The 49th ASEAN Summit opened in Manila on the 15th. Leaders will concentrate on energy security, food security and economic cooperation. An updated ASEAN logo featuring 11 rice stalks was unveiled to mark Timor‑Leste becoming the 11th member. Philippine President Marcos, as ASEAN chair, handed the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, signed on the 14th, to ASEAN Secretary‑General Kao Kim Hourn; the ASEAN Secretariat says the pact is expected to enter into force in early 2027.

Klaas Knot, a candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde as ECB president, said ECB tools to stabilise sovereign bond markets cannot substitute for responsible public finances and that intervention is sometimes unavoidable. He said the ECB can provide a firewall in cases of market disorder but cannot replace sound fiscal policy. Knot, former governor of the Dutch central bank, is competing with Spanish candidate Pablo Hernández de Cos; the leadership contest may hinge on which candidate is judged better able to contain financial market stress and withstand sovereign bond sell-offs. Lagarde last month said she will leave on Feb. 7, 2027, nearly nine months before the scheduled end of her eight-year term, and recent worries over French debt have revived memories of the euro-area sovereign debt crisis.

China Datang said on Nov. 14 that unit 6 of the Lusi Port 2×1,000 MW expansion synchronized to the grid on its first attempt. Unit systems are stable and operating normally. The expansion is expected to yield nearly 10 bln kWh of annual generation once fully commissioned.