Venezuelans voted in parliamentary elections. Nicolás Maduro, the country’s authoritarian president, has taken steps to ensure he gets a majority in the legislature. He will thus cement his control of state institutions. Many opposition parties have boycotted the vote. America, the EU and the Organisation of American States all say the election fails to comply with acceptable democratic standards.
Indonesia’s social-affairs minister, Juliari Batubara, turned himself into the police. He has been named as a suspect in a bribery case related to food aid intended to help those affected by the covid-19 pandemic. Anti-corruption agents had seized the equivalent of over $1m stuffed into suitcases, backpacks and envelopes in a raid on Saturday.
Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, was hospitalised with covid-19. At Mr Trump’s behest, the 76-year-old has been frantically and fruitlessly trying to overturn America’s presidential election in the courts. Mr Giuliani tweeted that he was 「feeling good」. By one estimate, he is the 42nd high-level member of the president’s team to have been infected with the coronavirus.
Alex Azar, the head of America’s Health and Human Services department, said every American who wants a covid-19 vaccine should be able to get one by the second quarter of 2021. The country’s regulators are yet to approve a vaccine, but one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech could be given the green light later this week.
Thousands gathered in the square outside Moldova’s parliament for the second time in four days, demanding that the government resign and that snap parliamentary elections be held. The protest was called by Maia Sandu, the pro-EU president-elect, after parliament passed a bill transferring control of the country’s intelligence service from the president to legislators.
Chinese exports grew by 21% in November compared with the same month last year—the biggest increase since February 2018. It is the sixth consecutive month that the country’s exports have grown, propelling its trade surplus to a whopping $75.4bn. China’s factories have been working flat out to supply locked-down Westerners.
Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, told the oil ministry to prepare for a return to full-scale operations within three months, according to IRNA, a state media outlet. America’s president-elect, Joe Biden, has said that he would lift crippling sanctions on Iranian oil if the country returned to 「strict compliance」 with a deal designed to slow its nuclear ambitions.
A look ahead
Last roll of the dice: Brexit talks
Negotiations over a trade deal between Britain and the European Union were never going to be easy. Yet with less than four weeks left until the end-December deadline for exiting the standstill transition period, the two sides are still at loggerheads. Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, claims that, under pressure from France, the EU has made new, unacceptable demands on fisheries and competition rules. The EU retorts that Mr Johnson still wants the benefits of unfettered access to its single market without accepting concomitant obligations. Raising the tension further, Mr Johnson’s government plans this week to reinstate into planned legislation unilateral changes to the Northern Ireland provisions of the withdrawal treaty that it signed earlier this year. The EU says such illegal action makes any trade deal impossible. Only a few days remain to find agreement ahead of an EU summit later this week. Otherwise Brexit with no trade deal looms.
Reopening redux: New York’s schools
Some of New York City’s public schools reopen today, again. After a rise in the covid-19 infection rate last month, Bill de Blasio, the mayor, closed classrooms. Parents were upset that restaurants and gyms remained open while America’s biggest public-school system, which had few cases, stayed shut. Last week Mr de Blasio zig-zagged. Now 190,000 pre-school, elementary and special-needs pupils will begin a staggered return to spending five days a week in the classroom. Pupils must consent to random weekly covid-19 testing. Middle- and high-schoolers will continue online learning, as will those pupils who have opted for remote tuition. Individual schools may close if infection rates spike in the surrounding neighbourhoods. That seems likely—the city’s infection rate now tops 5% and continues to grow. The school gates may soon M shut again.
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