What you need to know today in Vietnam:

Politics

-- The Vietnam International Defense Exhibition 2024 officially opened at Gia Lam Military Airport in Hanoi on Thursday. The four-day event has attracted numerous delegations and visitors from both domestic and international backgrounds to view displays of military equipment and weaponry, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), tanks, armored vehicles, missiles, helicopters, and infantry weapons.

Society

-- After a police investigation into a collision between a foreign man and a ride-hailing driver last week, the two met again on Thursday. In the presence of police officers, they shook hands, apologized, and agreed to let bygones be bygones.

-- Vietnam and Indonesia recorded the highest number of incidents caused by internal device threats in Southeast Asia during the first half of 2024, according to a report released by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky on Thursday.

-- Temperatures in northern Vietnam have dropped on Friday compared to previous days. In the southeastern provinces, the early morning weather is cool, with some areas recording as low as 19°C.

Business

-- According to sources, Vietjet is reporting to the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam regarding its plan to wet lease (including aircraft and crew) the Chinese-made COMAC ARJ21 aircraft. Specifically, the airline plans to wet lease two COMAC ARJ21 planes from Chengdu Airlines, starting January 15, to meet peak demand during the Lunar New Year, due late next month. Key routes to be operated include Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to and from Con Dao Airport off the southeast coast of Vietnam. 

-- As of the end of November, the total capital raised through public offerings of stocks and bonds by public companies reached VND 173 trillion (nearly US$7 billion), with stock offerings alone accounting for VND134.8 trillion, as per a report the State Securities Commission unveiled at its recent year-end review conference for 2024.

Lifestyle

-- Ho Chi Minh City will celebrate Lunar New Year's Eve for the 2025 Year of the Snake with a 3D light projection show on the façade of the City Hall on the evening of January 28, followed by an artistic fireworks display from midnight to 12:15 am on January 29 (Lunar New Year's Eve).

-- The wedding of successful Mongolian entrepreneurs E. Zorigtbaatar and E. Enkhriitsetseg took place on Thursday aboard the Nautilus cruise ship in An Thoi Ward, Phu Quoc City, off the southern coast of Vietnam. The ceremony blended the couple's traditional Mongolian culture with elements of Vietnamese cultural customs.

Education

-- Nearly 30 student teams competed on Thursday in the Dancing Robot contest organized by the Institute of Intelligent and Interactive Technologies at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City.

World News

-- The looming presidency of Donald Trump was already influencing global economic policymaking this week, as the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at fewer rate cuts and other major central banks adopted a cautious stance on their monetary policies, Reuters reported.

-- A stampede at a school funfair in Ibadan, a city in southwestern Nigeria, left 35 children dead and six others critically injured, AFP cited police as reporting on Thursday.