Let us begin your Sunday by skimming these news items on Tuoi Tre News! 

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev on Saturday, two days after the Vietnamese leader arrived in the European country for an official visit. The guest and host agreed to elevate the relations between their two countries to a strategic partnership, and work to put the Bulgarian president’s initiative on a new economic cooperation model into reality.

Society

-- The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha on Saturday morning organized a solemn ceremony at Quang Duc Monastery, located in District 3 in Ho Chi Minh City, to commemorate the 52th anniversary of Boddhisatva Thich Quang Duc’s self-immolation. On June 11, 1963 Venerable Sir Duc set fire to himself and died at a crowded intersection in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City today) as an act of revolt against the U.S.-backed Saigon regime’s repression of Buddhists.

-- Meetings were held on Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City and the south-central province of Khanh Hoa in observance of the  World Environment Day (June 5), World Oceans Day (June 8) and Vietnam’s Seas and Islands Week, running from June 1 to 8. 

-- Vietnamese police on Friday took on a case involving a Vietnam Airlines captain and a male flight attendant based on a decision by the South Korean government as soon as the two arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. According to Vietnam Airlines, a court in Busan on May 29 handed down a suspended sentence on the duo for smuggling gold bars into the East Asian country. 

Business

-- Representatives of many Vietnamese travel firms said on Saturday that more tourists have canceled their booked tours to South Korea on mounting concerns over Middle East Respiratory Syndrome caused by the Corona virus (MERS-CoV) that has spread to 26 countries and killed more than 440 people. Several companies have also suspended their tours to the East Asian country. 

-- In an attempt to better cope with the MERS-CoV, all passengers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City will have their body temperature measured from a distance. Those coming from South Korea and Bahrain have had to fill out a health declaration form since Friday as done by those coming from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iran.

Sports

-- The Vietnam U-23 football (soccer) team is poised to bring out their best during their match with Timor-Leste’s U-23 team at 7:30 pm tonight. The match is part of the 28th Southeast Asian Games, which is going on in Singapore.Lifestyle

-- A Vietnamese composer and his partner, a choreographer, are set to launch their show titled “Non” (Conical Leaf Hats), which combines contemporary dance and traditional music performances. The show will take place at 8:00 pm on Saturday next week at IDECAF, at 31 Thai Van Lung Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.