Check out what is in the news today!Politics -- U.S. President Barack Obama is poised to pay an official visit to Vietnam from May 22 to 25, the host country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.Society -- Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup and the People’s Committee of the north-central province of Thanh Hoa on Tuesday turned the first sod at an administrative center, to be built at a projected cost  of VND655 billion (US$ 28.9 million), and the group’s Vincom shopping mall. -- Nguyen Thanh Phong, chair of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, has approved a project to modernize meteorological forecasting facilities and upgrade sewage systems citywide in a bid to combat the metropolis' chronic plague of urban flooding for the 2016-21 period. The project has an investment of more than VND9.570 trillion ($423.2 million), including a loan of $400 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. -- A police officer in Dai Tu District in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on Tuesday confirmed a report by two journalists of national broadcaster Vietnam Television that one of them had got slashed in the arm by the son of a local tea business owner after they were found stealthily recording an allegedly unhealthy tea-making practice.    -- Police in Ky Son District in the  north-central Vietnamese province of Nghe An have said that they are about to indict four suspects, including the victim’s elder sister and sister-in-law, for attempting to traffic a 15-year-old girl to China on Saturday last week.  

Business -- Agricultural authorities in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap on Tuesday launched a $15-million project sponsored by the World Bank to encourage sustainable agricultural practices among local farmers and improve the value of the province’s rice products. -- After the names of individuals and organizations in Vietnam listed in the leaked "Panama Papers" exposing holders of thousands of hidden bank accounts for possible violations of anti-bribery law were revealed, the General Department of Tax on Tuesday afternoon formed a task force to investigate the case, while other competent agencies have announced they are also looking into it. -- Many exporters have complained to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that they are still plagued by procedures that limit their eligibility for value-added tax refunds. -- The Vietnam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced on Tuesday that protective duties on vegetable cooking oil imported into Vietnam have dropped to a mere two percent. The new tax, which is effective from May 8 to May 7, 2017, means domestic cooking oil brands will no longer be safe from the competition of their foreign rivals.  Lifestyle -- Japan-Vietnam Special Friendship Ambassador Sugi Ryotaro announced at a working session in the central city of Da Nang on Tuesday that the Japanese government will continue to air a program featuring cultural exchange activities between the two countries for one more year on national broadcaster Vietnam Television’s VTV1 channel.