Check out what is in the news today, January 11

Politics

-- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife will pay a visit to Vietnam on Monday and Tuesday next week following an invitation from his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Society

-- Vietnam police have arrested two Vietnamese suspects involved in an online gambling ring whose server has been run by a company in the Philippines since 2013, and total wagers amounted to more than VND300 billion (US$13.1 million).

-- Police on Tuesday commenced legal proceedings against nine former leaders and executives of Dai Tin (TrustBank) Commercial Joint Stock Bank for committing economic offences at the group, according to a source close to Tuoi Tre.

-- The Forest Ranger Office of Tri Ton District in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang have said they had fined a 51-year-old man with permanent residence in China VND7.5 million ($328) for illegal wildlife trafficking. The man and his two accomplices were arrested on Tuesday when they were carrying ten sacks of venomous snakes in a scheme to let them loose into the neighborhood.

Business

-- Experts urged at a Tuesday meeting jointly held by Tuoi Tre newspaper that the construction of structures and high-rises along the iconic Han River in the central city of Da Nang be re-zoned to improve the cityscape and better tap into the river’s tourism potential.  

-- A specially-shaped pomelo club based in Hau Giang Province’s Chau Thanh District is poised to sell almost 3,000 grapefruits shaped like a bottle gourd with sophisticated calligraphy carvings of blessing words for Tet (Lunar New Year), which kick-starts on January 28.

-- A program meant to link banks and enterprises was launched Tuesday, focusing on the high-tech agriculture sector and offer loans to companies recently upgraded from household businesses as well as startups.

Lifestyle

-- The organizers of a street art festival jointly organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper on Tuesday handed away 16 awards to groups of young street artists after holding a fiery show in Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City.

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