Check out what’s in the news today!

Politics

-- A celebration marking the 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-UK diplomatic relations was held by the Vietnam-UK Friendship Association in Hanoi on Friday.

-- Vietnam has always treasured and prioritized the promotion of economic cooperation with Cambodia for the benefit of their people and businesses, and to support the development goals of each nation, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Friday while holding talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been on an official visit to Vietnam from December 6-8.

Society

-- Vietnam’s first multi-platform interactive TV channel on culture and tourism has just been launched by Radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in HD quality on VTV Cab, SCTV, VTC, Mobi TV, FPT, My TV and Next Media in 63 provinces and cities throughout the country. The channel will be available in English, Russian, Japanese and Korean in the near future.

-- A 36-year-old woman in Kim Dong District in the northern province of Hung Yen on Friday used gasoline to burn herself to death while leaving her 77-year-old mother, who constantly nagged her, in critical conditions.

-- An explosion occurred at the Hai Phong Dragon Steel Factory in Hong Bang District in the northern city of Hai Phong around 12:30 pm on Friday, killing one person and injuring 11 others, who had to be rushed to hospital for emergency treatment, with hot liquid steel leakage identified as the cause of blast.

-- A tractor trailer carrying logs of wood was traveling the National Highway 1 section passing Hai Lang District in the central province of Quang Tri when it overturned, crushing two 23-year-old women to death on Friday afternoon.

-- The Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia and the host country’s competent agencies on Friday completed paperwork for the repatriation of 22 Vietnamese fishermen at Soekarno Hatta International Airport. This is the third handover of Vietnamese fishermen from Indonesia this month, with a total of 53 fishermen, who were detained in the Indonesian city of Pontianak for violations while fishing.

Business

-- Flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is the most punctual airline among the three most popular Vietnamese commercial airlines, including low-cost carrier Vietjet and budget airline Jetstar Pacific, in the first 11 months of 2018 with the on-time performance rate of 88.8 percent, according to a report of service quality by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV). The figure is higher than that of world’s airline on-time performance reported at 75-78 percent in the same period.

-- While growth is set to ease in 2019, Vietnam will remain among the top ten fastest-growing economies globally, according to the “Economic Insight: South-East Asia” report recently released by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Lifestyle

-- The “Ballet Duet Gala Night - Classic to Contemporary” show featuring classic and contemporary dances by artists of Vietnam and South Korea will be held by the South Korean Cultural Centre as a part of a dance exchange project between the two countries in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday night.

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