The US Secretary of Defence Robert M. Gates had a very busy day in Hanoi on October 12. He met with Vietnamese officials and attended bilateral meetings with his counterparts, who were in Hanoi for the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus.

VietNamNet Bridge – A man in Binh Dinh province has caught a giant butterfly in his garden. The insect is 13 cmlong and has a wingspan of 24 cm.

VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 8,000 amateur and professional artists contributed to the success of a great show on October 10, at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium.

Concern has been growing over China’s aggressiveness in claiming a major portion of the East Sea as its own lake, most recently through the deployment of a flotilla into the Spratly archipelago on a three-week military exercise.

VietNamNet Bridge - Prince Andrew, the UK ’s Duke of York, announced an honorary scholarship fund for Vietnamese students at the British University Vietnam in Hanoi on October 11.

Malaysian Defence Minister Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahrid Hamidi said that the role of China and the US is important but defence cooperation in Southeast Asia must be led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

VietNamNet Bridge - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has announced the list of 145 new species discovered in the Mekong River region since 2009 as a proof for the “biological treasure” of the river.

VietNamNet Bridge - General Secretary of the Vietnam Football Federation Tran Quoc Tuan was nominated to represent Southeast Asia at the Asian Football Federation (AFC) Standing Committee for the 2011-15 period on October 10.

VietNamNet Bridge – The 9th Dep Fashion Show, the largest annual fashion show in Vietnam, named “Dreaming” will take place on October 31 at The Garden trading centre in Hanoi.

VietNamNet Bridge - So far this year the mosquito – borne disease has sickened 80,000 people across the country, 59 of whom have died, said the Health Ministry’s Department of Preventive Health.

VietNamNet Bridge – Foreign visitors who go to Vietnam under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s (VNAT) promotional program from now to the end of the year will be exempted from visa fee.

VietNamNet Bridge - A spotted seal has died of brain tumor at the Nha Trang Oceanography Institute.

The first ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus opened on October 12, in Hanoi with the attendance of the Defence Ministers of ten ASEAN countries and eight partners - China, Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand, Australia, Russia and the US.

VietNamNet Bridge – A 59-second video clip showing a girl bathing in the Hoan Kiem Lake which was uploaded to the Internet on October 8 has stirred up outrage? among the online community.

Traffic jams after the closing ceremony of Hanoi’s 1000th anniversary:

VietNamNet Bridge – Roads, pavements, flower gardens, squares, etc. are full of waste left by visitors. Below are pictures taken at the My Dinh square and Nguyen Thai Hoc street on October 10.

VietNamNet Bridge would like to introduce more photos about Hanoi’s custom and folk festivals in the past. These photos come from the collection of Doan Thinh and Doan Bac.

VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 100,000 students in Quang Binh and over 30,000 others in Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province have returned to school after a week off due to flood.

A gemstone-made painting about Hanoi’s old street brought to Shanghai by Kieu Khanh, the Vietnamese representative at the Miss World 2010 pageant in China, was sold at the highest price at a charity auction on October 9 in Shanghai.

No metallic or organic contaminants have entered the Danube from the red sludge spill in western Hungary due to decontamination efforts made along the Marcal, its tributary, the National Disaster Management said Sunday.