Check out the news you should not miss today, February 1

Politics

-- The 50th anniversary of the General Tet Offensive in the spring of 1968, when  liberation forces simultaneously launched attacks on the U.S. and former Southern Vietnamese bases in such cities as Hue, Da Nang, Quy Nhon and Saigon, was observed during a grand meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday.

Society

-- Vietnam’s population is expected to top 94.7 million in 2018, with an average age of 73.7, the country’s population office said Wednesday.

-- More than 2,160 cattle were killed or starved to death due to a cold spell that hit Vietnam's  north, central and Central Highlands regions from Sunday,  the Department of Livestock Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Wednesday.

-- Three Vietnamese nationals defendants received jail terms ranging from six to eight years on charges of spreading anti-state propaganda by a Hanoi court on Wednesday.

-- A Vietnamese woman subject to a six-month ban from traveling by air from September 2017 still managed to board an Aeroflot flight from Hanoi to Moscow.

-- The administration of the central province of Quang Ngai has plans to develop a geological park on its Ly Son Island and will seek UNESCO recognition for the venue, a top official said Wednesday.

Business

-- Vietnam's government successfully sold  20 percent of state electricity firm PetroVietnam Power at its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, raising VBD6.997 trillion dong ($308.1 million).

-- The health of Vietnamese businesses slightly improved in 2017, with 47.3 percent of local firms enjoying profit, but a breakthrough is still needed to even better this result, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said at a meeting of the Steering Committee for Business Reform and Development in Hanoi on Wednesday.

-- Vietjet’s pre-tax profit in 2017 is estimated at VND4,755 billion ($209.47 million), up 75.9 percent year on year and completed 126 percent of the year plan, the low-cost carrier announced on Wednesday.

Sports

-- Vietnam's U23 football team will meet fans in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, after returning from the 2018 AFC U23 Championship as the nation's heroes for finishing the event at second place.