Here are today’s leading news stories:

Society

-- A low-pressure zone has formed off the Philippines and is expected to enter the East Vietnam Sea prior to New Year’s Eve, the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting reported, adding that there is a 50 percent chance that it will become a tropical depression, which will cause rough seas in the southern part of the sea.

-- The administrative units of Thu Duc City, which will be officially established next year, are expected to be located in Ho Chi Minh City’s current District 2, the municipal Party Committee said on Saturday.

-- A fire engulfed two plastic pipe workshops in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday morning, burning down approximately six metric tons of plastic material. There were no casualties reported in the accident.

-- Police in the southern province of Binh Duong confirmed on Saturday they had arrested a 26-year-old truck driver for beating to death a 40-year-old motorbike rider following a traffic conflict on Friday.

-- Authorities in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong have completed the construction of the VND167 billion (US$7.2 million) N’Trang Long monument, which measures 18.5 meters tall and 27 meters wide.

-- Officers in the southern province of Dong Nai on Saturday apprehended two young men aged 24 and 19 for using drugs and forging documents and qualifications of state agencies. Police also confiscated 745 fake police seals.

-- A number of ports along the Sai Gon River in Ho Chi Minh City will be relocated or converted for other use, pursuant to a plan to alleviate congestion on nearby streets by 2030.

Business

-- Vietravel Airlines is set to begin operating regular commercial flights from January 2021. The airline’s first commercial flights will travel along the Hanoi-Hue and Ho Chi Minh City-Hue routes.

-- A VND2.4 trillion ($104.5 million) solar power plant was inaugurated in Van Ninh District, located in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, on Saturday. The plant previously generated electricity to the national grid on December 11, with an output of nearly 162,000 MWh a year.

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