The low sale season lasts from April to October. During that time, the purchasing power is much lower than at any other time of the year. However, the 2011’s low season seems to be the worst.

The United States has had "direct contact" with Iran over the alleged involvement of the Iranian government in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Thursday.

Two roadside bombs ripped off near a popular cafe in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood of Sadr city late on Thursday, killing 18 people and wounding 43 others, a local police source said.

The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday called for comprehensive solutions to current crisis.

The number of wounded people after the shallow powerful quake of 6.8 magnitude in Bali tourist resort on Thursday has increased to at least 63, nine of whom seriously suffer broken bones and other serious wound, official said.

Chinese and ASEAN officials on Oct. 10 agreed to a schedule for ministerial meetings and announced the first official meeting will be held in Singapore in 2012.

VietNamNet Bridge – Several bankruptcies with tens of millions of USD have occurred in Hanoi’s suburbs recently, striking many families and causing disorder in many locations.

A plane carrying 32 people has crashed in Papua New Guinea (PNG), killing some of those on board, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Thursday.

Scientists have decoded the genome of Black Death which caused one of the worst plagues in human history.

Steel exports increase sharply; Firms raise capital through bond issues; Two more banks get nod to sell gold deposits; PwC: local businesses still confident of growth; Seaports loosing money because of rules  

Vietnam has improved its rank three places to 14th in the Asia Pacific Telecommunications Business Environment Rating, said the UK-based Business Monitor International (BMI).

VietNamNet Bridge – A woman in the southern province of Soc Trang has delivered a conjoined twins.

Sixteen large banks yesterday signed an agreement to keep their deposit interest rates under 14 per cent for one-month terms - and 6 per cent for non-term rates.

VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi is expected to issue preservation regulations for colonial-era French-style villas as the city's old buildings undergo assessment, a top planning official has said.

VietNamNet Bridge – The debate about model of the Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) has been ignited when Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC’s Chair Doan Nguyen Duc protested the Vietnam Football Federation’s (VFF) management over the VPF.

A shallow undersea quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale rocked tourist resort of Bali province of Indonesia on Thursday, injuring at least 43 people, six of whom were serious and damaging buildings, officials said.

VietNamNet Bridge – Around 140 seals of the Nguyen Dynasty are displayed at an exhibition which opened in Hanoi on October 12.

VietNamNet Bridge – Some families of Vietnamese workers in Saudi Arabi could not contact  their relatives for half of a year. It turns out that these workers are in jail while Vietnamese manpower exporting firms concealed information.

The death toll from a Wednesday shooting in Southern California has climbed to eight after two people died in hospital, while one person is still in a critical condition.

The Prime Minister has nominated Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh as the new head of the Steering Board for Restructuring the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin), replacing Nguyen Sinh Hung, who is now National Assembly Chairman.