The Vietnam Journalists Association (VJA) assumed the position of President and Secretary General of the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists (CAJ) for the 2015 – 2017 tenure at the CAJ’s 18th General Assembly in Hanoi on November 27. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia on November 27 not to "play with fire", citing reports Turkish businessmen had been detained in Russia, while Moscow said it would suspend visa-free travel with Turkey.

Chancellor Angela Merkel came under renewed pressure from her own conservatives on November 27 to stem the flow of refugees into Germany as she heads to a weekend summit of European Union leaders and Turkey's prime minister.

The close cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand in building the ASEAN Community (AC) will help promote regional connectivity and ensure the bloc’s central role in settling challenges in the region, Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Panyarak Poolthup said.

(VOV) - Operations against the self-proclaimed Islamic State and other terrorist and extremist groups have intensified and enlisted more countries. Besides airstrikes and ground attacks, blocking IS’s multiple revenue streams is an important part of the strategy to eliminate IS.

Belgium lowered the security threat level in Brussels on November 26, ending six days on maximum alert, but the prime minister warned that the risk of a Paris-style attack remained serious.

Russia will keep cooperating with the United States and its partners to fight Islamic State in Syria, but that cooperation will be in jeopardy if there are any repeats of Turkey's shooting down of a Russian jet, Russia's Vladimir Putin said.

The Philippines rejected China’s arguments on historic sovereignty over the East Sea during the first round of hearings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, the Netherlands on November 24. 

ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh appreciated Japan’s significant support to the association over a couple of years, especially in the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of this year.

The United States sanctioned a Syrian businessman on November 25 who it said was a middleman for oil sales between Islamic State and the Syrian government, the latest salvo in an effort to cut off the flow of funds to the militant group.