![In June 2017, Saudi Arabia - along with its allies UAE, Bahrain and Egypt - cut off diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea and air embargo on the Gulf state [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/790c4b259cba458496ffd11a9acf3fec_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
![Farmers protest against the newly passed farm bills at Singhu border crossing, Delhi, India [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-05T093535Z_223743079_RC2XGK9G69R8_RTRMADP_3_INDIA-FARMS-PROTESTS.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
![Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaking during a campaign rally in Caracas [Jhonn Zerpa/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8WF4DM.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Nana Akufo-Addo (left) and John Mahama (right) [File: Kola Sulaimon and Stephane de Sakutin/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8WF7Q7.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Mourners carry the body of Palestinian teenager Ali Abu Aliya during his funeral in the village of al-Mughayyir near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [Abbas Momani/ AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8WH8ZL.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Abdalla Hamdok, left, shakes hands with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan after being sworn in as prime minister on August 21, 2019 [File: Marwan Ali/EPA-EFE]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/c5b3f346dc5b476eb40794200d549736_18.jpeg?resize=120%2C80)
![A protester holds a sign reading 'When will the vaccine against police violence be available?' [Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8WJ4BU.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Russian medical worker, right, administers a shot of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Moscow, Russia [Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP_20340376162148.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Zimbabwean lawyer Tendai Biti, 53, was freed on $10,000 bail after a night behind bars [File: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP_20091580984092.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![The ruling by the Cairo Appeals Court effectively closes 'Case 173' [File: Asmaa Waguih/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2015-01-01T120000Z_369338628_GM1EB111D0X01_RTRMADP_3_EGYPT-JAZEERA.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Farmers protest against the newly passed farm bills at Singhu border crossing, Delhi, India [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-05T093535Z_223743079_RC2XGK9G69R8_RTRMADP_3_INDIA-FARMS-PROTESTS.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
Coronavirus pandemic
![On Thursday, Iran said it exceeded one million coronavirus cases [Atta Kenare/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8W74KW.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
![Russian medical worker, right, administers a shot of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Moscow, Russia [Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP_20340376162148.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
![Nearly 65 million people globally have been infected by COVID-19 [Remo Casilli/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-03T130000Z_904905887_RC2PFK9BOIRY_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-ITALY.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
![US President-elect Joe Biden has set up a COVID-19 task force to try to stem the spread of the deadly virus [File: Leah Millis/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-03T230542Z_687356834_RC2ZFK9U6HK1_RTRMADP_3_USA-BIDEN-CORONAVIRUS.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
![More than 180 countries have joined Covax, a global collaboration working with manufacturers to distribute vaccines equitably [File:Susana Vera/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-03T111224Z_590155515_RC2NFK9OO0SA_RTRMADP_3_GLOBAL-POY-COVID.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
![Children have a more active immune system and can have a stronger reaction compared with adults [Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-11-20T150036Z_1297396388_RC237K9D5UE5_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-ITALY-FLU.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
What’s happening in the US elections in 500 words
California certifies its final vote with Biden as the winner, while Trump heads to Georgia ahead of key Senate runoffs.
![California has certified its presidential vote count, giving 55 Electoral College votes to President-elect Joe Biden [Andrew Harnik/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP_20339765055863.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Canada sending military to remote First Nation hit by COVID-19
Shamattawa First Nation in northern Manitoba is reporting 144 cases of COVID-19, prompting emergency government aid.
![Canada's Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan said Saturday that the Canadian military would be deployed to a northern Manitoba First Nation [File: Blair Gable/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-02-03T000000Z_1461336349_RC26TE9YV6KB_RTRMADP_3_CHINA-HEALTH-CANADA.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Opinion
Kuwait holds election amid economy woes, COVID-19 spread
The Gulf state is holding parliamentary elections on Saturday amid a liquidity crisis and the spread of COVID-19.
![A Kuwaiti woman casts her vote at a polling [Stephanie McGehee/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-05T095732Z_395978415_RC2XGK9HGWWK_RTRMADP_3_KUWAIT-ELECTIONS.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
US troop withdrawal dismays some Somalis
Officials slam US move to pull back troops from Somalia as a blow to fight against al-Shabab group.
![The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) has between 650 to 800 troops on average in Somalia [Senior Airman Kristin Savage/Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa via AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP_20331349514621.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
From: Inside Story
Should the Dutch ‘Black Pete’ tradition be abolished?
Controversial Dutch blackface holiday figure is under renewed scrutiny.
Military officer elected head of Mali’s interim legislature
Colonel Malick Diaw elected president of Mali’s post-coup National Transition Council.
![Diaw was second-in-command of the military government that took power after a coup in August [File: Michelle Cattani/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8WJ28T-1.jpg?resize=570%2C380)