Here are today’s leading news stories.

Politics

-- Japan Coast Guard training vessel KOJIMA with 87 officers and crew members on board docked at the Da Nang International Port in the namesake central city on Thursday to commence a four-day visit to Vietnam.

-- The Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive partnership is developing fruitfully across spheres, particularly in national defense and security, the Vietnamese foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said on Thursday.

Society

-- Ho Chi Minh City plans to give exclusive lanes for buses on Vo Thi Sau and Dien Bien Phu Streets by the end of this year to shorten travel time and improve service quality, according to the municipal management and operation center for public transportation.

-- Police in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa are searching for a suspect who shot a security man in an attempt to rob a bank in Tinh Gia District on Thursday afternoon.

-- A torrential rain hit Hanoi at midday on Thursday, leaving several streets in the capital city’s center flooded with many people forced to wade through floodwater to commute.

-- Hanoi is working on a project to apply an automatic fee payment system to charge cars entering the city’s downtown from the Ring Road 3 in a bid to curb congestion and pollution.

Business

-- The National Steering Committee for the Prevention of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Fake Goods on Thursday asked 11 relevant ministries and agencies to tighten control over foreign goods that illegally bear made-in-Vietnam labels.

Lifestyle

-- The sixth Vietnam-Japan Culture Exchange Festival kicked off in the central city of Da Nang on Thursday evening, offering cultural performances, cuisine, traditional art demonstrations, games and seminars on tourism and human resources development between Japan and Da Nang, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Sports

-- Vietnam has declined from 96th to 97th place in the latest FIFA rankings announced Thursday.

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