Tuoi Tre News briefs you on some of the leading stories published today in Vietnamese media:

Politics

-- State President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Thursday hosted two receptions for Speaker of the Singaporean Parliament Halima Yacob in Hanoi, all sending their deep condolences to Singapore over the death of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who shared valuable experience in managing the country with Vietnam in the past years.

-- Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh on Thursday met with Senior Vice President of Boeing Company Marc Allen in Hanoi to discuss the development of civil aviation cooperation between Boeing and Vietnamese enterprises over the past years.

-- Speaker of the Swedish Parliament Urban Ahlin left Hanoi on Thursday, concluding his official visit to Vietnam after meeting with many Vietnamese leaders to discuss further cooperation and coordination in clean and renewable energy, transportation, banking-financial services, and medical equipment to raise bilateral trade revenue past the current level of US$1.2 billion.

Society

-- Articles in the Tin Tuc (News) daily under the Vietnam News Agency will be posted on the website of National Farmers, one of South Korea’s leading newspapers, to provide information and news for the Vietnamese community living in the East Asian country following a deal inked by the two parties on Thursday. The National Farmers newspaper will also run a column dedicated to Vietnamese readers.

-- Representatives from over 25 member universities of the ASEAN University Network (AUN) on Thursday wrapped up their annual Steering Committee Meeting of the ASEAN Credit Transfer System in Hanoi. The 7^th event of its kind, organized by the Vietnam National University-Hanoi, focused on how to develop the network sustainably and smoothly, designate a common AUN education standard, and enhance integration and access to international education standards.

-- The northern and central regions of Vietnam are forecast to be hit by a hot spell on Friday afternoon with outdoor temperatures reaching 35-38 degrees Celsius, and even 39 degree Celsius in some places there due to the influence of an ongoing hot low-pressure system, according to the national weather forecast center.

Business

-- Eleven Japanese banks, including Mitsui Sumitomo Banking Corp and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), will provide a $680 million loan for power company Vietnam Electricity (EVN) to build a thermal power plant. The JBIC will cover more than $400 of the loan. EVN will use the fund to purchase power-generating equipment from Hitachi Company.

-- The licensing of two foreign companies, DeKalb under Monsanto Group and Syngenta Vietnam, to provide genetically-modified corn for local farmers have stirred up concern of the public and given rise to disputes among scientists over the long-term safety of such genetically-modified organism (GMO). Dr. Nguyen Quoc Vong from Australia’s RMIT University told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he is concerned about the future accessibility of  Vietnamese seafood to Japan and the EU – which have banned the use of GMO – as the organism will be used to make feed for Vietnamese fish and shrimp.