Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- General Yamazaki Koji, Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff of Japan Self-Defense Forces, met with General Ngo Xuan Lich, Vietnamese Minister of National Defense, in Hanoi on Monday, as part of his ongoing visit to Vietnam from March 1 to 4.

Society

-- Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said on Monday that the isolation period of Son Loi Commune in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, which was previously considered the epicenter of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country, will end soon.

-- Houses were damaged and trees uprooted after a hailstorm swept over Yen Bai City, the capital of the namesake northern province, on Monday evening.

-- A man, allegedly high on drugs, has been arrested after he threatened people with an axe along a street and inside a shop in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City on Monday evening.

-- Authorities in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum confirmed on Monday they had apprehended 13 people for destroying a local forest and stealing approximately 26 cubic meters of timber.

-- Saltwater intrusion is forecast to peak from March 7 to 15 in the Mekong Delta, threatening about 80,000 hectares of fruit trees and worsening water scarcity in the region, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

-- The administration in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City on Monday imposed a VND2.5 million (US$107) fine upon a 49-year-old man for buying 780 kilograms of used face masks and attempting to sell them to a plastic-making facility.  

Business

-- National carrier Vietnam Airlines announced on Monday it will stop operating flights between South Korea and Vietnam from March 5 over COVID-19 concerns.

World News

-- Nearly 90,200 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus and 3,092 killed globally as of Tuesday morning, according to the South China Morning Post.

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