The European Union on December 21 extended its economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine until the end of next July, drawing a swift rebuke from the Russian economy minister.

Switzerland and the European Union (EU) are looking into an escape clause in bilateral economic accords that could let Berne curb admissions of EU workers in cases of severe economic and social disruption.

It is not a coincidence that on November 5, 2015, when reporting about President Barack Obama’s decision to visit Laos in 2016 to attend the ASEAN Summit held in Vientiane, all Western media stressed that Obama would “make history” as the first US president to visit that country in six decades since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1955. 

Australia and Indonesia agreed to boost intelligence-sharing in the fight against terrorism, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on December 21 following the annual bilateral talks with her counterpart Retno Marsudi in Sydney. 

Armed clashes persisted on December 20 across Turkey's southeast, where an operation by Turkish forces intensified on the sixth day of a campaign that security sources said had resulted in the death of 110 Kurdish militants.

Yemen's warring parties have agreed on a broad framework for ending their war at talks in Switzerland but they first have to agree a permanent ceasefire, after a week-long truce was widely violated, the United Nations said on December 20.

Air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes killed scores of people in the center of the rebel-held city of Idlib in northwest Syria on December 20, rescue workers and residents said.

Lao President Choummaly Sayasone has recently signed a decree announcing the issuance of a new Constitution after its draft amendment was approved at the 10th session of the seventh National Assembly.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met with Khaled Meshaal, leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, on December 19 in Istanbul, Turkish presidential sources said, a day after Israel and Turkey said they were close to patching up five-year political rift.

The Philippine Government has announced a 12-day truce with the New People’s Army (NPA) to ensure peaceful Christmas and New Year holidays for the local people, a government official said on December 18.