Read what is in the news today:

Society

-- Authorities in Binh Son District in the central province of Quang Ngai are studying the reason why sea water has recently turned blackish with yellow scum along the coast near the local Dung Quat Economic Zone, where several heavy industry firms are located.

-- Vietnam’s Ministry of Home Affairs has called on authorities in 63 provinces and centrally-governed cities to hand in their registration for merging various provincial departments of investment, finance, transport, construction, and Party committees in an effort to streamline the administrative apparatus.

-- Authorities in the northern province of Bac Kan are investigating a case where 13 graves of wartime martyrs at a government-built cemetery have been found to contain no human remains.

-- An investigative agency under the Ministry of Public Security on Wednesday said they have busted a ring trafficking white sugar from Cambodia into Vietnam through Vinh Te Canal in the Mekong Delta region, confiscating nearly 1,000 metric tons of white sugar valued at billions of Vietnamese dong. (US$1 = VND23,173)

Education

-- The monthly tuition fee per pupil at 14 high-quality public schools in Hanoi will increase by VND400,000 ($17.2) from the academic year of 2020-21, according to a resolution approved on Wednesday by the municipal People’s Council.

-- The Ministry of Education and Training has yet to approve the English textbook for first graders under the new general education curriculum which will take effect from the 2020-21 school year due to issues concerning the textbook's chief editor, while the textbooks for other subjects have already been published.

Lifestyle

-- The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper-backed annual Sunflower Festival in support of child cancer patients is set to return with its 12th edition in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Hue City in the north-central province of Thua Thien-Hue from December 8 to 15.

Sports

-- Vietnamese swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang snatched the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter freestyle event at the ongoing 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines on Wednesday, clocking 49.08 seconds and setting a new Games record.

-- Vietnam added five gold and many silver and bronze medals to their medal count on Wednesday, the fourth day of official competition at the ongoing SEA Games in the Philippines, keeping its second place in the medal table behind the hosts, with 93 medals in total.

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