Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
        • Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, tests positive for COVID-19 and is admitted to a hospital in Washington, D.C. (CNN)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario
        • Ontario reports 1,924 cases, a new single-day record. (CBC)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
      • Bavaria formally declares a “disaster situation” in the state and announces to tighten its lockdown restrictions starting from December 9, banning people from leaving their homes with some exception and a nightly curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time in communities that have more than 200 infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days. (Bloomberg)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a new single-day record of 29,039 cases, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 2.46 million. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
      • Italy surpasses 60,000 deaths from COVID-19. (The Irish Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden
      • Sweden imposes new restrictions on large gatherings and issues alcohol sale curfews and school closures amid a rise of cases. (Wall Street Journal)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
      • The number of new confirmed cases in South Korea reaches a nine-month high of 631 cases in the last 24 hours, the majority being from the Seoul Capital Area. The country now has 37,546 total confirmed cases, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. (Yonhap News Agency)
      • The government decides to raise social distancing level to level 2.5 in the Seoul Capital Area for the next three weeks. (The Korea Herald)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, COVID-19 vaccine
      • Indonesia receives its first shipment of 1.2 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine. (CNA)
• Havana syndrome
  • An expert committee of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine releases a report, concluding that "directed" microwave radiation was the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China. (BBC News)
• Eluru outbreak
  • At least one person has died and 227 have been hospitalised by an unidentified illness in Eluru, India. The patients had a wide range of symptoms from nausea to fits and falling unconscious, and all had tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• Corruption in Indonesia, Corruption Eradication Commission
  • Indonesian social affairs minister Juliari Batubara turns himself in to the national anti-corruption agency for COVID-19 pandemic aid graft. (ABC News)

Politics and elections

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics, COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona
  • The Arizona State Legislature announces that the House and Senate will close for a week starting tomorrow due to COVID-19 concerns. The move comes shortly after Rudy Giuliani, who met with several Republican lawmakers to discuss supposed election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, tested positive for COVID-19. (KSAZ-TV) (The Washington Post)
• 2020 Romanian legislative election
  • Voters in Romania head out to elect the members of their country's Chamber of Deputies and Senate. Widespread lack of interest in politics and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have raised fears of a low voter turnout. (France 24)
• 2020 Venezuelan parliamentary election
  • Parliamentary elections are underway in Venezuela amidst multiple ongoing crises. The election is boycotted by the political opposition to President Nicolás Maduro and has been called unfair by international observers. (DW)
• Anglophone Crisis
  • Cameroon holds its first regional elections amidst criticism of President Paul Biya and a growing separatist insurgency in the English-speaking areas of the country. The election will elect representatives to local councils and is supported by the government, whereas separatists have vowed to disrupt the election, arresting anyone participating in it. Gunfire is also reported in some areas. (Reuters)
• Supporters of President-elect Maia Sandu gather in Moldova to call for the resignation of the Russia-backed government and a new parliamentary election. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Science and technology

• Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station
  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 launches a cargo ship into orbit to re-supply the International Space Station. (CBS News)

Sports

• 2020 NFL season
  • In American football, the Cleveland Browns defeat the Tennessee Titans 41-35 to secure their first winning season since 2007. (USA Today)
• 2020 Formula One World Championship
  • Racing Point's Sergio Pérez wins the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit, claiming his first Formula One win, and becoming the first Mexican Formula One driver to win a race since Pedro Rodríguez won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix. (The Guardian)