Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News — December 24

Read what is in the news in Vietnam today:

Society

-- Unseasonal rain is expected across southern Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, on Wednesday and Thursday, with heavy rainfall in some areas, the Southern Regional Hydrometeorological Center said.

-- Hanoi will, from January 1, begin a three-month pilot restricting trucks weighing 10 tonnes or more, as well as container trucks and tractor-trailers, from entering parts of the Ring Road 3 area during peak hours.

-- Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Procuracy has charged Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, known as ‘Shark Thuy,’ chairman and chief executive of education group Egroup, with fraud and bribery, accusing him of fabricating capital and revenues to misappropriate more than VND7.7 trillion (US$292.4 million) from over 10,000 investors.

Prosecutors said he directed Apax Holdings JSC, which runs the controversial APAX Leaders English language center chain, and Igarten Education JSC to continuously lease premises, open 130 English-language centers and Steame kindergartens nationwide, and hire Vietnamese and foreign teachers to attract public attention and lure investors.

-- Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice has proposed requiring people who place bets on football, horse racing, and dog racing to provide full personal information, including their full name, occupation, and place of residence.

Economy

-- Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong’s net worth rose to $30 billion after a $3.4 billion one-day gain in his shares, surpassing Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s $28.6 billion, according to Forbes data on Tuesday.

-- Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) said on Tuesday its 2025 export revenue was estimated at $46 billion, up about five percent from 2024, adding it had largely contained the impact of global tariff volatility on its results.

-- Thailand’s Central Retail said it will sell Nguyen Kim electronics retail chain to Pico Holdings JSC, a Vietnamese electronics retailer, for 1.137 billion baht ($36 million), exiting its entire investment in the Vietnamese business, VnExpress quoted a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Tuesday.

World News

-- Thousands of people on Tuesday took part in the ‘Owarai Shinji’ ritual, a traditional ceremony at the Hiraoka shrine in Higashi-Osaka, Japan, where participants gather to laugh together in the belief that it brings good fortune, according to Reuters.

-- British police said on Tuesday that comedian and actor Russell Brand had been charged with a new count of rape and another of sexual assault, according to Reuters.