Briefs of some of leading news stories published Tuesday (April 16) in Tuoi Tre Newspaper that will be carried today on Tuoitrenews.vn:

Politics:

-- State President Truong Tan Sang had a talk yesterday with fishermen in Ly Son Island in the central province of Quang Ngai. He urged them to unite for helping one another and assured them that authorities and police forces will have measures to assist them offshore.

-- Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong had a speech yesterday at the conference of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on the preparations for compiling 53 draft laws and 2 draft ordinances next year.

Society:

-- Many proposals from the Ministry of Health, Institute for Youth Studies, and the Institute of Inspection Sciences have supported same-sex marriage at the national conference to review the implementation of the law marriage held in Hanoi.

-- 500 inhabitants from 300 households on the island Ngoc Lieu in Nghiem Xuan Commune, Thuong Tin District in Hanoi have been isolated for decades as they have no bridge to cross over the river surrounding their hamlet. Transport relies on a worn-out iron boat.

-- Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City saw 14,008 cases of law violations in the first quarter this year – down 47.2 percent against the same period last year.

-- Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan sent dispatches to the People’s Committee of all provinces and cities across the nation to urge for more efforts in the fight against the spread of bird flu virus H5N1 and H7N9 to stop the trade of illegal poultry. Recently, Indonesia has announced a ban on the import of poultry from China.

-- Authorities of the southern province of Binh Phuoc have listed the names of 17 local state officials to pay a compensation of VND25 billion (US$1.2 million) for selling off state-owned rubber farms at dirt-cheap prices.

-- Traffic policemen in the Mekong Delta Province of Hau Giang are banned from receiving mobile phone calls at work as of April 10.

-- Vietnam is recruiting a person to fly into the space on a trip together with 21 other persons in the world. The flight is slated in January, 2014. It will be the second people in Vietnam after Pham Tuan, who is a retired aviator of the Vietnam Air Force and the first Vietnamese citizen and the first Asian flying in space aboard the Soyuz 37 mission in 1980.

Business:

-- The State Bank of Vietnam has proposed to set up two Inspection Departments for Banks Supervision in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

-- The wave of importing vehicles from ASEAN into Vietnam has been on the increase after tax rate has gone down. The tariff for importing cars in whole from ASEAN went down 10 percent to 60 percent, and it is 5 percent for motorbikes.

Sports:

-- Television channel K+ in Vietnam, a joint venture between Canal+ and Vietnam Television (VTV), announced yesterday it is holding exclusive TV rights to the English Premier League matches in the seasons 2013-16.