Here are the leading news stories about Vietnam you should not miss today, January 7.

Politics

-- A ceremony was held in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday to mark the 37th anniversary of the victory in the southwestern border defense war and the joint triumph of Vietnam and Cambodia over the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime (January 7, 1979).

-- Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed mutual concerns about issues in Asia Pacific, including the East Vietnam Sea dispute, as they talked over the phone on Wednesday.

Society

-- Three Russian naval ships on Wednesday began a four-day friendship visit to the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang.

-- Two Vietnamese passport holders have been arrested by Singapore police for allegedly stealing about S$500,000 from a safe located in a fruit store at a local wholesale center, the Singapore Police Force said in a media release on Wednesday.

-- Police in the north-central province of Nghe An are verifying reports that a local man had posted ten photos showing him cruelly killing and butchering a monkey on Facebook, officers said Wednesday.

-- The environmental police unit in southern Vietnam on Wednesday began probing a case in which more than 200 metric tons of fish raised by farmers in the southern province of Dong Nai have died of unknown causes in the last few days.

-- The science department of the south-central province of Khanh Hoa has warned local toy shops of several types of made-in-China speaking toys, which are made of toxic materials and use vulgar language in their storytelling scripts.           

Business

-- Vietnam’s auto imports in 2015 could reach 112,000 units of all kinds, collectively worth a massive US$3 billion, according to the General Statistics Office. Imports from China alone were 22,496 cars, worth $869.58 million.

-- Vietnam Electricity, the country’s power utility, logged more than $10 billion in revenue in 2015, up 18.5 percent year on year, thanks to increased supply against reduced power loss, the state-run firm reported Wednesday.

-- The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam on Wednesday requested that local carriers complete their plans to cut airfares by January 10, following a statement by Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang on Monday that airlines should consider slashing ticket prices given their whopping profits.

Lifestyle

-- The “Ho Chi Minh City Book Street,” an initiative to turn Nguyen Van Binh Street in the downtown area into a special venue for book lovers, is slated for opening on Saturday.

Sports

-- Striker Nguyen Anh Duc of V-League 1 side Becamex Binh Duong and Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet of Hanoi FC were named respective winners of the men's and women's Vietnam Golden Ball 2015, the country’s most prestigious title for footballers, during an awards ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday.

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