Briefs of some of leading news stories published Tuesday (December 17) in Tuoi Tre Newspaper that will be carried today on Tuoitrenews.vn:

Politics:

-- State President Truong Tan Sang instructed the Military Commission of the Party Central Committee to firmly defend the national sovereignty, territory, and peaceful life of normal people, especially on sea waters of Vietnam.

Society:

-- The People’s Court of Hanoi City yesterday announced death sentences for Duong Chi Dung and Mai Van Phuc for embezzlement and ‘intentional violations of State regulations on economic management that cause serious consequences’.

-- A nurse in the central province of Ha Tinh was yesterday fired for replacing vitamin A tablets by peas to distribute to local people.

-- Nam Cong, a firm in Ben Tre Province has exported animal-shaped decorative trees to Singapore, Australia, and the US.

-- Famed architect Nguyen Huu Thai has suggested authorities of the central Thua Thien Hue Province to open an international contest to select good ideas for planning and architecture of the former capital of Vietnam.

-- Vietnam had 59,000 criminal cases in 2013, up 5 percent over the previous year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

-- Snow in the middle of December is an abnormal phenomenon of weather seen for the first time in Vietnam, said Le Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Central Hydrometeorology Center.

-- An 17-year-old Australian and the Brazilian De Oliveira Grimbert Nicolas, 18, were arrested yesterday by Ho Chi Minh City Police for snatching an iPhone 4 on Nguyen Hue Street.

Business:

-- Vietnam exported 6.6 million tons of rice in 2013, meeting only 76 percent of the target and down 1.1 million tons against the previous year. Especially, the prices of Vietnam’s export rice are lower than in 2012.

-- Vietnam earned a total export value of US$132 billion in 2013, up 15.3 percent against the last year, and spent $132.5 billion for import, up 16.5 percent against the last year.