What you need to know today in Vietnam:

Politics

-- Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob will visit Vietnam from Sunday to Monday at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Vietnam News Agency quoted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as announcing on Thursday.

Society

-- Ho Chi Minh City encourages households, businesses, and government offices to switch lights off from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm to observe Earth Hour on March 26. 

-- Crude oil masses were found littering a 3km beach in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam on Thursday. No oil spill or shipwreck had been reported in the vicinity, according to local authorities.

Business

-- About 300 businesses participated in the India-Vietnam Business Forum, organized both physically and virtually in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday. The Indian companies expressed their desire to cooperate with their Vietnamese counterparts in pandemic recovery efforts.

Education

-- Japan will provide VND1.8 billion (US$78,700) in non-refundable aid to build smart classrooms at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Information Technology, under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, according to an agreement signed on Thursday.

Sports

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation signed on Thursday a deal with Pham Y Co. Ltd. to develop teqball, a combination of football and table tennis in the city. 

-- About 5,000 people join the Da Nang Manulife 2022 marathon on Friday after a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19. 

World News

-- "NASA's next-generation moon rocket began a highly anticipated, slow-motion journey out of its assembly plant en route to the launch pad in Florida on Thursday for a final round of tests in the coming weeks that will determine how soon the spacecraft can fly," Reuters reported.