What you need to know today in Vietnam:

Politics

-- French and international officials have praised Vietnam's strong ties with France and its significant contributions to UNESCO in 2023, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Society

-- The northern region of Vietnam was plunged into bitter cold on Friday morning, with temperatures at the top of Mau Son Mountain in Lang Son Province falling to -2.2 degrees Celsius.

-- One died, another was injured, an a third person is still missing in the wake of an accident at a coal mine in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam on Thursday evening, local authorities said.

-- It is forecast to be a little chilly in Ho Chi Minh City at Christmas and on New Year's Day, Le Dinh Quyet, a weather expert, said on Thursday.

-- Police arrested Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai on an accusation of bribery on Thursday, the country’s security ministry said the same day.

-- Residents' lives have been disrupted as about 20 turbines were placed in the wrong locations at a wind farm in Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam.

Lifestyle

-- Ho Chi Minh City is expected to hold fireworks displays and countdown parties to usher in the new year, Bui Xuan Duc, chief of the festival and event planning office of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports, said on Thursday.

Business

-- Vietnam set a goal of US$9.5 billion in export revenue in 2024 given fierce competition from other markets.

-- "Vietnam's domestic coffee prices rose on Thursday, compared with last week, as supplies tightened after farmers refrained from selling the bean in hopes that prices would rise further," Reuters quoted traders as saying.

World News

-- "A 24-year-old Czech student shot dead his father, then killed 14 people and wounded 25 others at his Prague university on Thursday before possibly killing himself, police said, marking the country's worst-ever mass shooting," Reuters reported.

-- "A former assistant to the actor Vin Diesel filed a lawsuit against him on Thursday alleging that he sexually battered her in 2010 and that she was fired from her job just hours later," according to Reuters.

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