Good morning from Vietnam!

Politics

-- Vietnam and Cambodia’s military forces on Thursday jointly inaugurated a medical center at the countries’ border in Bien Gioi Commune, Chau Thanh District in southern Vietnam’s Tay Ninh Province.

Society

-- The first loaded test run of Hanoi’s first line of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Thursday was challenged with heavy traffic congestion and reckless drivers who ‘invaded’ BRT-only street lanes, preventing the buses from moving as rapidly as expected.

-- Cool weather of between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius is forecast to persist in southern Vietnam through New Year’s Day, with little chances of rain in the next few days, according to the Southern Hydro-Meteorological Station.

-- Construction began Thursday on a VND194 billion (US$8.66 million) project to build a branch connecting Vo Van Kiet Boulevard with Nguyen Tri Phuong Bridge, which connects District 5 and District 8 in Ho Chi Minh City.

-- An affordable apartment project with 1,700 units, priced from VND100 million ($4,500), was Thursday inaugurated in southern Vietnam’s Binh Duong Province by the provincial administration and state-owned construction corporation Becamex IDC.

-- The administration of Ho Chi Minh City has decided to reboot a plan to impose different working and studying hours for different groups of citizens in an effort to ease traffic congestion during rush hours.

Business

-- Ho Chi Minh City will put aside over VND39 trillion ($1.74 billion) in 2017 to invest in 80 transportation infrastructure projects, the municipal Department of Transport has said, adding the money will come from government budget, the city’s budget, and public-private partnership (PPP).

-- Fifty kilograms of rhino horns originated from the Kenyan city of Nairobi were Thursday confiscated by Vietnamese customs officers at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi after they inspected a suspicious package with no receiver’s name on it.

-- The Vietnamese government is eyeing the expansion of its southern hub Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City to combat chronic overcrowding and delays as the airport is handling nearly 1.5 times its design capacity.

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