Here are today’s leading news stories:

COVID-19 Updates

-- Vietnam’s Ministry of Health reported 9,521 local COVID-19 infections, including 4,104 cases in Ho Chi Minh City, on Saturday evening, raising the national tally to 511,170, with 282,516 recoveries and 12,793 deaths.

-- The German government has announced the decision to donate Vietnam about 2.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.

-- Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Nguyen Van Nen has requested the local steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control to prepare a new pandemic response strategy for Cu Chi District and District 7 after September 15. The two districts recently announced that the local pandemic situation had been put under control.

-- About 500 pregnant women and their family members in southern localities were brought back to their hometown in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong via a flight from Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.

Society

-- Three children aged 10 to 13 drowned after falling into a lake while playing with their friends in the central province of Quang Tri on Saturday afternoon.

-- Police in Lam Dong confirmed on Saturday they had arrested seven truck drivers for using drugs inside a quarantine facility.

Education

-- The opening ceremonies of the 2021-22 school year are scheduled to take place in 57 out of 63 provinces and cities across Vietnam on Sunday morning. The ceremonies in most of these localities are organized virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business

-- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh convened a meeting with Chargé d' Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam Christopher Klein and representatives of U.S. businesses in the country to listen to the difficulties that they have been facing amid the pandemic.

Sports

-- The award presentation and closing ceremony for Sniper Frontier and Emergency Area competitions was held in Hanoi on Saturday, within the framework of the International Army Games 2021. Vietnam won a gold medal in Sniper Frontier and a silver medal in Emergency Area.

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