Briefs of some of the leading news stories published Tuesday (January 22) in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper:

Politics

-- Preparations for the 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU–132), to take place in Hanoi next month, are almost finished, Tran Van Hang, Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) External Relations Committee, said at a meeting of the NA Standing Committee on January 21. Hang reported more than 60 international delegations have booked hotels in Hanoi so far. Many also want to have bilateral visits to Vietnam before and after IPU–132.

Society

-- The Ministry of Health on January 21 discussed easing hospital overcrowding, improving professional ethics, and enhancing the management of the prices of medical equipment and medicine. The discussions were made during an online meeting to review the year 2014 and work out plans for this year.

-- About €477 million has been added to the investment in the first phase of metro line No. 5, which will run 8.89km long from Bay Hien Intersection in Tan Binh District to Tan Cang in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City,raising the total capital for the phase to €1.31 billion. 

-- On January 21, the Vietnam Food Safety Bureau announced they have not detected any caramel apples imported from the U.S., where they are being recalled for being tainted with listeria. This type of apple has caused serious food poisoning for 32 people in the U.S., three of whom have died.

Business

-- At a conference on techniques for farmers held in the southern city of Can Tho on January 21, local farmers said that they have so far created 274 new kinds of rice which could adapt well to local soil conditions and meet export standards.

Lifestyle

-- The flower street for this year’s Tet holiday is 80 percent completed, Tran Hung Viet, general director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based state-owned tourism corporation Saigontourist, head of the flower street’s organizing board, told Tuoi Tre. This year’s flower street is 580m long and sits on Ham Nghi Street, from Quach Thi Trang Roundabout to Ho Tung Mau Street in District 1.

Education

-- A group of students from the central city of Da Nang have created a smart mirror which can inform its user of information on the weather and their health condition, as well as allow them to listen to music and read books.