Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday had a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Elisabeth Borne to seek ways to further strengthen the Vietnam-France strategic partnership, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Society

-- Authorities are verifying a video clip in which a car knocks down a motorbike of traffic police and ignores the officers’ direction before leaving the scene along a street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

-- Police in northern Thai Binh Province confirmed on Monday they had apprehended a tenth grader who stabbed to death his schoolmate following their confrontation after class.

-- Fire engulfed a house after an explosion in southern Binh Phuoc Province on Monday afternoon. There were no casualties, but many household things were burned down.

-- A cold front is expected to begin affecting northern Vietnam around Tuesday night and Wednesday morning before expanding its effect to north-central provinces, the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting reported, adding that temperature will drop to below five degrees Celsius on high mountains.

Business

-- Many banks in Vietnam increased their deposit interest rates again on Monday, with the highest reaching 10.5 percent a year.

-- National carrier Vietnam Airlines is expected to increase the frequency of direct flights between Vietnam and the U.S. to meet the demand during Christmas and the New Year holiday.

-- The total rice export volume and value of Vietnam in the first 11 months of 2022 is estimated to reach 6.69 million tonnes and US$3.24 billion, respectively, up 6.9 percent year on year.

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