Here are today’s leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will pay an official visit to Laos and co-chair the 45th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee on Wednesday and Thursday.

-- President Nguyen Xuan Phuc presented the decisions of appointment to Deputy Prime Ministers Tran Hong Ha and Tran Luu Quang at a ceremony in Hanoi on Monday.

-- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife hosted a banquet in honor of the diplomatic corps in Hanoi on Monday, ahead of the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, which is less than two weeks away.

Society

-- Unseasonal rains are expected to hit southern Vietnam on Tuesday, while northern provinces will remain cold, the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting reported.

-- Residents have been highly concerned after the water of a canal in Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City turned red on Monday afternoon.

-- Rescuers brought more equipment to an accident site in Dong Thap Province on Monday as they continued their efforts to retrieve the body of a 10-year-old boy who has been trapped inside a hollow concrete pipe for 10 days. Local authorities already declared him dead.

-- Police in Ho Chi Minh City confirmed on Monday they had arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of smuggling 24 boxes of medicine worth billions of dong. (VND1 billion = US$42,600).

Sports

-- Tickets to the first leg of the 2022 AFF Championship final match between Vietnam and either Malaysia or Thailand at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on Friday will be sold online starting 10:00 am on Tuesday.

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