Briefs of some of the leading news stories published Tuesday (December 18) in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper

Politics

-- Many activities and events have been organized to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (1944-2014) and the 25th anniversary of the People’s Defense Festival Day (December 22, 1989-December 22, 2014).

Society

-- Vietnamese rescuers are still working to save 12 people trapped in a collapsed tunnel at the Da Dang-Dachomo hydropower plant in Lac Duong District of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Though many rescue efforts have taken place, as of midnight on December 18 the workers were still stuck inside the tunnel.

-- Vietnam’s population reached 90.49 million in April this year, Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai, head of the department of censuses and labor under the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, announced on Wednesday. Mai added that the Vietnamese population increases by nearly 930,000 people on average each year.

-- Doctor Pham Huu Quoc, director of Go Vap District Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said Tuesday that the infirmary successfully performed an operation to remove two stones as large as potatoes from the bladder of a patient from the same district.

-- Vietnam spends around VND20-24 trillion (US$941.35 million to $1.13 billion) on plant protection products each year, according to figures released at a seminar held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry on December 17.

Business

-- On Wednesday, the Vietnam Nation University – Ho Chi Minh City held a meeting to call for investments in 20 projects in the 2015-2020 period at an estimated value of VND8.682 trillion ($408.64 million).  

Education

-- The Ministry of Education and Training will collaborate with Tuoi Tre to run an annual program to give tips to students across the country before they sit for the national exam, whose results will be used for their high school graduation and university entrance.

The program, which is in its 13^th year, will kick off on December 27, starting in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. Tuoi Tre Online has also launched a page where students can look for information related to their exam, which will be organized in the middle of June next year.

Lifestyle

-- The final round of “Vo Chong Minh Hat,” Vietnam’s first singing contest for husbands and wives, will be broadcast live on HVT9 on December 18 at 8:30 pm. The show will continue airing live every Thursday at 8:30 pm.