Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Voting in Ghana’s presidential election began, with voters set to choose from a field of 12 presidential candidates, including incumbent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
- AMERICAS: US President-elect Joe Biden is reportedly set to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his secretary of health and human services.
- ASIA: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for Beijing to re-engage with Washington and hold talks with the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden.
- EUROPE: The European Union and the United Kingdom started a last-minute attempt to bridge significant differences and reach a post-Brexit agreement.
- MIDDLE EAST: A group of suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen killed five separatists in Yemen’s Abyan province.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Israel’s i24NEWS and the UAE public conglomerate Abu Dhabi Media announced a content sharing arrangement following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Top Story
- Venezuela: Maduro claims victory in boycotted, criticized election.
- The embattled President Nicolas Maduro’s political party and its partners claimed victory in congressional elections that were boycotted by the majority of the opposition and widely condemned internationally for being fraudulent, including by the US.
- The claimed victory gives Maduro, who is accused of grave human rights violations by independent UN investigators, control of the last major branch of government controlled by the opposition.
- The election is criticized by the US and the Organization of American States for lacking any democratic guarantees.
- Additionally, the European Union also refused to send any election observers to Venezuela, saying the conditions for a democratic process did not exist in the country currently.
- Reporting: BBC, WSJ, AP, DPA, AFP, Reuters
Africa
- Cameroon: Regional elections were held in the country for the first time ever but were marred by scattered violence, with one person being killed by separatist insurgents in the country’s English-speaking Northwest region. (Reuters)
- DR Congo: President Felix Tshisekedi plans to form a new coalition government and said he is willing to dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections if he was unable to do so. (AFP)
- Ghana: Voting in the country’s presidential election began, with voters set to choose from a field of 12 presidential candidates, including incumbent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. (AP)
Americas
- Mexico: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pushed a proposal to the Senate that would strip the diplomatic immunity of US agents in the country. (AP)
- United States: President-elect Joe Biden is reportedly set to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his secretary of health and human services. (Reuters)
- Uruguay: Former President Tabaré Vázquez died at the age of 80 after a battle with lung cancer, his family said. (Reuters)
Asia
- China: Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for Beijing to re-engage with Washington and hold talks with the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden. (AFP)
- India: At least one person died and 227 were hospitalized due to an unidentified illness in the country’s state of Andhra Pradesh with symptoms ranging from nausea to falling unconscious. (BBC)
- Indonesia: The police shot dead six followers of hardline Islamic cleric Muhammad Rizieq Shihab during clashes that were sparked after authorities said they would question Shihab over recent gatherings that flouted coronavirus restrictions. (DPA)
Europe
- Region: France, Germany, and the UK called Iran’s plans to install advanced centrifuges at its main nuclear enrichment plant in Natanz “deeply worrying”. (AFP)
- Region: The European Union and the United Kingdom started a last-minute attempt to bridge significant differences and reach a post-Brexit agreement. (Reuters)
- France: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi landed in the country ahead of his meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing pressure from human rights activists to confront al-Sisi over human rights abuses in Egypt. (AFP)
- Romania: The opposition Social Democrats is currently leading in the preliminary results of the country’s general elections. (Deutsche Welle)
Middle East
- Iran: The Deputy Commander of the country’s Revolutionary Guards said nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed using a satellite-controlled machine gun with “artificial intelligence”. (AP)
- Israel: The government’s internal affairs department reportedly ended its investigation into a shooting that cost a nine-year-old Palestinian his eye, and decided not to prosecute the police officers alleged to be involved in the shooting. (AFP)
- Yemen: A group of suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen killed five separatists in the Abyan province. (AFP)
Tech & Communications
- Media: Israel’s i24NEWS and the UAE public conglomerate Abu Dhabi Media announced a content sharing arrangement following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries. (AFP)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
- Earthquakes:
- Chile
- Location: 112 km E of Iquique, Chile
- Magnitude: 6.1
- Depth: 99.9 km
- Map
- Chile
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
- Confirmed Cases as of 07DEC20: 67,143,905
- Total Recovered Cases as of 07DEC20: 42,046,970
- Deaths as of 07DEC20: 1,537,260
- Countries with Confirmed Cases: 191
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
Tomorrow’s Outlook (08DEC20)
- Africa: The UN Security Council will hold meetings on Sudan and South Sudan.
- Europe: The EU-Ukraine Association Council will hold a meeting.
- Europe: The European Court of Justice will listen to Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s appeal against the EU sanctions imposed on him.
- Europe: The European Affairs Ministers of EU member-states will hold a meeting.
- Europe: The EU will announce GDP figures for Q3 of this year for the 27-country-bloc.
- Armenia: The deadline that the opposition has given Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to announce his resignation, following his acquiescence of the Russia-brokered ceasefire deal with Azerbaijan in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region.
- Cambodia: Authorities are expected to hold mass trials of government opponents.
- France: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will visit and meet with government officials, with rights groups and NGOs expected to protest his visit outside the French Parliament.
- India: Farmers protesting a new government bill have called for a nationwide shutdown.
- Japan: The government is expected to take a decision on new stimulus measures to respond to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.
- Japan: The government will release its GDP figures for Q3 of this year.
- Liberia: Midterm Senate elections and a constitutional referendum asking voters about reducing the president’s term in office to five years will be held.
- New Zealand: The inquiry report into the attack on Christchurch mosques will be presented to Parliament.
- Philippines: Acting US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller is expected to visit.
- Russia: The EpiVacCorona vaccine might start being administered to the public.
- South Korea: US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit. (to 11DEC)
- United Kingdom: The country’s National Health Service will start administering the first doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine to members of the public.
- United States: The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation will hold a hearing on the US Coast Guard in the Arctic region.
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