Politics

-- Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent his Lunar New Year greetings over a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday to Chinese people, and wished them further success in building socialism with Chinese characteristics, according to the official Vietnam News Agency. Vietnam and China are set to celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Horse on January 31.

Society

-- Two died on Wednesday when a truck crashed into a train, which was traveling from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, in the central province of Thanh Hoa.

-- It is freezing cold in southern Vietnam as temperatures have dropped to below 20 degrees Celsius. Temperatures normally hover around 30 degrees Celsius or even higher in tropical Vietnam.   

-- The board chairman of a Hanoi-based real estate company founded by several state-owned groups has been arrested for allegedly violating state regulations on economic management, thus causing serious consequences, according to police.

-- A 35-year-old woman was handed Wednesday over to police in the southern province of Bac Lieu after she had been captured for purportedly drugging a Chinese man to rob him of thousands of dollars, a laptop, and a mobile phone a year ago.  

-- Ho Chi Minh City police held a 34-year-old man in custody on Wednesday on charges of kidnapping. A mother reported to the police on January 13 that her 4-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by the man. The police nabbed him and rescued the kid when he was receiving a ransom from the mother at a hotel.

Business

-- The US-based Mentholatum Company, Inc has voluntarily recalled five Rohto eye drop lines made in Vietnam for the US market due to “a manufacturing review at the production facility in Vietnam involving sterility controls,” the firm said in a recent press release.

-- Vietnamese have started buying goods in preparation for the upcoming Tet holiday (Vietnam’s Lunar New Year, falling on January 31).

-- Low-cost airline VietJet Air says it will sell tickets at VND99,000 each from Thursday to Saturday for any flight between January 23 and March 31.

-- Vietpay, a Vietnamese e-payment company, has been accused by its customers of appropriating their money, which had been credited to their accounts, over the past six months.

Lifestyle

-- Many flower exhibitions will open across Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday to serve flower lovers on the occasion of Tet. It is a long-time tradition that flowers are displayed in homes or public places during the Lunar New Year celebration in Vietnam.

-- A museum dedicated to ao dai (Vietnamese national costume consisting of a tight-fitting silk tunic worn over pantaloons) was opened Wednesday at 206/19/30 Long Thuan Street, Phuoc Long Ward, District 9, Ho Chi Minh City.

-- A large book festival will kick off in downtown Ho Chi Minh City next Tuesday as part of the Tet celebration.

Sports

-- Swimmer Anh Vien was named the Athlete of the Year 2013 by sports reporters on Wednesday.