Briefs on some of the leading news stories published Wednesday (April 22) in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper are as follows:

Politics

-- The Asia-Africa Conference is set to kick off today, April 22, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Some hundred delegates, including state leaders, from over 100 Asian and African countries are expected to partake in this year’s conference. Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang leads a high-ranking delegation to the conference.

Society

-- Ten age-old "xa cu" trees which line K2 Street, located in Nam Tu Liem District in Hanoi, have been found being lopped and having large patches of their barks peeled off. The trees are grown near the arboretum of a flower and plant cultivating company under the state-owned Hanoi Tree, Park Co.

-- Officials in the northern province of Quang Binh affirmed on Tuesday that three Vietnamese migrant workers suffocated from inhaling gas on Sunday. According to the victims' relatives, their co-workers told them that three men were warming themselves up by using gas to cope with the freezing cold when the tragic incident happened.

-- On Tuesday afternoon, a cyclone accompanied by a hailstorm ravaged Da Hoai District and a number of locations in Da Lat City and Di Linh District, all located in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. The cyclone blew away the roofs of some 100 houses and two schools, while the annexes of some other houses also gave way.

-- On Tuesday, Nguyen Manh Cuong, secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, announced a decision to appoint Tang Huu Phong the new Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper.

-- Truong Thi Huong, deputy chair of Vung Tau City, a touristy spot of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, some 100 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, has announced that local authorities began to slap penalties on environment-contaminating behaviors such as littering and urinating and defecating in inappropriate places on Monday.

Business

-- At a Tuesday meeting in the north-central province of Nghe An, many experts expressed their concerns that most local enterprises remain inadequately informed of global trade integration.

Lifestyle

-- Celebrated American singer Katy Perry is poised to address an audience of around 800 young people and noted entrepreneurs at “Forbes Vietnam - Under 30 Summit,” to be held on May 12 at GEM Center, located at 8 Nguyen Binh Khiem, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

-- Maneuvers of Vovinam, a traditional Vietnamese martial arts sect, will be featured dominantly in an action film, “Fight For Life.” The film script was written by Rat Sokhorn, a Cambodian who is also deputy chair of the World Vovinam Federation (WVVF), and will be directed by Hollywood director-actor Ace Cruz. The film is expected to cost between US$2 million and $10 million.