Check out what is in the news today!

Politics

-- During a 40-minute meeting at the ASEAN-U.S. Summit in California on February 15, President Barack Obama announced he will visit Vietnam in May during a trip to Asia at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Society

-- Colonel Doan Van Thanh, a police official in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, said on Tuesday that the investigative agency had decided to put a female hotelier in custody for driving a car carrying a banner defaming two local officials on the street.

-- A market management official in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa divulged on Tuesday that an inspection had been conducted at a seafood restaurant in Nha Trang City, as staffers were reportedly rude to diners following a complaint about the food’s poor quality. In July 2015, a tourist also expressed her grievance that her crab dish at the eatery shrank from 1.2kg to less than 0.5kg.

-- The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday handed an advanced search-and-rescue patrol ship over to border guards in Ha Tien Town, located in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

-- Officials of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport told a meeting with the municipal People’s Committee on Tuesday that the city will go ahead with key road and bridge construction projects throughout 2016 in a bid to alleviate traffic congestion.

-- On Tuesday afternoon, thousands of people remained stranded on Ly Son Island, off the central province of Quang Ngai, after competent agencies had suspended all passenger carrying activity to and from the island, starting Monday, due to extremely rough seas triggered by a cold front. 

Business

-- A clutch of products made from lotus plants have been embraced on the local market in recent times, with shipments of dried lotus seeds and bulbs to South Korea and Singapore earlier this year.

-- Officials of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism and representatives of Hanoi UNESCO Tour Club on Tuesday welcomed an Indian delegation that came for tourism and to seek opportunities to invest in real estate. 

Education

-- An exchange with overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and scientists jointly organized by the Association for Liaison with Overseas Vietnamese will take place in Ho Chi Minh City today, February 17. 

Lifestyle

-- An official in Hoi An City, located in the central province of Quang Nam, announced on Tuesday that the Hoi An international cuisine festival, which will attract 12 acclaimed foreign chefs, is slated to take place at UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town from March 14 to 20.