Here are the leading news stories about Vietnam you should not miss today, January 2, 2016.

Politics

-- Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on Friday paid a visit to the High Command of Hanoi, where he underlined the importance of security-defense tasks for the capital city.

Society

-- Twelve suspects have been arrested for allegedly selling computer chips to two filling stations in Hanoi, which placed them in their pumps to cheat customers of billions of Vietnamese dong, police said Friday.

-- Eight workers died of gas asphyxiation, while another was in a critical condition in an accident happening at a lime kiln in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa on Friday. 

-- There were 38 traffic accidents in the first day of 2016 across Vietnam, killing 22 people and injuring 25 others, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee.  

-- A Vietnamese fishing boat departing from the central province of Quang Ngai was sunk after being rammed by an unidentified vessel some 70 nautical miles off Con Co Island in Quang Tri Province on Friday.

Business

-- The first 200 visitors to Ho Chi Minh City were warmly received and given with gifts during a ceremony held by the city’s administration and tourism authorities at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on Friday.

-- According to customs data, Vietnam suffered a trade deficit of US$3.5 billion as of December 15, a bit higher than the $3.2 billion reported by the General Statistics Office a few days earlier.

-- Vietnam has the chance to post the fastest economic growth in Southeast Asia in 2016, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, director of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Ho Chi Minh City, said in a recent interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Lifestyle

-- The maiden Ho Tram Kite Festival kicked off at the namesake resort complex in the southern Vietnamese province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on Friday, showcasing hundreds of colorful kites made by local artisans.

Sports

-- The Vietnamese Under-23 football squad had the first training session in Qatar on Friday, shortly after their arrival late Thursday, to prepare for the 2016 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, to run from January 12 to 30.

-- Vietnam’s Tran Thi Thanh Thuy will leave for Thailand to join the Bangkok Glass Volleyball Club on January 4, in her first-ever overseas contract with the Thailand League champions.

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