Tuoi Tre News briefs you on some of the leading news stories published today, September 18, in Vietnamese media.

Politics

-- The Ministry of Public Security on Wednesday inaugurated the External Relations Agency, a combination of Interpol Vietnam (under the General Police Department for Crime Prevention) and the International Cooperation Department.

-- State President Truong Tan Sang met with the new ambassadors from Sierra Leone, Iceland, Tunisia, Tanzania, Guatemala, Georgia, and Mali, who presented their credentials in Hanoi on Wednesday.

Society

-- A raging fire on Wednesay engulfed 14 houses in Long Xuyen City, An Giang Province, and completely destroyed 12 of them, causing VND1.9 billion (US$89,429) worth of total damages. There were no casualties.

-- Bach Ngoc Tuyen, 34, confessed Wednesday to Quang Ngai police that he had assaulted four reporters, one of them a Tuoi Tre correspondent, while they were investigating an unlicensed landfill in the province’s Tu Nghia District a day earlier.

-- Vietnamese males had sex for the first time, and before marriage, at the age of 18.2; while the age for females is 18, according to statistics released at a census conference in Hanoi on Wednesday.

-- Three people in a truck on Hien Vuong Street in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Phu District on Wednesday narrowly escaped a falling tree after it was uprooted and fell onto the cabin of their vehicle.

Business

-- The international exhibition, Vietnam Supporting Industries 2014, kicked off Wednesday in Ho Chi Minh City, attracting more than 140 local and foreign businesses.

-- French turbine maker Alstom announced Tuesday that it has secured a contract from Vietnam Electricity to supply electromechanical equipment, including a 75 MW turbine, to the extension project of a hydropower plant in southern Vietnam.

-- Australia has pledged to help Vietnam develop its beef industry, Queensland's agriculture minister, John McVeigh, said during his Vietnam visit.

-- The undersea cable system cutoff that has slowed down the internet in Vietnam since Tuesday is expected to take 20 days to repair, according to FPT Telecom.

Education

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has put an end to the program which recruited Filipino teachers to teach English at citywide schools after only one semester of implementation in the 2012-2013 school year.

Sports

-- Indonesia is poised to be selected as the host of the next Asian Games, in 2018, after Vietnam withdrew its bid in April, the chairman of the Olympic Council of Asia told Reuters Wednesday.

-- On Wednesday Team Vietnam attended a flag raising ceremony with Mongolia, Brunei, Iraq and Afghanistan at the Athlete Village in the South Korean city of Incheon before officially starting competition at the Asiad Incheon 2014, which kicks off on Friday.

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