Check out the news you should not miss today, February 2:

Politics

-- Foreign Ambassadors to Vietnam have extended Tet (Lunar New Year) wishes to Vietnamese people on the threshold of the country’s biggest traditional festival, including Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Beatrice Maser Mallor wishing Vietnamese, especially all children, a happy Tet and a prosperous Year of the Pig.

-- Vietnam fulfilled and surpassed all 12 basic criteria in 2018 with economic growth of over seven percent and the people’s living conditions improved, Party General Secretary and State President Trong said, sending Tet greetings to leaders of the Party, State, Vietnam Fatherland Committee as well as the whole Vietnamese people in and outside the country at a Friday get-together in Hanoi.

Society

-- A story has gone viral since Friday in which a robber in the southern province of Binh Duong returned VND100 million (US$4,305) and two cellphones he had stolen while sending a letter of apology to his victim, because of his concern over the victim’s loss, as well as his repentance before his 3-month-old baby.

-- A 16-year-old boy in the southern province of Kien Giang has been treated for corneal perforation and severe burns after his Chinese phone exploded as he was playing games on the device while charging it on Friday.

-- The Vietnam Coast Guard on early Friday morning successfully rescued a Singaporean cargo ship on fire in the Vung Ro waters in the south-central province of Phu Yen, ensuring the safety of 24 crew members aboard.

-- The Traffic Police General Department (TPGD) under the Ministry of Public Security on Friday announced that after a ten-day inspection of trucks and cars of eight seats and above from January 21 across the country, traffic police had examined nearly 19,000 vehicles and handled more than 5,500 violations, booking fines totaling VND9,500 billion ($409 million).

Lifestyle

-- The 720m-long Nguyen Hue Flower Street, a famous annual attraction on Tet, decorated with more than 130,000 pots and baskets of flowers in downtown Ho Chi Minh City will be opened to visitors from 7:00 pm on February 2 to 10:00 pm on February 8.

Sports

-- Vietnam's midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai, winner of Vietnam’s most prestigious individual football award Vietnam Golden Ball 2018, added yet another feather to his cap on Friday night when he received the title of the Male Athlete of the Year at the fourth annual Cup Chien Thang (Victory Cup) Awards co-organized by the Vietnam Sports Administration, Vietnam Cable Television Corporation and 24h Sport Joint Stock Company.