What you need to know about Vietnam for today:

Politics

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met Myanmar President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw on Monday, when they declared determination to boost bilateral trade between the two countries to US$500 million this year.

-- Vietnam’s law-making National Assembly passed Monday a resolution on lump-sum social insurance payments for workers during its ninth session in Hanoi.

Society

-- Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai underlined the increasingly important role of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in poverty reduction and clean water supply for Vietnam, as he received the outgoing ADB country director, Tomoyuki Kimura, in Hanoi on Monday.

-- A 47-year-old man was driving an engine boat on the Trem River in the southernmost province of Ca Mau during a heavy downpour on Monday morning when he was struck to death by a lightning bolt.

-- Although Tropical Storm Kujira, the first to hit Vietnam this year, weakened into a tropical depression as it entered China’s Leizhou Peninsula late Monday, it is still expected to bring strong winds and floods to several northern Vietnamese provinces such as Quang Ninh, Cao Bang, Lang Son, and Bac Kan.

-- A court in the southern province of Dong Nai on Monday sentenced former police officer Ngo Van Vinh to nine years in jail for shooting another officer to death over a quarrel on September 22, 2013.

Business

-- The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry released Monday the 2014 Ministerial Effectiveness Index report, which ranks Vietnamese ministries based on their implementation of business laws.

-- Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air, and Jetstar Pacific all had to cancel several flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to the Central Highlands city of Da Lat on Monday due to bad weather there.

-- Vietnam’s food firm Kinh Do, Indo-Trans Logistics Corporation, and Malaysia’s Felda Global Ventures will form a joint venture to produce bottled palm oil in accordance with a memorandum of understanding they signed Monday.

Lifestyle

-- Six Vietnamese movies have been selected to be screened in the U.S. in July, as part of a series of activities to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Vietnam-U.S. diplomatic ties.

-- Famous New Age composers Yanni and Kitaro will perform at the 2016 Hue Festival, running from April 29 to May 4 next year in the central Vietnamese province of Thua Thien-Hue, according to the organizer.

Sports

-- Premier League side Manchester City confirmed on Monday they will send the official formation to play a friendly with the Vietnamese national team in Hanoi on July 27, at a cost of 1 million pound ($1.58 million).

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