We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again, you can catch up with some of our other Islamic State coverage here.
Terror suspects arrested in Berlin, our news desk reports:
Police in Berlin have arrested two people suspected of preparing to carry out "a serious act of violence representing a danger for the state."
The two individuals had been allegedly influenced by the extremist group Islamic State (IS), German news agency dpa reported.
One of them was a Syrian and the other Tunisian, German media said.
The arrests were made following two raids, including one on an Islamic cultural center.
Police officials said there was no indication that "an act of violence was planned for Berlin."
Reports suggested that the police were acting on a tip about a possible attack in the northwestern city of Dortmund.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on November 25 that the security-threat level in Germany remained high following the November 13 attacks in Paris by IS militants that killed 130 people. (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
Germany arrests suspected arms dealer, won't confirm Paris link, our news desk reports:
Prosecutors in Stuttgart, Germany confirmed that they have arrested a 34-year-old man suspected of arms dealing, but have declined to comment on a report that he supplied four guns to Islamic militants who carried out the Paris terrorist attacks.
A spokesman for Baden-Wuerttemberg's prosecutor said on November 27 that the suspect was arrested on November 24.
Earlier on November 27, Germany's Bild newspaper reported that the man was suspected of selling four weapons to the militants who killed 130 people in Paris on November 13.
Bild reported that four assault rifles -- two AK-47s made in China and two Zastava M70s made in Serbia -- had been sold online by the suspect on November 7 to a buyer of "Arab descent." (Reuters, AP, Bild)
Berlin police release two men held for alleged terrorist plot, our news desk reports:
Police in Berlin say they have released two men who were detained on November 26 as part of an investigation into Islamic extremists in Germany.
Authorities said on November 27 that no evidence had been found to hold the 28-year-old Syrian and 46-year-old Tunisian suspects.
Following their detention on November 26, police raided a mosque in Berlin's western neighborhood of Charlottenburg.
An Islamic cultural center also was raided.
Local media reported that the two were suspected of planning to transport explosives from Munich to use in a possible attack in Dortmund.
But authorities said on November 27 that no evidence of explosives had been found in their car, at the mosque, or at the Islamic center.
Police said there was no indication that "an act of violence was planned for Berlin."
Earlier, dpa reported that the two men were thought to have been influenced Islamic State militants. (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)
At Paris commemoration, Hollande vows to 'destroy army of fanatics,' our news desk reports:
French President Francois Hollande has told a ceremony commemorating the victims of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris that "France will do everything to destroy the army of fanatics that committed these crimes."
Hollande made the remarks at the locked-down ceremony on November 27, exactly two weeks after the attacks.
The French flag has been hung from balconies and windows along the streets of Paris as about 2,000 invitees gathered for the commemoration ceremony at the city's military museum.
Family members of the 130 people killed in the attacks were present in the courtyard of the Invalides museum and war veterans complex, as well as some people wounded by the terrorists.
The victims were killed when Islamic State militants attacked the national stadium, a concert hall, and a series bars and restaurants. (AP, Reuters, AFP)
Turkey's president says Putin's remarks 'unacceptable,' our news desk reports:
Turkey's president has said Russian President Vladimir Putin's comments after he met in Moscow with French President Francois Hollande were "unacceptable."
Speaking on November 27 after Putin accused Turkey of "deliberately" pushing bilateral relations to a dead end on November 26, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey did not intentionally shoot down a Russian fighter jet along the Turkey-Syria border on November 24.
Erdogan said Turkish forces responded automatically to "violations of the rules of engagement" after the plane entered Turkish airspace and refused to acknowledge repeated warning messages. A Russian pilot was killed in the altercation.
Putin also said on November 26 that Moscow was waiting for an apology and an offer of compensation from Turkey, and that he expected Ankara to "punish the criminals for this crime."
Erdogan has previously said that Russia should apologize for violating Turkey's airspace, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Ankara will not "apologize on an occasion when we are right."
Turkey's military has released recordings of repeated warning messages it says were sent to the Russian pilot.
Moscow says the plane never left Syrian airspace and claims there were no warning messages.
Putin also called the downing of the Russian fighter jet "a treacherous stab in the back" that "contravenes common sense and international law."
He said that he hoped a "real, broad international coalition" will be formed into a "coordinated, powerful force" that will "support the actions of the Russian military conducting successful operations against terrorist groups and structures in Syria."
But the Russian president said Western countries in the U.S.-led coalition were not ready to work with Russia.
Erdogan on November 27 also rejected allegations from Putin that Turkey was helping to fund Islamic State (IS) militants by buying oil from the extremist group.
In fact, Erdogan said, the United States had documented evidence that Russian companies and IS militants are selling oil to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On November 26, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he had asked his government to formulate a package of punitive measures against Turkey.
Medvedev said the shooting down of the Russian plane was "definitely an act of aggression" and said it was necessary to take "economic measures" in addition to the diplomatic and military responses that have already been adopted.
He said Russia would suspend ongoing talks on preferential trade status for Turkey and would consider restricting Turkish labor migrants in Russia.
Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow expected Turkey and other countries to respect the inviolability of marine traffic through the Black Sea straits as laid out in the Montreux Convention.
Peskov said a Turkey-Russia summit scheduled for St. Petersburg in December had not been "officially canceled," but that "there are many questions."
Erdogan said on November 27 that he hoped he would be able to meet with Putin on the sidelines of the November 30 climate summit in Paris.
But Peskov has said the Kremlin is not planning a bilateral meeting between Putin and Erdogan. (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, TASS, Interfax)
Analyst Charles Lister backs up British Prime Minister David Cameron's statement that there are "70,000 moderate opposition fighters in Syria" in The Spectator:
Yesterday David Cameron told Parliament that there are ‘about 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups’ who could help fight Islamic State.
The Prime Minister’s number was the result of an internal assessment made by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), backed up by serving British diplomats overseas whose jobs focus on the Syrian opposition. Such a large number struck many as political exaggeration. The chairman of the Defence Committee, Julian Lewis, said he was ‘extremely surprised’. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn may issue a formal demand for clarification. So do these fighters exist and who are they?
Of course, the debate primarily centres around the issue of what it means to be a ‘moderate armed opposition group’ in Syria. Notwithstanding the storm surrounding this morning’s statement, this question has become particularly pertinent in recent days, as international diplomats discuss who should – and should not – be involved in a future Syrian peace process.
As diplomatic efforts for Syria gain pace and as Saudi Arabia prepares to host a major conference bringing together 60-80 representatives of a broad spectrum opposition, the definition of “moderate” has been shifting. The most effective definition now must be based upon a combined assessment of (a) what groups are acknowledged as being opposed to ISIL and (b) what groups our governments want, or need to be involved in a political process.
Having studied Syria’s armed opposition since the first months of the country’s uprising in mid-2011, I can say with confidence that the Prime Minister and the JIC are about right. More