Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a reception in Hanoi on Monday for a delegation of ambassadors and chief representatives from United Nations (UN) agencies in Vietnam led by Kamal Malhotra, UN Resident Coordinator in the country.

Society

-- Vietnam’s Ministry of Health recorded three local COVID-19 infections in the northern province of Quang Ninh on Tuesday morning, raising the country’s tally to 2,053, with 1,472 recoveries and 35 deaths.

-- About 1,800 health workers at 175 Military Hospital in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City were tested for COVID-19 on Monday night and early Tuesday morning as a COVID-19 patient had visited the infirmary prior to his diagnosis.

-- Competent authorities in Vietnam have culled more than 100,000 chickens after discovering 40 avian influenza outbreaks in 14 provinces and cities since the beginning of 2021.

-- Police in the north-central province of Thua Thien-Hue, in coordination with their counterparts in south-central Khanh Hoa Province, have arrested three members of a ring that organized for Chinese people to enter Vietnam illegally since November 2020.

-- Seven people in Hanoi have been fined a combined VND52.5 million (US$2,290) for posting fake news about the COVID-19 pandemic on their Facebook accounts.

-- Authorities in the northern province of Hai Duong confirmed on Monday they had imposed a VND20 million ($872) fine upon a 44-year-old man, who is a direct contact of a COVID-19 patient, for escaping from a quarantine camp on February 5.

-- An unseasonal rain dampened Ho Chi Minh City and some other southern localities on Monday afternoon due to an enhanced cold spell, the southern meteorological center reported, adding that the phenomenon may occur again on Tuesday.

-- One person was killed while four others hospitalized following an accident between an automobile and tractor-trailer in the northern province of Son La on Monday.

Business

-- Such ride-hailing apps as Grab and Gojek will apply additional charges worth VND5,000-15,000 ($0.22-0.65) during the Lunar New Year holiday.

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