The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the Vietnam-Oregon US initiative to forge ahead with bilateral cooperation in politics, economics-trade-investment, education-training, agriculture-urban planning-environment, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, said Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc. 

(VOV) - On October 20, the 13th National Assembly (NA) opened its 10th session in Hanoi after a preparatory meeting to discuss and vote for the approval of the agenda of this meeting.

Iran's nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said on October 19 he expected a deal with six world powers on shrinking Tehran's atomic program in exchange for sanctions relief to be implemented by year-end.

At least two people were killed and five other wounded in a bombing in Saiburi district, Pattani, southern Thailand, on October 19.

The 14th plenary meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Co-operation in Economics, Culture and Science-Technology took place on October 19 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung hosted Lieutenant General Suvon Luongbunmi, Chief-of-the-General Staff of the Lao People's Army and Deputy Minister of Lao Defence Ministry, in Hanoi on October 19. 

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni began his leisure tour of Vietnam on October 19-22 at the invitation of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Truong Tan Sang. 

State President Truong Tan Sang met with Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of the US industrial giant General Electric (GE), in Hanoi on October 19. 

The Vietnam Foreign Ministry and the US state of Oregon signed a letter of intent in Hanoi on October 19. 

(VOV) -Chinese Minister of State Security Geng Huichang is visiting Vietnam at the invitation of Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang. 

(VOV) -Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong on October 19 received a delegation from the Vietnam Supreme People’s Procuracy, led by Prosecutor General Nguyen Hoa Binh. 

(VOV) - On October 19, President Truong Tan Sang received new ambassadors and representatives from international organizations from Belgium, Finland, Switzerland, Iceland, Iran and the EU.

(VOV) - Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai expressed his delight at the vigorous growth of the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership across the board while receiving former Prime Minister of  the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Tony Blair in Hanoi on October 19.

National Assembly (NA) deputies are expected to establish a national electoral council at the parliament’s 10th sitting, which is scheduled to convene on October 20.

(VOV) - On October 19, the Vietnam Ministry of National Defence convened their first strategic defence dialogue with their Cambodian counterparts and discussed measures to develop all around pragmatic military to military relations.

Senior officials from Cambodia and Vietnam met in Ho Chi Minh City on October 18 to work out the agenda for the 14th plenary meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Co-operation in Economics, Culture and Science-Technology. 

China’s construction on islands in disputed East Sea areas is “unwarranted provocation”, Malaysian armed forces chief Zulkefli Mohd Zin said at a security forum in Beijing on October 18. 

Many Egyptian voters shunned the first phase of a parliamentary election on October 18 that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has hailed as a milestone on the road to democracy but his critics have branded as a sham.

The United States approved conditional sanctions waivers for Iran on October 18, though it cautioned they would not take effect until Tehran has curbed its nuclear program as required under a historic nuclear deal reached in Vienna on July 14.

Eight bodies have been recovered from a rubber boat carrying migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean, the Italian navy said in a Tweet on October 18.

A Palestinian gunman went on a shooting rampage at the central bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on October 18, killing a soldier and wounding 11 other people, police said.

Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh said ASEAN and China should put in place cooperative mechanisms to realise their commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea and in the region, so that their pledge should not stop at being just words but be turned into action. 

The Mexican city of Toluca, capital of the State of Mexico, wishes to expand cooperation with Vietnam and set up twinning relationship with the coastal city of Da Nang, according to the city’s Mayor Braulio Alvarez Jasso.

A National Assembly (NA) delegation led by Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung paid a visit to the central province of Ha Tinh on October 17. 

A Vietnamese Party delegation joined representatives from political parties from 14 ASEAN member states and partners at an ASEAN conference on women’s participation in politics held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 17. 

Israel and the United States have resumed talks on future defense aid that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended in protest at the Iran nuclear deal, the Israeli ambassador to Washington said on October 18.

(VOV) -  On October 18, Ho Chi Minh  City People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan received a delegation from the Republic of San Marino, led by Minister of Economy and International Cooperation Antonella Mularoni.

Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah and Iranian fighters made advances on October 17 in their offensive to retake territory around the northern city of Aleppo from insurgents and jihadist fighters, a monitoring group said.

Israeli authorities said four Palestinians had been shot dead and a fifth seriously injured in thwarted knife attacks on October 17 in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank as tensions ran high after more than two weeks of unrest.

Yemen's Saudi-backed government said on October 17 it was studying an invitation from the United Nations to attend talks aimed at ending a war between a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi militiamen who control much of the country including the capital.