What you need to know today in Vietnam:

Politics

-- "Vietnam closely follows the developments surrounding the Ukraine-Russia conflict," the Vietnam News Agency quoted spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang as saying during a regular press briefing in Hanoi on Thursday. "Vietnam calls on relevant parties to resume dialogue and resolve issues by peaceful means on the basis of respecting basic principles of international law, especially the principle of respect for countries' independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."

Society

-- Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that 13 out of 14 Vietnamese women who had been tricked into coming to the Philippines and forced to engage in prostitution have been freed after being rescued by local authorities in late September.

-- Hanoi authorities on Thursday turned the first sod on an underpass at the Giai Phong - Kim Dong intersection. Costing VND778 billion (US$32.6 million), the underpass is expected to come on stream in 30 months. 

-- A court in Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam sentenced on Thursday two people to a combined 12 years in jail for working to topple the people's government.

-- The second energy forum between Vietnam and Thailand took place in Bangkok on Thursday, seeking ways to achieve the common goal of developing clean and sustainable energy, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Business

-- Vietnam's richest man Pham Nhat Vuong has established a real estate investment and management company with a charter capital of VND18 trillion ($754 million).

Education

-- About 30,000 Vietnamese students enrolled in schools at all levels in the U.S., newly-appointed Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Susan Burns said at an education fair on Thursday. Vietnam currently ranks sixth among countries with the largest number of students in the U.S..

World News

-- "Malaysia's palm planters are eyeing robots and drones to combat a labor crunch," Reuters reported.

-- "South Korea and the United States began joint maritime exercises with a U.S. aircraft carrier on Friday," Reuters cited South Korea's military as saying, a day after it scrambled fighter jets in reaction to an apparent North Korean bombing drill.

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