Briefs of some of the leading news stories published on Tuesday (January 13) in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper:

Politics

-- The 10^th conference of the 11^th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam wrapped up yesterday in Hanoi after eight days of discussing major issues facing the nation.

Society

-- Two fishing boats operated by Vietnamese fishermen in Ly Son District of the central province of Quang Ngai were intentionally damaged by Chinese authorities when they were fishing around Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago on January 7.

-- A 41-year-old male patient in Vinh Long Province in the Mekong Delta died on January 10 after an operation to have his appendix removed on the diagnosis of doctors at the Vinh Long Town General Hospital on January 8. After the operation, the doctors had his blood tested and confirmed he had had his stomach pierced, and his appendix was not inflamed, as it had been diagnosed.

-- Foreign tourists aboard the Volendam cruise ship of the Netherlands arrived at the Tan Cang-Cai Mep Port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and were granted visas at a fee of US$5 each, instead of $45 as before.

-- Doan Ba Duc, who is a suspect and was being escorted by policemen on a flight from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on January 5, has been suspended from all flights in Vietnam for a year from January 15, 2015 for his false bomb threat on the flight.

-- A group of 20 people who got lost on Ba Den Mountain in the southern province of Tay Ninh were rescued yesterday.

-- Thousands of people stood in queues at the Mien Dong (Eastern) bus station on Monday to buy tickets to go home to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, which will come in five weeks.

-- Pilots of the state-run carrier Vietnam Airlines asked for sick leave 117 times during a six-day period from December 30, 2014 to January 4, 2015. Only ten of them had confirmation from health centers. 30 other pilots of the A321 team even asked to stop working. It has been alleged that they went on a slowdown strike over reported low salary.

Business

-- Real estate has become a channel of investment now thanks to low banking interest rates and lower realty prices.

-- Imported flowers and decorative goods have flooded Vietnamese markets ahead of the Lunar New Year festival.

-- Ho Chi Minh City has granted investment licenses for two semi-conductor production projects with a total investment of $257 million.

Sports

-- The management of Long An Stadium has offered an apology to many football fans after they decided to close the stadium to them during the match between Dong Tam Long An and Hoang Anh Gia Lai last weekend. The organizers said they feared they could not control the crowds in the stands.