Read what is in the news today:

Politics

-- Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) joined the G7 summit for the first time ever on Sunday, in a session earmarked for wide-ranging talks on issues including COVID-19 vaccines, finance and gender equality.

-- Vietnam’s State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh condoled the deaths and widespread destruction wreaked by many tornadoes that had appeared on the night of December 10 in the U.S. in messages sent to U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday.

Society

-- Southern Binh Phuoc Province documented zero new COVID-19 cases on Sunday after reporting the previous day’s record of 1,164 infections, according to the Ministry of Health’s daily update.

-- Da Nang logged 442 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily count that was more than double the central city’s record during the peak of the fourth virus wave that struck Vietnam on April 27.

-- The Department of Health of Quang Tri Province in north-central Vietnam has sought the health ministry’s approval to return a batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine with extended shelf life after a survey showed that 94 percent of local people in the 12-17 age group refused to get injected with the vaccine batch in question.

-- Authorities in central Quang Nam Province announced on Sunday the destruction of more than 700 chickens after discovering an outbreak of the H5N8 avian influenza virus strain at a local farm.

-- The People’s Committee of Cao Lanh City in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap on Sunday inaugurated the city’s Intelligent Operation Center, which was built for state management and administration in various fields.

Business

-- The People’s Committee of north-central Ha Tinh Province and Vietnamese multi-sector conglomerate Vingroup held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of VinES battery factory in the Vung Ang Economic Zone with a total investment of VND4 trillion (US$173.68 million) on Sunday afternoon.

Education

-- More than 100,000 students in ninth and 12th grades in Ho Chi Minh City returned to schools on Monday morning after more than seven months learning online at home.

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