Politics

-- Vietnamese State President and Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on Sunday sent a letter of greetings to Japanese Emperor Akihito on his 85th birthday, while Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc cabled a congratulatory message to his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the occasion.

-- Vietnam-South Africa relations have prospered in all fields since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1993, Vietnamese Ambassador to South Africa Vu Van Dung said on Sunday on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.

Society

-- Starting 2019, the installation of underground power lines, drainage system and telecom cables in Ho Chi Minh City must be done using underground drilling technology without causing disruption to traffic on the surface, according to a new decision by the municipal transport department.

-- Northern Vietnam is expected to stay cool this week with temperatures remaining in the range of 16-23 degrees Celsius and occasional rains in the forecast in Hanoi, while the country’s southern areas will have ample sunshine and temperatures falling between 23 and 33 degrees Celsius over the same period.

-- There have been no reports of any Vietnamese national harmed in a deadly tsunami that hit the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra on Saturday, killing at least 222, the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia said in statement on Sunday.

-- A fire started by welding sparks that killed seven people at an eatery in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam on Friday has once again put spotlight on welding safety in Vietnam, where amateur and self-trained welders operate openly with disregard for basic safety measures.

Business

-- A US$9 billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex located at the Nghi Son Economic Zone in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa officially entered commercial operation on Sunday, raising Vietnam’s crude oil refining capabilities by ten million metric tons yearly.

-- The unregulated use of fine-meshed nets in offshore fishing in Vietnam has led to even the smallest of fish and marine species being caught in fishermen’s nets, threatening the sustainability of aquatic resources in Vietnamese waters.

-- Sixty-eight foreign airlines based in 25 countries and territories outside of Vietnam are currently operating flights to and from Vietnamese airports, as more foreign carriers are racing to launch routes to Vietnam to tap into the country’s growing middle class with huge demands for air travel.

--Vietnam’s 200 best enterprises, which together generated more than VND912 trillion ($39 billion) in revenue and contributed over VND72 trillion ($3 billion) to the state budget in 2018, were on Sunday honored with the 2018 Vietnam Gold Star Award in a ceremony held in Hanoi.

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