Briefs of some of leading news stories published Tuesday (June 18) in Tuoi Tre Newspaper that will be carried today on Tuoitrenews.vn:

Politics:

-- A delegation from the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City yesterday visited the newsroom of Tuoi Tre on the occasion of the Vietnam Journalism Day on June 21.

-- National Assembly deputies suggested yesterday to replace ‘reclaiming land’ by ‘compulsory land purchase’ in modifying the land draft bill which is under discussion in Hanoi.

Society:

-- 701Vietnamese tourists were put under ‘house arrest’ with insufficient food in Bangkok, Thailand because Travel Life company based in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City failed to transfer enough to its Thai partner, Thai 2020 Company.

-- A mock-up of Truong Sa Lon Island in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago at the scale of 1/400,000 has been on display at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa.

-- The pressure reservoir of the hydropower electricity project Ea Sup 3 in the central province of Dak Lak was collapsed for building error. It failed to comply with the technical design, according to the investor.

-- The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam has proposed the Ministry of Transport to approve a budget of VND100 billion (US$4.8 million) in 2013 for replacing 60 percent of traffic signboards which have downgraded or inadequate to international standards.

-- Head of Cao Lanh District Police Department in Dong Thap Province, Phan Ba Tai, 56, has been prosecuted for omitting a trespasser in a criminal case in 2008, according to a source from Dong Thap Police.

-- Nguyen Hoang Technology and Education Company based in Ho Chi Minh City, who was favored to buy a 5,000 square meters of land in Da Nang at a preferential price for building a high-quality school, was later permitted by Da Nang authorities to divide it into 50 lots for sale for house construction at a triple price.

Business:

-- The Ministry of Industry and Trade is to allow the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to increase the retail electricity price in case the fuel price goes up from two percent, instead of five percent as before.

-- Vietnam Government has approved the telecom corporation Viettel to invest a US$33 million project in the United States.

-- Nguyen Van Binh, governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, has instructed local bankers to ensure a credit growth of 12 percent – 15 percent in the last six months this year.