Read what’s in the news today, February 10, or the 25^th of the 12^th month of the lunar calendar.

Society

-- Stores and supermarkets in Vietnam are rolling out grand clearance sales and promotions as the country enters the peak shopping season when locals make preparations for Tet, or Lunar New Year, the year’s biggest public holiday that falls on February 16 this year.

-- Health experts have warned of the risks involved in consuming ‘homemade’ food bought from online stores in Vietnam that are subject to no safety or hygiene inspections, as locals steer clear from industrially produced food out of fear for unwanted chemicals.

-- Ho Chi Minh City Party chief Nguyen Thien Nhan visited Thu Thiem Evangelical Church in District 2 on Friday to send Tet wishes from the municipal administration to priests and nuns there, as well as to over 50 elder orphans under their care.

-- VN-Index closed Friday at 1,003.94 points, losing 19.31 points (1.89 percent) from the previous day as the local stock market shows signs of recovering from the worst plunge in four years on Monday due to the effect of falling stock prices in the U.S.

-- Ho Chi Minh City traffic inspectors issued fines for over 900 cars that stopped for more than three minutes outside terminals of the city’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport in 2017, with the total penalty money amounting to VND587 million (US$25,800).

-- Nguyen Van Son, deputy chairman of Hoi An City in central Vietnam, has pledged to remove pubs inside its ancient quarters that violate regulations on maintaining urban order, including the excessive use of loud music that disturbs the tranquil neighborhood.

-- The administration of Thu Dau Mot City in the southern province of Binh Duong on Friday opened its Administrative Center, where local administrative bodies will be represented, allowing residents to have their paperwork done in just one trip.

-- An undergraduate in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa died on Friday after saving a mother and her two children from drowning in a river.

Lifestyle

-- A flower festival opened on Friday at the Phu My Hung Urban Zone in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, offering mesmerizing flower displays that cover an area of seven hectares and will remain through February 14 for visitors to enjoy for free.

-- Bus stations in Ho Chi Minh City are flooded with people who elbow for a ticket back to their hometown in neighboring provinces for Tet, a mass commute that is expected to last until the turn of the Lunar New Year on February 16.

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