Vietnam: Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong dies aged 80

Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong has died aged 80, state media said on Friday. He held the country’s most powerful position for more than a decade.

State media, citing information from Trong’s medical team, said he died in the early afternoon of Friday “after a period of illness.”

Vietnam’s President To Lam took over Trong’s duties on Thursday when the party announced that Trong needed to focus on medical treatment.

Since 2011, when he was elected party leader, Trong has…