Check out the latest news in Vietnam today:

Society

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has approved a plan allowing public employees to take a seven-day Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday starting from February 8, 2024 to February 14, 2024, according to an announcement recently released by the government office.

-- Police have busted a large-scale prostitution ring with models, singers, hot TikTokers offering sexual services to customers for US$2,500-6,000 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam, the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday.

-- Nine people got burned in a carbon dioxide gas cylinder explosion at the Dung Quat shipbuilding plant in Quang Ngai Province, central Vietnam on Friday afternoon, a local official confirmed on the same day.

Politics

-- Bui Xuan Cuong, vice-chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City administration, hosted a reception on Friday morning in the city for Michiel Sweers, Deputy Minister for Foreign Economic Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Business

-- Vietnam’s seaport throughput reached more than 624.5 million metric tons in the January-October period this year, improving three percent against the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration.

Lifestyle

-- The Cambodia Culture Week in Vietnam 2023 will take place from this Thursday to Tuesday next week in the two Mekong Delta provinces of Soc Trang and Dong Thap, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as saying on Friday.

World News

-- At least 69 people were killed and dozens injured in Nepal on Friday when a strong earthquake struck the western area of Jajarkot, with witnesses saying houses in the area collapsed and buildings as far as New Delhi, India, shook, Reuters reported.

-- Japan will provide $65 million in additional humanitarian aid to Palestinians out of concern over the conflict in Gaza, foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa said during a tour of Israel and Jordan on Friday, according to Reuters.

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