Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and many military and government officials attended a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Hien Luong - Ben Hai special national monument in north-central Quang Tri Province on Saturday to mark the 46th anniversary of national reunification.

-- Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and his entourage arrived in Hanoi on Saturday afternoon, beginning his two-day official visit to Vietnam.

COVID-19 Updates

-- The Ministry of Health documented 5,109 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the national tally to 10,649,809, with 9,262,255 recoveries and 43,041 deaths.

Society

-- A total of 29 traffic accidents occurred across Vietnam on Saturday, the first day of a four-day break marking Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1), killing 12 people and injuring nine others, according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety.

-- A tollgate on National Highway No. 51 had to temporarily stop operating on Saturday morning due to a large number of travelers to the southern beach city of Vung Tau to celebrate the holiday weekend.

-- Thousands of people flocked to downtown Ho Chi Minh City to watch a pyrotechnic show marking Reunification Day on Saturday night, resulting in serious traffic jams along major streets.

-- Two people were killed in a pile-up involving a truck, a car, and three motorbikes, which occurred in the middle of a rain on Bao Loc Pass in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on Saturday.

-- Thirty Vietnamese soldiers returned to their country on Saturday after completing a one-year United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.

Business

-- The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.18 percent in April over the previous month and 2.64 percent year on year, the Vietnam News Agency quoted the General Statistics Office as saying.

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