Good morning from Vietnam!

Politics

-- The first sod was turned at the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago Museum on Monday in the central city of Da Nang. The project is located at the Hoang Sa – Phan Ba Phien crossroads in Son Tra District.

-- The 20^th meeting of the 8^th People’s Council of Ho Chi Minh City opens on Tuesday to elect leaders for the new term.

Society

-- A 2.7-magnitude earthquake occurred at 1:25 am on Monday in A Luoi District of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

-- The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has ordered officials in District 6 to ban the opening of restaurants on Vo Van Kiet Boulevard. Other services such as parking and motorbike washing are also prohibited along the avenue.

-- The health department in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak has confirmed that 14 hospitals there ran out of money to pay salaries to their staff.

-- The Ministry of Health said on Monday that it will launch a thorough inspection at four major beverage companies, including Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage, Coca-Cola Vietnam, Wonderfarm, and URC, in 2016.

-- Fifteen percent of the Vietnamese population, or 13.5 million people, have been suffering mental disorder, the Ministry of Health said on Monday, adding that it results from poverty, unemployment, divorce, illiteracy, and violence.

Business

-- Bruno Angelet, head of the European Union delegation to Vietnam, said yesterday that the free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam is expected to be effective in 2018, two years after negotiations for it end.

-- Supermarkets and chains of retail shops in Vietnam have arranged sources of supply for clean vegetables and meat that meet safety standards. Earlier, contaminated farming products had been found on public sale in local traditional markets.

-- VietJet Air will run an international service from Can Tho City in Vietnam to South Korea. The pilot plan will be executed around the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, which is to come in over two months.

-- The Vietnam Aviation Institute has become one of the first two schools under the management of the Ministry of Transport to be privatized.

Sports

-- Hoang Ha Giang, former taekwondo fighter, died yesterday at the age of 24. She won two world youth championship titles in 2006 and 2008 and a silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games.