Check out the latest news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Indonesian President Joko Widodo has concurred with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue that both nations will encourage local businesses to develop an electric vehicle (EV) and EV batteries ecosystem during his separate meetings with the two top Vietnamese officials in Hanoi on Friday.

Society

-- A water park operator in suburban Ho Chi Minh City has voluntarily handed three black bears over to the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center, located at Bach Ma National Park in the central province of Thua Thien Hue, citing changes in its business operations as the reason.

-- A pickup truck slammed into two motorcycles at a red traffic light before driving onto the sidewalk and crashing into another parked pickup truck in Cam Pha City under Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam on Friday afternoon, leaving three people, whose identity remains unknown, dead on the spot.

-- Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar has made a public apology following a backlash from net citizens over its Facebook post on Wednesday joking about Vietnam’s currency.

-- A 38-year-old man in Hung Yen Province, northern Vietnam allegedly stabbed his wife in the chest with a sword following their verbal fight, resulting in her death on Thursday evening, local police confirmed on Friday.

Business

-- The agro-forestry-fishery sector contributed an estimated VND8.19 trillion (US$334 million) to Ho Chi Minh City’s gross regional domestic product growth in 2023, up 1.53 percent against the previous year, according to a report released by the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

World News

-- Airlines in the United States canceled more than 2,000 flights on Friday after a massive winter storm knocked out power and affected businesses in 12 states ahead of a likely brutal freeze over the weekend, Reuters reported.

-- Automakers Tesla and Geely-owned Volvo Car said they were suspending some production in Europe due to a shortage of components, the first clear sign that attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are hitting manufacturers in the region, acording to Reuters.

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