Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Chinese Party General Secretary and State President Xi Jinping affirmed the significance of the Vietnam-China relationship in each country’s foreign policy during their online talks on Monday.

COVID-19 Updates

-- The Ministry of Health confirmed 57 domestic COVID-19 cases on Tuesday morning, raising the country’s tally to 5,461, with 2,794 recoveries and 44 deaths.

-- Authorities in Hanoi have decided to shut down all dine-in services, barbershops, and hair salons from 12:00 pm on Tuesday following a spike in local COVID-19 infections.

-- Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City administration Nguyen Thanh Phong has advised residents above 60 years old to avoid going outside given the increasingly complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Society

-- The People’s Court in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on Monday sentenced five men to a total of 24 years in prison for arranging for others to enter Vietnam illegally.

-- Police in the northern province of Hai Duong have initiated legal proceedings against a 32-year-old Vietnamese man for sneaking into Vietnam from Laos and spreading COVID-19 to many people.

-- Five people were brought to safety after a speedboat sank along a river section in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City on Monday evening.

-- Officers in the southern province of Dong Nai have launched an investigation into the death of a 45-year-old hiker after his body was found on Chua Chan Mountain on Monday.

-- The owner of a coffee shop operating on the Red River bank in Tay Ho District, Hanoi has been fined VND17.5 million (US$760) for allowing many customers to gather despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Business

-- Indonesian-based Gojek will launch car-hailing and e-payments in Vietnam this year, which Grab and Be Group, other strong names in the ride-hailing service market, have offered over the past couple of years, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

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