Read what’s in the news today.

Politics

-- Patrick Leahy, vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, commenced a visit to Vietnam on Thursday.

Society

-- South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency inaugurated its Southeast Asian representative office, which will focus on news from the region as well as Central Asia and Oceania, in Hanoi on Thursday.

-- Eighty representatives of the public and private sectors of Vietnam and the U.S. on Thursday attended a workshop held by the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City on boosting bilateral cooperation in airport infrastructure development in the Southeast Asian country.

-- Vietnam hoped that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue to provide the country with more assistance, training and policy consultancy, Nguyen Van Binh, chairman of the Economic Commission under the Party Central Committee, said as he received an delegation led by Alex Mourmouras, IMF mission chief for Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, in Hanoi on Thursday.

Business

-- The first-ever batch of Vietnamese mango was on Thursday shipped by air to the U.S. by a fruit exporter in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, which sourced the eight-metric-ton shipment from the local My Xuong Mango Cooperative.

-- Vietnam shares on Thursday slumped to a two-month closing low dragged down by consumer staple and real estate counters, Reuters reports.

-- Vietnam’s newest airline Bamboo Airways has said it is working with Czech authorities to complete relevant procedures to launch a nonstop service between Hanoi and Prague.

-- Vietnam is an attractive market for the automobile industry, Malaysian Ambassador to Vietnam Dato Mohd Zamruni Khalid said at a workshop on business opportunities in automobile spare parts manufacturing between the two countries in Hanoi on Thursday.

Lifestyle

-- The establishment of the Vietnam Book Day in 2014 has contributed greatly to restoring and developing the reading culture in the country, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said at a national conference on Thursday, ahead of this year’s celebrations of the day on April 21.

-- South Korea’s Hansae Yes24 Foundation and Hansae Vietnam Co Ltd on Thursday presented 10,000 books to primary school students in Ho Chi Minh City, during the third year of its “Ten thousands of good books - one million loves” program.

-- Landmark 81, Vietnam’s tallest building, is among three locations where fireworks displays will be held on the night of April 30 to celebrate the Reunification Day in Ho Chi Minh City.

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