Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong chaired the Central Military Commission’s fifth session in Hanoi on Monday to consider the approval of military and defense tasks in 2023 and several draft resolutions, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Society

-- The weather in northern Vietnam remained frigid on Tuesday morning with average temperatures below 12 degrees Celsius, the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting reported, adding that a new cold front will start affecting the region on Tuesday night.

-- Police in north-central Thua Thien-Hue Province confirmed on Monday they had broken up a football betting ring whose transactions accumulated more than VND1.5 trillion (US$63.2 million).

-- An official of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City said on Monday that the airdrome has prepared various measures to cope with a hike in passengers ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

-- A 98-year-old woman from north-central Quang Binh Province was killed after a fire from burning firewood, which was used to keep her warm, engulfed her house in the middle of the night.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs reported that the number of poor households in the metropolis had reduced by over 25,000 in 2022.

-- A 10-year-old boy was fatally hit by a truck as he was carrying his younger sister to school on a bicycle in southern Dong Nai Province on Monday. 

Business

-- Farmers of Tet flowers and plants in south-central Phu Yen Province reported losses of about VND1.5 billion ($63,200) after strong winds seriously damaged their farms.

Lifestyle

-- Ho Chi Minh City is expected to organize two New Year countdown shows on Nguyen Hue and Le Duan Streets in District 1 from 17:30 on December 31 to 0:30 on January 1.

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