Politics

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung Sunday started his three-day visit to Cambodia, at the invitation of his counterpart Hun Sen.

-- President Truong Tan Sang Saturday offered incense at a shrine dedicated to President Ho Chi Minh at Cao Bang-based Pac Bo historical relic site. The president was touring the nation’s northern border areas.

Society

-- HCMC police are investigating a case in which the suspect lured an American national into a hotel to have sex but ended up stealing $500 and other assets of the foreigner and fled.

-- A 2.6 magnitude earthquake was felt at the Song Tranh 2 hydropower site in the central province of Quang Nam on Sunday. The quake occurred at a depth of 5.5km. No damages or casualties were reported.

-- Can Tho General Hospital Sunday held a ceremony to welcome the 50^th baby to be born from in vitro fertilization method.

-- An illegal gold mine in Phuoc Hiep commune of Quang Nam Province collapsed on Friday night, burying 3 miners working on the spot. But the incident was only confirmed on Sunday by the commune head. Rescuers are still searching for the victims trapped inside the debris.

-- Phan Minh Tuan, 28, of Da Nang city, was sentenced to death on Saturday for killing a 22-year-old woman whom he had an affair with on November 3. The victim had asked Tuan to give her VND10 million in return for her not telling his wife about their affair.

Business

-- Japanese supermarket chain AEON said it has exported US$60 million worth of Vietnamese goods to its stores across Japan in 2013, while Big C Vietnam also shipped $20 million worth of Vietnamese products to its branches in other countries.

-- Ignacio Lopez, the senior vice president - operations, global sourcing of Walmart, said the US largest supermarket chain does not have plan to open any store in Vietnam. But it is seeking to increase the number of products sourced from the country by setting a sourcing office in Ho Chi Minh City late last year.

-- The Department of Planning and Investment of HCMC has launched a program that allows business owners to apply business licenses right at their home instead of physically visiting the department offices.

Lifestyle

-- More than 300 youths Sunday gathered at the Times City square in Hanoi to join a flashmob dance to celebrate the Tet. The dancers all dressed in ao dai and khan dong, the country’s national costumes.

-- A website called World Actuality Sunday stunned the Vietnamese social network community by releasing the list of 50 most beautiful women in 2013, in which Vietnamese star actress Ngo Thanh Van was ranked 10^th. But the creditability of the website is under doubt as it has been found to be a newly-established newswire and has a super low rank of 24,241 on web-ranking site Alexa.

-- Nine finalists of the 2013 Vietnam Idol entered their first liveshow on Sunday night.

-- The 2014 Golden Globe awards ceremony will be broadcast live on VTV6 from 8am-11am today (January 13).

Charity

-- Thousands of youths countrywide Sunday participated in the Red Sunday, where they donated more than 7,000 units of blood.

Sports

-- The Vietnam’s disabled sporting team Sunday left for Myanmar to attend the 7^th ASEAN Para Games. The event will run from January 11 to 21. The Vietnamese athletes with disability will compete at six sports including track-and-field, swimming, weightlifting, table-tennis, chess, and boccia.