Have a nice Sunday!

Politics

-- Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on Saturday received leaders of Chinese enterprises who are doing business in Vietnam as part of his official visit to China, which wraps up today.

Society

-- Under the effects of a tropical depression forming around 230 kilometers from Phu Quy Island off the south-central province of Binh Thuan, the central and southern provinces, including Ho Chi Minh City, will experience rough seas and unseasonal rains on Sunday and Monday, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said on Saturday.

-- Police in the northern Vietnamese province of Lai Chau revealed on Saturday that they had caught a man red-handed trafficking 10 bricks of heroin weighing a total of 3.4 kilograms.

-- An official in Cam Pha City in the northern province of Quang Ninh confirmed on Saturday that the three female victims, including two kindergarten teachers, who had been hit by a seven-seater car on Friday afternoon, have died after receiving treatment at a local hospital.

-- Police in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, revealed on Saturday they are detaining a 15-year-old boy for beating a girlfriend of the same age to death and robbing her of a smartphone and some cash as he and the victim were on the sixth floor of an apartment building on Thursday night. 

Business

-- Experts and insiders have voiced concerns that the Ministry of Finance’s recent proposal to hike environmental tax on gasoline prices by twofold or threefold in a draft revised law will adversely impact enterprises’ competitiveness and the economy as a whole.

-- Retailers in Ho Chi Minh City have scrambled to offer scores of discount programs to lure clients in the ongoing shopping spree for Tet (Lunar New Year), which is less than two weeks away.

-- While flower and ornamental plant farmers in the Mekong Delta have suffered hefty losses due to the fickle weather, many local vegetable growers are optimistic about their clean veggie bumper crops for Tet.

-- Ornamental plant stores in Ho Chi Minh City have begun selling grapefruit trees brought all a long way from northern Vietnam for up to VND30 million (US$ 1,313) apiece. The plants serve as decorative items and are believed to bring good luck to their owners during the Tet celebration.