Society

Hanoi’s Department of Home Affairs has released figures on 2026 New Year and Lunar New Year or Tet bonuses for employees, with the highest payout of VND 600 million (USD 22,814).

A family in Danang City is raising a female buffalo with an unusually shaped pair of horns that curve inward to form a near-perfect circle around its face, attracting widespread curiosity.

Heavy traffic congestion hit many streets across Hanoi on Monday morning, the first working day after the New Year holiday, making travel difficult for commuters.

Police in Nha Trang Ward said on January 5 they are investigating a video showing a group of men allegedly threatening foreign tourists at a local beachside park.

Vietnam recorded 196 traffic accidents nationwide during the four-day 2026 New Year holiday, killing 94 people and injuring 154 others.

Authorities are investigating a foreign vessel that drifted ashore in Van Tuong Commune, Quang Ngai Province, after border guards found the ship unmanned on January 4.

Vietnam has expressed deep concern over the current situation in Venezuela, according to spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang on January 3.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Venezuela Vu Trung My confirmed on January 3 that as of now, all Vietnamese citizens in Venezuela are safe.

Early-blooming peach and plum blossoms have begun appearing across Hanoi, bringing splashes of colour to the capital weeks before the Lunar New Year, or Tet.

The northern region of Vietnam is witnessing a strong cold wave with temperatures dropping to as low as 4 degrees Celsius at Mau Son peak in Lang Son Province.

Four people were killed on Friday morning after a section of the Ba River embankment collapsed in Dak Lak Province.

A large unexploded bomb dating back to the American war was safely removed and destroyed in Ea Hiao Commune, Dak Lak Province, on January 2, 2026.

People using e cigarettes or heated tobacco products in Vietnam will face fines of VND 3-5 million and be required to destroy the products, under a new government decree.

A new tidal surge is forecast to hit Vietnam’s southeastern coast from the evening of January 1 to January 2, with peak levels of 3.95-4.05 metres at Vung Tau.

Eighteen people were killed and 41 injured in 49 traffic accidents nationwide on January 1, the first day of the New Year, according to the Traffic Police Department.

The Law on Teachers, comprising nine chapters and 42 articles, stipulates that teachers’ salaries will be ranked at the highest level within the public administrative and non-business pay scale.

Hanoi will run more than 69,000 bus and metro trips during the New Year holiday from January 1 to 4, 2026, to meet rising travel demand, the city’s Transport Management and Operations Centre said.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro route (Metro Line 1) was full of passengers in the early hours of New Year’s Day as large crowds returned home after fireworks celebrations.

Military and public security forces are working around the clock to complete construction before the Lunar New Year (Tet), which falls on middle February 2026.