Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu arrived in Hanoi on Monday night, commencing his official visit to Vietnam on January 23 and 24.

Society

-- Serious coastal erosion at My Khe Beach in the central city of Da Nang, one of Vietnam’s most beautiful beaches, has been attributed to excessive construction and exploitation of groundwater resources, according to a recent study by the University of Da Nang.

-- A naval ship of the 4th Regional Command on Monday rescued two fishing boats along with 15 crew members in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago after their engines broke down on Saturday last week.

-- Nguyen Van Thong, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of the People’s Committee in An Lao District, located in the northern city of Hai Phong, has been dismissed from his positions for a series of violations regarding personnel recruitment and land management, local authorities have confirmed.

-- The People’s Court in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong has received a request from the families of three victims, asking to withdraw their lawsuit against Dang Van Tien, who was previously sentenced to death for shooting dead three people during a quarrel over land disputes.

-- The World Bank on Monday signed an agreement with the Vietnamese government, promising to provide US$118 million worth of ODA (official development assistance) as disaster relief for Binh Dinh, Ha Tinh, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, and Ninh Thuan Provinces in central Vietnam. The support will be disbursed from 2017 to 2022.

Business

-- The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Transport, stating that the collection of road tolls at 21 airports across the country, which has been carried out by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) for years, should be temporarily ceased in order to determine a permanent solution.

-- Authorities in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on Monday inaugurated the Thi Vai International Port, which covers an area of 40,000 square meters and is capable of handling 3.5 million metric tons of cargo per year.

-- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has announced that farmers in the Mekong Delta provinces of Long An, Dong Thap, and An Giang will be provided with $1.5 million to establish a flood-based livelihood system by 2020.

Sports

-- Vietnam are ready to face Qatar in the semifinals of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in China at 3:00 pm on Tuesday (Vietnam time).

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