Merry Christmas readers!

Check out what is in the news today, December 24

Politics

-- Vietnam's State President Tran Dai Quang extended Christmas greetings to Catholic dignitaries and followers as he visited the Catholic Church under the Archdiocese (Metropolitan) of Ho Chi Minh City on Friday.

-- Vietnamese and Chinese foreign ministries looked to optimize their active coordination role in promoting ties between the two Parties and countries, as the two ministers met on the sidelines of the second Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of Mekong – Lancang Cooperation (MLC) held in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Friday.

-- China’s recent launch of a regular air route to the airport on Phu Lam Island in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago seriously violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over the archipelago, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh said Friday.

Society

-- Do Van Dao, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City home affairs department, suggested merging District 4, the city's smallest district with only 4km2 area and 200,000 residents, with another district to optimize management.

- A six-member dog thief gang was nabbed in the southern province of Tay Ninh on Friday, with 47 dogs, both alive and dead, seized.

-- Twenty young men and women were caught red-handed using drugs in a karaoke parlor in the southern province of Tay Ninh on Friday.Business

-- Vietnam's state-run enterprises have brought back VND6.84 trillion (US$305.36 million) to state budget after withdrawing from non-core business and investment in 2016.

-- Vietnam’s vegetable and fruit export is expected to top $2.6 billion in 2016, having reached $2.17 billion in the Jan-Nov period, according to the E-Commerce and Information Technology Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

-- A nine-story parkcade has been proposed for construction behind the Municipal Theater in downtown Ho Chi Minh City to provide more parking spaces for automobiles in the city.

Lifestyle

-- A series of activities are scheduled to take place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City tonight to celebrate Christmas’s Eve.

-- Comedy-drama Em La Ba Noi Cua Anh (Sweet 20) has become the first-ever Vietnamese film listed among 100 foreign films with biggest gross in the U.S., according to the US Box Office Gross

-- More localities, including Hanoi and Da Nang cities and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, have announced cancelation of planned New Year’s Eve fireworks shows following a recent directive from the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

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