(VOV) -Terrorism has cast a shadow over France, the EU, and several other countries after last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris killed 17 people. The massacres have pushed European countries closer to each other in the fight against terrorism.

(VOV) -The establishment of the Islamic State had a strong impact on the world in 2014.Within a short time, the IS showed its extreme, brutal nature going against all nations.

(VOV) -2014 has been a year of aviation accidents and incidents. Since the beginning of the year, there have been 30 aviation accidents around the world, leaving more than 1,000 people dead.

The US and Cuba have decided to normalize their ties for the first time since 1961. The historic announcement, made by Cuban and US leaders on Wednesday, has been applauded by the world community. It opens a new chapter in the two countries’ relations. 

Forces hostile to the Vietnamese revolution have been trying to promote the so-called peaceful evolution in a bid to undermine the socialist regime, with one of their ploys being the call for “depoliticising the army” which is the core force safeguarding the achievements of proletarian revolution in the country. 

(VOV)- Conditions for foreigners in Vietnam to buy and own houses have been loosened under the revised Law on Housing announced by the Presidential Office last week. The new regulations will help Vietnam attract more foreign currencies and stimulate the real estate market.

German scholars strongly criticised China’s recent moves in the East Sea at a scientific conference held at the headquarters of Die Tageszeitung (TAZ) newspaper in Berlin on December 9.

(VOV) - Representatives of 200 countries are attending the 20th UN Climate Change Conference, COP-20, to discuss ways to reduce carbon emissions and deal with the effects of climate change. 

The European Institute for Asian Studies held a workshop in Brussels, Belgium, on November 25 to introduce a book on the East Sea in Vietnam written by BBC reporter Bill Hayton. 

(VOV) -The voters have appreciated the National Assembly’s votes of confidence for officials elected or approved by the National Assembly or the People’s Councils. 

(VOV) - On November 20, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by US Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), unanimously passed eight foreign affairs measures, including a resolution coded H.Res. 714 on the South China Sea and the East China Sea. 

(VOV) -China cannot change the legal rights of Vietnam over the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), affirmed experts at a two-day conference themed “East Sea: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development” held from November 17-18 in the central city of Danang.

The recent escalating tension in the East Sea could negatively affect the preservation and development of maritime resources while threatening security on international routes in the area, experts warned.

A workshop on peaceful solutions of territorial disputes in the East Sea was organised by the Youngsan University in the Republic of Korea’s city Busan on November 14.

(VOV) -Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization on November 7, 2006, and was granted official membership on January 11, 2007. 

(VOV) -At the 8th session of the 13th National Assembly, several deputies recommended ways to improve the efficiency of the National Assembly to deserve its status as representative of the people’s will and the highest legislative body and meet global parliamentary standards. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s important speech on security challenges in Asia, especially in the East Sea, delivered in Berlin, Germany on October 17, has attracted the special attention of the German press and academics.

(VOV) -The 10th Summit of the Asia Europe Meeting opened in the Italian city of Milan on Thursday. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the Vietnamese delegation will participate in discussions on development issues, security and strengthening bilateral cooperation with other ASEM member countries.

(VOV)- Since the first Ebola case was identified in Guinea in March, the epidemic has killed over 4,000 people in several countries.

(VOV) - International experts have exchanged views on the latest research results assessing the multi-dimensional impacts of territorial disputes in the East Sea at an international seminar in Hanoi on October 9.

(VOV) -The Brazilian people will return for a second round of voting in Brazil’s presidential election, as none of the candidates gained a majority of votes in the first round.

(VOV) - Experts, scholars, researchers from Japan, Vietnam, China, Australia and the European Union (EU) looked closer to maritime security in East Asia at an international seminar in Brussels, Belgium on September 30.

(VOV) -The US Department of Commerce has decided to maintain anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnamese shrimp imports. 

(VOV) -As the biggest ever conference on climate change, the summit is expected to reach a binding agreement which will keep governments on track toward the signing of a climate change prevention agreement in 2015.

(VOV) -The world media and scholars have repeatedly mentioned China’s ambition to occupy the East Sea with its plan to turn the Johnson South Reef (Gac Ma in Vietnamese) into an island and illegal expansion of a number of places in Vietnam’s Truong Sa archipelago.

(VOV) -The 35th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Association- AIPA-35- is being held in Vientiane, Laos from September 15 to 17. 

(VOV) -The US has commemorated the 13th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The US-led fight against terrorism did not end after the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011. 

(VOV) - Kang Sok-ju, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is on a working visit to several European countries – a trip seen as a sign of Pyongyang’s more active diplomacy. 

(VOV) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent Japan visit is said to lift bilateral relations to a new height and is considered a step towards the establishment of a new alliance in the region.

Nearly 200 exhibits confirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes are on display at a month-long exhibition that opened in the Mekong delta city of Can Tho on August 26.