Below are some of the main stories published today, April 20, in the Vietnamese press.

Politics -- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will lead a Vietnamese high-ranking delegation to attend the 22nd ASEAN Summit scheduled for April 24-25 in Brunei. During the meeting, which is themed “Our People, Our Future Together”, ASEAN leaders will seek ways to speed up the building of the ASEAN Community and uphold the group’s leading role in handling important regional issues and the evolving regional architecture. Regarding the Eat Sea issue, the leaders will debate measures to ensure peace, stability, and maritime security and safety in the region.Society -- South-central Ninh Thuan Province People’s Committee yesterday declared a H5N1 avian flu epidemic on swallows after thousands of birds have died in Phan Rang-Thap Cham City since March 28 and many samples of them have been tested positive with the virus. To date, about 10,000 swallows have died and been destroyed, authorities reported.  -- A hot snap is affecting the region between Thanh Hoa and Thua Thien-Hue provinces and some northwestern provinces, causing the temperature to rise to 35-36 degree Celsius. This weather partner will be expanded today to many other localities in Northern and Central Vietnam, with the temperature likely rising to 37-38 degree Celsius or higher.        -- The Hanoi Health Department has fined Thanh Tri consulting room VND38 million (US$1,830) for using a Chinese doctor without registration for practice.  In addition, the doctor has no practitioner’s certificate and is not included in the list of employees of the clinic. The clinic was also caught advertising excessively. -- A traffic police unit and the Thu Duc District Animal Quarantine Station in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City yesterday seized 84 pigs and 14 dogs weighing over 1 tons in total carried in a bus. All of the animals had died, of which 17 pigs and three dogs were rotten and stinking.  The bus driver failed to show the police any documents about the animals, saying he was hired to transport them from Binh Dinh Province to HCMC.Business -- The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has objected to the US$27 billion project to build an oil refinery in the Nhon Hoi Economic Zone in Binh Dinh Province. The local authorities and the project’s investor, the Thailand Petroleum Group (PTT) is proceeded with procedures to develop the propject, but PetroVietnam said that the project is “redundant” since it has not been included in the national planning for petroleum development by 2015 with vision towards 2025.   -- Consumer price index (CPI) in Ho Chi Minh City in April continues to go down as prices of food and foodstuff on the market have tended to decline while most other commodities have changed little since late March, the HCMC Statistics Department reported.  Lifestyle -- The anniversary of the death of the Hung Kings, the nation’s legendary founders, was commemorated with ceremonies in many places of worship nationwide yesterday. In the ancestral land Phu Tho province, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday offered incense to Hung Kings at the Hung Kings Temple Complex. In Ho Chi Minh City, a solemn ceremony was held in a memorial of the Hung Kings in District 9. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was among the attendants.Sports -- Italy's AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli  has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for 2013. The list has previous included the likes of Lionel Messi and Didier Drogba, but 22-year-old Balotelli is the only footballer to be named this year and one of four athletes along with LeBron James, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn and tennis player Li Na. Balotelli will attend a presentation ceremony in New York on April 22.