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

Politics

-- Vietnam and Laos on Thursday formalized measures to improve border management in 2015 though the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) after a 2-day meeting, the 24th annual meeting of its kind, in Vientiane between a delegation of the Foreign Ministry’s National Boundary Commission and its Lao counterpart.

-- President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan praised the efforts of the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region in improving the material and spiritual lives during a pre-Tet meeting with the committee on Thursday.

-- An exhibition highlighting the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Russia was open at Ton Duc Thang Museum in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday with over 120 photos and documents presenting President Ho Chi Minh’s actions to consolidate and develop Vietnam’s friendship with the Soviet Union and the support of the Soviet Union in the past and Russia at present for Vietnam.

Society

-- National Steering Committee for Flood Control and Prevention has finished maps demonstrating areas vulnerable to elevated water levels, a scientific base for local and central agencies to stay proactive in designing plans to addressing super typhoon responses in the future. The maps are part of a project set up to help the country cope with super typhoons after the historic storm Haiyan, the strongest cyclone ever recorded on land that claimed at least 7,350 lives as it devastated large parts of the central Philippines.

-- Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked committee, airline providers, and flight management corporations to design specific work plans for 2015 and the coming years as well as invest in upgrading infrastructure and equipment to ensure flight security and safety in 2015 when speaking at the National Civil Aviation Security Committee's conference on Thursday in Hanoi. Last year, the sector experienced 91 incidents relating to safety, and saw 300 security-related violations.

-- With a majority 70 percent of the country’s craft villages concentrating in the north and the highest density in the Red River Delta region, the expanding number of craft villages nationwide has increased environmental pollution, and addressing the issue requires strong communal engagement. Low environmental knowledge and bad management lie at the root of the issue, while local officials in charge of monitoring pollution are poorly informed, leading to apathy and rampant violations, according to Institute of Human Geography.

Business

-- Rowsley, partly owned by billionaire Peter Lim - one of the richest people in Singapore with total assets of $2.5 billion, will invest US$275 million (VND5.9 trillion) to acquire 50 percent stake in the company owning HAGL Myanmar Centre, Vietnamese listed firm Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL). The $550 million complex, among the biggest of its kind in Myanmar, will include four office blocks, a five-star hotel, a shopping mall, and serviced and residential apartments.

Lifestyle

-- A ceremony to erect cay neu, a tall bamboo tree believed to ward off ghosts and monsters from entering the community during Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, has been re-enacted in the former imperial city of Hue in central province of Thua Thien-Hue.