Check out the news you should not miss today:
Society
-- Vietnam has spent more than VND 972 billion (US$43.39 million) buying public cars for its ministries and departments, over VND118 billion down from last year, the state treasury has recently announced.
-- An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 3.5 on the Richter scale occurred in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue’s A Luoi District at 3:23 pm on Wednesday.
-- Ninety percent of enterprises do not meet the requirement on discharging waste, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha said, citing the result of an investigation into 336 enterprises which discharge from 500 cubic meters of waste per day and night.
-- The Russian research ship "Academic Oparin" with 36 scientists and 30 crew members aboard on Wednesday arrived in the central city of Nha Trang, after a month of researching biodiversity in the central waters from Quang Tri to Binh Thuan.
-- Can Tho Children's Hospital in Can Tho City has recently admitted more patients under five suffering Kawasaki disease, a rare childhood illness that affects blood vessels.
Business
-- Numerous malls and brands in Ho Chi Minh City are running big promotion programs of up to 50 percent on the occasion of Christmas.
-- As the Lunar New Year is due next month, Vietnamese farmers in the Mekong Delta have put more effort in taking care of their fruits as well as in producing special products, including mangos with calligraphy on their skin.
Lifestyle
-- Newly-appointed Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Pereric Högberg on Wednesday met with Ho Chi Minh City book lovers to talk about the world-renowned Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s autobiography on the occasion it was released in Vietnamese.
-- Evan Le, a five-year-old boy who stunned American TV host Steve Harley with his piano skills, will perform on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in Ho Chi Minh City on December 24.