Tuoitrenews briefs some of the leading stories published today on Vietnamese media:

Politics:

-- Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, will pay an official visit to Vietnam on December 26-28 at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung, according to a recent statement the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

-- Bilateral relationship between Vietnam-China has seen positive developments with many progresses recorded in various fields since the two countries normalized their relations, said Nguyen Van Tho, Vietnamese Ambassador to China on the sidelines of a recent conference on national external affairs in Hanoi.

-- Vietnamese ambassador to Turkey Nguyen The Cuong has been held at a Frankfurt airport for around two hours as he did not declare US$20,000 as per local regulations. Cuong told Tuoi Tre that when he was on the way from Ankara (Turkey) to Hanoi to attend a meeting, he was held at a Frankfurt airport where he was in transit.

Society:

-- Unusual snowfall and frost in the northern province of Lao Cai have caused an estimated loss of $711,068 to vegetable and cattle, of which more than 150 hectares of vegetables and crops and 3,000m2 of orchids being damaged in Sa Pa alone.

-- People in Ho Chi Minh City will experience cold weather for a week from now till the New Year, as temperatures in the south are dropping due to the affect of a cold spell hailing from the north, according to Nguyen Minh Giam, deputy director of the Southern Region Hydro-Meteorological Centre.

-- With local poor households reduced from over 80,000 to 40,000 in 2008-2013, the capital city of Hanoi is taking the lead in poverty reduction in Vietnam, according to a recent report by the Hanoi People’s Committee in a working session with a National Assembly delegation on supervising poverty reduction.

-- The Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) has launched a drive, part of the activities in a project to collect documents, artifacts and photos conducted by the association, to encourage the donation of documents and objects to the Vietnam Press Museum.

-- A study on drivers of violence against children with a view to helping develop evidence-based policies for better child care and protection are being worked together by Vietnam and the United Nation Children's Fund (UNICEF) as part of a study that UNICEF conducting from June 2013 to mid-2016 in four countries – Zimbabwe , Peru , Vietnam and Italy.

Business:

-- While European state agencies have seized batches of Chinese toxic dolls with fruit heads for destroying as early as January this year, their Vietnamese counterparts remain calm, saying they must conduct proper procedures which often take months prior to a possible recall.

-- Vietnam Maritime Pilots Association, tasked to make proposals on building and perfecting policies for the sector, has made its debut at a ceremony held in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

-- The Hanoi Transport Corp has launched a new website to offer bus passengers the access to information about bus routes online, an upgrade over  what is available at the city's bus stops.

Sports:

-- Vietnam ranked third in the medal tally at the ongoing SEA Games in Myanmar with 69 gold, 77 silver and 79 bronze medals, while Thailand maintained its top position with 98 golds, followed by host Myanmar with 76 golds.

Lifestyle:

-- Thousands of people happily gather at Ho Chi Minh City’s shopping malls, taking photos and celebrating their early Christmas holiday. Besides gathering to take photos with friends and families, many of them, including both young and old people, also participated in a lot of festivities which have been held in the Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1.