What you need to know in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Thursday sent a congratulatory message to Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on his appointment as the 46th Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait, reported the Vietnam News Agency.

Society

-- Motorcyclists have accounted for as many as 86 percent of total traffic-related deaths in Ho Chi Minh City over the past few years, according to a report recently released by the municipal traffic safety committee.

-- A homeroom teacher at a high school in Ho Chi Minh City let six students beat their classmate as a punishment for arriving late to school a few days ago.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade aims to install rooftop solar panels at 440 headquarters of administrative agencies and public service units in the city with a total cost of some VND650 billion ($25.6 million), heard a press briefing on Thursday.

-- Da Nang City, the capital of central Vietnam, on Thursday afternoon held an inauguration ceremony for breastfeeding rooms at Da Nang International Airport, making it the first airport in Vietnam to provide nursing mothers with private spaces.

Business

-- Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry producer, broke ground for a factory project at Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park 3 (VSIP 3) in Binh Duong Province, southern Vietnam on Thursday, with a total investment of US$150 million.

-- Gold trading firms will have their business licenses revoked if they fail to issue e-invoices for gold transactions after June 15, heard a meeting chaired by PM Chinh on fiscal and monetary policies on Thursday.

Lifestyle

-- The second Dong Thap Lotus Festival 2024 kicked off in Cao Lanh City, the capital of Dong Thap Province, southern Vietnam on Thursday evening, attracting throngs of visitors. 

World News

-- China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin on Thursday pledged a "new era" of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States, which they cast as an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing chaos across the world, reported Reuters

-- U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday after the Dow reached an intra-day high of 40,000 for the first time, as investors continued to recalibrate their rate-cut expectations following data showing a slowdown in inflation, as well as strong corporate earnings results, according to Reuters.

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