Tuoi Tre News briefs you on some of the leading news stories published today, July 24, in Vietnamese media.

Politics

-- Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi is leading a delegation to visit the U.S. from July 21 at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State.

-- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh had separate meetings Wednesday with the Foreign Ministers of Denmark and Germany and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on the sidelines of the 20th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

Society

-- The U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee approved Wednesday a civil nuclear cooperation pact between the U.S. and Vietnam. The pact would allow American firms to enter Vietnam’s expanding market for nuclear power.

-- Pha Si Gisah, 26, was sleeping with her two-year-old daughter at home in the southern province of Dong Nai early Wednesday when an unidentified man jumped in from the dark, splashing gasoline onto her and setting the woman on fire. Gisah and her child survived the attack though they suffer severe burns.

-- There is no proof that the proposed ban on late alcohol sales would affect tourism in Ho Chi Minh City, an official from the Ministry of Health told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the controversial bill that prohibits beer and liquor sales between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am the following morning.

Business

-- The World Bank will continue providing preferential loans for Vietnam between now and 2017, WB Country Director in Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa told Vietnamese National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in Hanoi on Wednesday.

-- Ho Chi Minh City police discovered Tuesday an illegal facility that makes fake and copycat cosmetic products in Binh Thanh District.

-- While U.S.-based Exxon Mobil Corp is reportedly promoting its investment plan for a US$20 billion power complex in central Vietnam, the head of the Vietnamese trade commission in the U.S. said the energy giant has so far mentioned nothing about the scale of the investment.

-- China remained the largest importer of Vietnam in the first six months of this year, according to statistics released by the Vietnam Customs.

-- Indebted gold miner Besra Vietnam announced Wednesday it had to cease mining operations at the Phuoc Son gold mine in the central province of Quang Nam on Tuesday, stripping more than 1,000 local laborers of their jobs.

Lifestyle

-- Renowned French pianist Richard Clayderman will be in Vietnam from August 22 to 24, giving a live concert in Hanoi on his second day of the visit.

Sports

-- V-League side Dong Tam Long An liquidated a contract Wednesday with player Nguyen Dinh Hiep while automaker Truong Hai Corp suspended a VND3 billion (US$141,203) sponsorship package for Dong Nai football club, the latest in a series of reactions after seven footballers from the said clubs were arrested Sunday on suspicion of match-fixing.