Briefs on some of the leading news stories published on Tuesday (April 14) in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper:

Politics

-- Authorities in the southern province of Long An inaugurated Monday a statue of Can Giuoc righteous men, who were farmers resisting the French colonialists before 1945. The VND29 billion (US$1.35 million) project includes a park and statue located on an area of 3,100 square meters in the center of Can Giuoc Town.

Society

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has made a field trip to the south-central province of Ninh Thuan and agreed to resume the construction of the Tan My reservoir that will be able to contain 210 million cubic meters of water.

-- The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has proposed setting up a team, including officials from that ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Transport, to inspect a construction project by the bank of the Dong Nai River in Bien Hoa City in the southern province of Dong Nai.

-- The Ministry of Health will carry out a 30-day inspection at Tan Hiep Phat Company regarding food safety following repeated reports about unusual objects in its soft drinks bottles.

-- After experiencing rain in the last two days, Ho Chi Minh City and other southern localities are forecast to have sunlight again, with temperatures ranging from 36 to 38 degrees Celsius.

-- Six centrally-administered hospitals in Hanoi have not built a system for wastewater treatment though they are located in the busy areas of the city.

-- An arrestee has died in Chi Hoa Prison of respiratory problems, according to Ho Chi Minh City police. Concerning the three broken ribs of the victim, police explained it could result from strong artificial respiration, not torture as suspected.

-- Ho Chi Minh City now has 26 taxi firms with 10,595 cars but just a few of them have well-built parking lots, and most cabs are usually parked on the sidewalk.

Business

-- The central province of Quang Ngai has 1,100 hectares of watermelon farms producing 30,000 metric tons a year.

-- The World Bank released a report on Monday in Singapore, capping the economic growth of Vietnam at six percent this year.

Education

-- Pham Van Ben, a businessman from the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, has spent his own money building a dormitory for 432 students at the University of Agriculture and Forestry in Ho Chi Minh City.

Sports

-- Australian coach Matthaw Barry Kavanagh of the Vietnamese national tennis team has said his report to national sports authorities about the jealousy and unsportsmanlike conduct of some players was meant to improve the team.