Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnam’s Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption convened its national conference to review corruption prevention and control work during the 2013-20 period in Hanoi on Saturday. The event was chaired by Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also head of the steering committee.

Society

-- Vietnam’s Ministry of Health reported four imported COVID-19 patients from the UAE, Russia, and Ukraine on Saturday evening. The country’s tally stood at 1,395, with 1,238 having recovered and 35 deaths.

-- The Hanoi People’s Court on Saturday sentenced Nguyen Nhat Cam, former director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control, to 10 years in prison for “violations of bidding regulations that caused serious consequences.”

-- The 20-day test run of the 13-kilometer Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway line in Hanoi was initiated on Saturday. The trains will be operated continuously from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm daily during this period.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has asked Tan Son Nhat International Airport to establish a bus stop at its domestic terminal to encourage travelers to use public transport and help alleviate traffic congestion.

-- Ho Chi Minh City has been blanketed by smog over the past days as unseasonal rain resulted in an increase in humidity, causing pollutants to remain longer in the atmosphere, according to a local weather pundit.

Business

-- A national teleconference chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc took place on Saturday to review outcomes of the 10-year implementation of the Party Central Committee Secretariat’s Conclusion No. 61 and the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 673 on rural development.

-- Vietnam’s garment sector has set targets of earning US$55 billion from export and generating three million jobs by 2025, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association announced during a conference in Hanoi on Saturday.

-- Vietnam and South Korea have signed an action plan to complete the target of raising their bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2023. The signing took place during the 10th meeting of the Vietnam-South Korea Joint Committee on Energy, Industry, and Trade Cooperation on December 10-12.

Lifestyle

-- The top ten favorite pho brands in Vietnam were announced during the gala of this year’s ‘Day of Pho’ event, which was organized by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in Hanoi on Saturday evening.

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