Read what is in the news today, December 21:

Society

-- The latest investigative reports by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper have uncovered multiple tricks employed by Chinese-run clinics in Ho Chi Minh City to force patients to pay a fortune for substandard treatment from unqualified doctors.

-- Typhoon Kai-Tak, the 15^th storm to hit Vietnam this year, is forecast to be 310 kilometers southeast of Con Dao Islands off the coast of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province this morning, with waves measuring up to eight meters high.

-- Nine former officials have been prosecuted for their wrongdoings in a project to construct a water pipeline in Hanoi between 2004 and 2009, which led to the finished pipeline experiencing 18 ruptures over its course of use since.

-- The owner of a 200-kilogram female moon bear that was raised in captivity by a household in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai Province has given up the animal voluntarily to authorities so the bear could be rehabilitated and released into the wild.

-- The investigative body of Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has prosecuted Phung Dinh Thuc, former general director of state-run oil and gas giant PetroVietnam (PVN), and requested the prosecution of Dinh La Thang, former chairman of PVN’s board of members who was arrested earlier this month, on charges of deliberately violating the state’s regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences during the men’s tenures as PVN’s top executives.

-- Vietnam’s current disabled population is estimated to be over 12 million, with about 1.5-2 percent of newborns every year being diagnosed with birth defects, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health announced at a conference on Wednesday.

Business

-- Vietnamese businesses, due to their relatively small scale, are especially vulnerable to acquisitions by larger foreign behemoths, experts warned at a forum on Vietnam’s global economic integration on Wednesday.

-- The Netherlands-based ride-hailing service Uber B.V on Wednesday sent a letter to the tax department of Ho Chi Minh City promising to pay the overdue tax arrears amounting to US$2.95 million, but stressed that they would continue to file formal complaints against the tax collection and take the matter to court if necessary.

Sports

-- The administration of Ho Chi Minh City has officially requested to host the 2021 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) as Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is still in two minds about bidding for Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City to organize the Games.

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