What you need to know in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat (AMM Retreat), which will be held virtually on January 21, the Vietnam News Agency cited the foreign ministry’s spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang as saying at a press briefing on Thursday.

Society

-- Vietnam announced 10 imported COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the national tally to 1,531 patients, with 1,369 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

-- Ho Chi Minh City authorities are expected to spend VND13 billion (US$564,000) dredging garbage from the Vam Thuat River from March to December 2021.

Business

-- The State Capital Investment Corporation is planning to pour VND8 trillion ($347 million) into Vietnam Airlines, equal to 25 percent of the national carrier, Nguyen Chi Thanh, general director of the corporation, told reporters on Thursday.

-- Military-run network operator Viettel rolled out 5G services at Yen Phong 1 Industrial Park in Bac Ninh Province, located in northern Vietnam, on Thursday. This is the first industrial park in the country to have had access to 5G networks.

Education

-- An elementary school student is in a critical condition in Ho Chi Minh City after he was found at the bottom of a swimming pool in neighboring Binh Duong Province during an extra-curricular activity on Thursday.

World News

--"A 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island killed at least seven people and injured hundreds on Friday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said, as panicked residents fled to safer areas after many buildings were damaged," Reuters reported.

-- "President-elect Joe Biden outlined a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal on Thursday, saying bold investment was needed to jump-start the economy and accelerate the distribution of vaccines to bring the coronavirus under control," according to Reuters.

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