Read what’s in the news today.

Politics

-- Vietnam has made positive and practical contributions to the agenda of the G20, especially in reinforcing the multilateral trade system, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in an interview to Japanese media on the occasion of his Japan visit and participation in the 14th G20 Summit from June 27 to July 1.

Society

-- The Housing and Urban Development Corporation on Thursday began construction on its social housing project in Thanh Lam-Dai Thinh 2 new urban area in Hanoi’s Me Linh District, which will provide as many as 1,030 apartments for low-income people at only VND8 million ($343) per square meters in 2021.

-- Petty corruption has eroded trust of the people, businesses and investors, hindering socio-economic development, permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh admitted at a national teleconference in Hanoi on Thursday.

-- A Vinasun taxi driver was on Thursday invited to work with police after he was seen in CCTV footage leaving the scene of a crash between his vehicle and a motorbike that killed one of the two people on the two-wheeler.

-- Drivers who try to cheat in driving tests or buy fake driving licences will be banned from the roads for five years, the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam has warned, citing a new rule taking effect this September.

-- Hundreds of hectares of forest were destroyed in what’s considered the largest wildfire ever in the south-central province of Phu Yen on Thursday.

Business

-- Vietnam’s leading retailer Saigon Co.op will take over 18 outlets and all other business activities of Auchan Vietnam, as the French-owned supermarket chain officially exits the country, according to a cooperation agreement the two sides closed late Thursday.

-- Representatives of China’s Pacific Construction Group Company Limited met with leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on Thursday to discuss the possibility of cooperation in urban infrastructure development. 

-- Hong Kong was Vietnam’s biggest foreign investors in the Jan-Jun period, with a total investment of $5.3 billion, accounting for 28.7 percent of the new foreign direct investment inflow into the country.

-- Vietnam currently has 17 firms with market capitalization worth over $1 billion each, according to the list of the country’s 50 best-performing companies (Top 50) announced by the Nhip Cau Dau Tu (Investment Bridge) magazine on Thursday.

-- Vietnam and Egypt have yet to fully tap their potential for tourism cooperation and make it match their bilateral ties, Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt Tran Thanh Cong said at a workshop in Cairo on Thursday.

Lifestyle

-- Vietnamese actress and producer Ngo Thanh Van has been selected to be a judge at the New York Asian Film Festival 2019 (NYAFF), which takes place in New York from today, June 28, to July 14.

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