French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared on December 5 that he would seek the Socialist Party's nomination for next year's presidential election and said he was quitting the government to focus on campaigning.

Russia and China on December 5 vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have demanded a seven-day truce in Syria's Aleppo, with Russia arguing it would allow rebels to regroup and that time was needed for talks between Washington and Moscow.

Singapore’s ruling People's Action Party (PAP) elected 12 members to its Central Executive Committee (CEC) on December 4 at its 34th conference.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi vowed to resign after suffering a crushing defeat on December 4 in a referendum on constitutional reform, tipping the euro zone's third-largest economy into political turmoil.

Syria's army and allied militia advanced towards rebel-held areas of Aleppo's Old City on December 4 in an attack which a military source predicted would be over in a matter of weeks.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who won praise for his economic stewardship after the global financial crisis, unexpectedly announced his resignation on December 5, saying it was time to leave politics after more than eight years in power.

VOV.VN - The US Senate has approved legislation extending the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for another ten years – by a vote of 99-0.  The Iran Sanctions Extension Act, which passed in the House in a 419-1 vote a fortnight ago, now goes to President Obama’s desk.

Malaysia’s central bank has announced measures to increase demands for the ringgit and bring down the vulnerability of the domestic currency against the US dollar.

A meeting in tribute to leader Fidel Castro was held in Santiago de Cuba city in eastern Cuba on December 3 (local time), drawing the participation of leaders from foreign countries and tens of thousands of Cubans. 

A plane carrying 16 Indonesian police personnel has crashed into the Batam Sea in the west of the country, according to rescuers.