Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnam demands that Taiwan cancel live-fire drills in the waters around Ba Binh Island, part of Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, and not repeat similar violations in the future, Le Thi Thu Hang, spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Saturday.

COVID-19 Updates

-- The Ministry of Health documented 730 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the national tally to 10,748,127, with 9,699,357 recoveries and 43,047 deaths.

Society

-- Tropical Storm Chaba weekened into a tropical depression after making landfall in China’s Leizhou Peninsula on Saturday afternoon, the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting reported.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Saturday sentenced Truong Vui, former chairman of Forestry Products Handicraft Production and Export - Import JSC (Upexim), to life in prison for fraud related to the sale of a valuable land lot in the city center.

-- Serious congestion occurred on Phu My Bridge connecting District 7 and Thu Duc City in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday as competent authorities began repairing the structure.

-- A group of Vietnamese people managed to rescue a 17-year-old boy from the Mekong Delta province of An Giang more than three months after he was sold to Cambodia.

-- Crowds of people congregated at the Immigration Department under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security on Saturday to register for the new Vietnamese passport, which now has a different design and various improvements compared to the old version.

Sports

-- Vietnam had a draw with hosts Indonesia in their group-stage opener at the 2022 AFF U-19 Youth Championship on Saturday evening.

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