Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News - January 16

Check out the latest news in Vietnam today:

Society

-- Lam Dong Province, home to the highland tourist destination of Da Lat, plans to ring in the Year of the Horse with low-altitude fireworks at 12 locations on Lunar New Year’s Eve, including two sites around the iconic Xuan Huong Lake in Da Lat, the provincial administration announced on Thursday.

-- A tropical depression east of the Philippines intensified into storm Nokaen on Thursday afternoon, marking the first storm of the 2026 season in the northwest Pacific, Vietnam’s national weather agency said, noting that cold air currently dominating the East Vietnam Sea makes it unlikely that Nokaen will enter Vietnamese waters.

-- The Vietnam Blockchain and Digital Asset Association on Thursday launched the Vietnam Digital Asset Investors Community in Hanoi, aiming to promote knowledge sharing, risk management, and responsible participation in the fast-growing digital asset market.

Ho Chi Minh City

-- A chain-reaction crash involving four cars inside the Saigon River Tunnel caused major traffic congestion late on Thursday afternoon, disrupting travel from downtown Ho Chi Minh City toward the eastern side of the city. No injuries were reported.

-- Ho Chi Minh City officially opened the Pho Museum on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Ben Thanh Ward on Thursday, offering visitors a cultural journey through more than 100 years of Vietnam’s iconic noodle soup.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction has asked companies and agencies to submit renovation plans and complete the temporary conversion of nine vacant sites in downtown areas into parks and flower gardens by January 30, aiming to meet the needs of residents and tourists for leisure and walking during the Lunar New Year holiday.

-- Ho Chi Minh City reported 157 fires in private homes and mixed-use residences in 2025, leaving 15 people dead and causing property losses of over VND2.3 billion (US$87,600), highlighting ongoing fire safety risks linked to blocked escape routes and unsafe residential designs, a city police official told a press briefing on Thursday.

-- Authorities in Phu My Ward are investigating the deaths of two men who were found unconscious in a drainage manhole on Thursday, suspected to have suffocated from toxic gases.