was held in Hanoi on December 21 to mark the 72nd anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and the 27th anniversary of National Defense Day.

A total of seven enterprises have been selected to join a pilot voluntary programme on economical and efficient energy use under the Vietnam Energy Efficiency and Cleaner Production project funded by the World Bank and the Global Environment Fund. 

VOV.VN - Vice State President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh has ceremoniously presented the Labour Order (third class) to Siddhartha Kaul and Helmut Kutin, the current and prior president, respectively, of the SOS Children’s Villages.

The Hanoi People’s Court pronounced on December 22 the death penalty for seven defendants and life imprisonment for two others involved in an inter-provincial drug trafficking ring.

The Power Company of the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong (PC Dak Nong) has spent VND168.2 billion (US$7.3 million) in 2016 to upgrade and expand the provincial grid, said Director Tran Van Thuan.

A project on community-based disaster risk management is benefiting thousands of people in rural and urban areas of Quang Binh, a central province prone to natural disasters.

The staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia laid a wreath at the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Monument in Phnom Penh on December 22 on the occasion of the 72nd founding anniversary of Vietnam People’s Army and the 27th anniversary of All People’s National Defence Festival (December 22).

VOV.VN - Roads are now the biggest killer of people in the country, with road traffic deaths reaching epidemic proportions, killing 24 and injuring another 60 every day, according to Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh.

VOV.VN - The capital city of Hanoi is buzzing with holiday events in December, but for many Hanoians, there’s nothing better than exploring the winter foliage, bursting with vibrant colour of the tropical almond tree.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has called on businesses, individuals and the community to join the Government in enhancing social security.

Vietnam accounts for 87 of the 163 new species of animals and plants discovered in the Greater Mekong region, according to a report released early this week by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

VOV.VN - Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) has granted Toyota scholarships 2016 worth VND700 million to 115 outstanding students majoring in the technical, mechanical and environmental studies from 16 universities nationwide. 

In a break from tradition, top Communist Party and State leaders will not take any official visit trips to cities and provinces during the coming Lunar New Year, or Tet, holiday.

Cleaning skyscraper windows is not a job for the faint-hearted.

Hanoi authorities extended Christmas greetings to parishioners in the city on December 20.

Ho Chi Minh City authorities will provide free train and bus tickets as well as gifts for workers and students to go home for Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Prof. Dr. Pham Van Thuc, Rector of the Hai Phong University of Medicine and Pharmacy, has become the first Vietnamese people to receive the “academician” title at the French National Academy of Medicine.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested the authorities of the central province of Binh Dinh to urgently support residents in rebuilding houses and repairing those on the verge of collapse.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) held a seminar in Hanoi on December 21 discussing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its implementation in Vietnam. 

The Binh Duong southern industrial hub has devised a working plan to implement its programme on preventing and minimising child labour for the 2017-2020 period.

Vietnam’s defence attaché agency in Laos held a ceremony in Vientiane on December 20 to mark the 72nd founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (December 22, 1944).

VOV.VN -Public security forces uncovered 42,558 criminal cases and arrested 80,210 offenders this year, the Ministry of Public Security told a press conference in Hanoi on December 21.

VOV.VN - On December 21, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc inspected post-flood clean-up activities in An Xuyen hamlet, Phu My district, Binh Dinh province.

The Institute for Nanotechnology-Vietnam National University HCM City said on December 20 that it has made a system to automatically monitor salinity in rivers in the Mekong Delta and set off an alarm if the level is too high.

The Ministry of Health has given the green light to Hospital E in Hanoi to open four hi-tech centres to meet patient demand.

The Vietnam Fatherland Committee in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on December 20 held an international conference to highlight the importance of people-to-people and cultural diplomacy as well as the overseas Vietnamese (OV) community to the city’s growth.