What you need to know today in Vietnam:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue received a delegation of the U.S. Congress led by Senator Jeff Merkley in Hanoi on Saturday, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Society

-- Police in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam conducted administrative inspections at nine branches of the F88 pawnshop on Saturday to assess their compliance with laws on business operations.

-- The investor of the Long Kieng Bridge project in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday promised to put the project into use on the occasion of Vietnam's National Day on September 2 this year after nearly 23 years of construction.

-- A tractor-trailer turned over and knocked over a power pole on the approach road of the Cam Lo-La Son Expressway in Quang Tri Province in north-central Vietnam on Saturday, causing a power outage for over 2,000 households in the area.

-- A cleaner of a company in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City was arrested on Saturday for stealing assets worth VND3.5 billion (US$149,272) from the company’s director, who is from Hong Kong.

Business

-- Vietnam is among the four Asian countries that have led an increase in semiconductor chip exports to the U.S. market this year. The country has accounted for over 10 percent of U.S. semiconductor chip imports for seven consecutive months.

Lifestyle

-- Saigon Railway JSC launched a ‘safe, clean, green, and eco-friendly railway corridor’ model on Saturday, planting flowers at stations and along railways.

-- The Vietnam Festival in Japan, themed 'Hope,' opened at Ikebukuro Park in Tokyo on Saturday, initiating a series of activities of Vietnamese people in Japan on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.

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