Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnam’s newly-elected National Assembly chair is scheduled to take the oath of office during the legislature’s 11th sitting in Hanoi on Wednesday morning.

-- Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh had an online conversation with U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on Tuesday to discuss issues related to climate change.

COVID-19 Updates

-- No COVID-19 cases were reported in Vietnam on Wednesday morning, while more than 48,200 people have received COVID-19 vaccination so far in the country. The COVID-19 tally stood at 2,594, with 2,359 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Society

-- An inferno engulfed a parking lot managed by traffic police officers in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday night. There were no casualties reported but many motorbikes were burned down.

-- A 13-year-old girl from the Mekong Delta province of Long An attempted to commit suicide by drinking insecticide after she was boycotted and cyberbullied by her classmates.

-- A 23-year-old man was sentenced to death on Tuesday for possessing and trading nearly four kilograms of crystal meth in the north-central province of Ha Tinh. He was also condemned to 18 years in prison for offering a VND3 billion (US$129,900) bribe to police officers.

-- The Ministry of Public Security confirmed on Tuesday it had broken up an online gambling ring worth more than VND400 billion ($17.3 million) and arrested 15 suspects.

-- Police in the northern province of Lang Son said on Tuesday they had initiated legal proceedings against a 72-year-old woman for growing over 600 cannabis trees at her son’s house.

-- Three defendants from the south-central province of Khanh Hoa have been sentenced to five to nine years in jail for “making, storing, distributing, or disseminating information, documents, and items against the state,” according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Business

-- Vietnam’s state budget revenue managed by tax agencies was estimated at VND347.34 trillion VND ($15 billion) in the first quarter of 2021, equal to 31.1 percent of the target and down 1.2 percent year-on-year, according to the General Department of Taxation.

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