Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest has surged to its highest level (Reuters) in more than a decade, according to government data released yesterday. 

The Amazon, the world’s largest rain forest, is crucial to efforts to arrest climate change because of the amount of carbon dioxide it absorbs. It also houses three million species (BBC) of plants and animals and one million indigenous people. About 4,280 square miles of forest were destroyed this year (an area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut), a 9.5 percent increase from last year. Environmentalists have blamed the policies (Guardian) of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has encouraged mining and agriculture in the Amazon, for contributing to the rise. 

Indonesian authorities are monitoring several volcanoes (AP) that are showing increased signs of activity. Thousands of people have fled their homes on the volcanoes’ slopes. Today, hot ash spewed from Semeru, the tallest volcano on the island of Java.

Australia/China: China has refused to apologize (BBC) after a Chinese Foreign Ministry official tweeted a doctored image depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife to an Afghan child’s throat. The Chinese embassy in Australia said Canberra should “face up to the crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.”

Following the arrest of hundreds of activists and in defiance of a ban on public gatherings, Pakistani opposition supporters rallied (AP) in the central city of Multan to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Police said they had arrested nearly four hundred people the day before, though opposition groups put the number closer to two thousand.

Kyrgyzstan: The Supreme Court canceled the conviction (RFE/RL) and prison sentence of former President Almazbek Atambayev, sending his case back to a district court in Bishkek for retrial. Atambayev was convicted in June for illegally releasing a crime boss in 2013.

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), along with Russia and other countries that form the so-called OPEC+ coalition, have delayed a meeting (FT) scheduled for today over a disagreement on extending production cuts in response to the pandemic. The group will meet on Thursday.

This CFR Backgrounder explains OPEC.

Israel: Lawmakers vote tomorrow on whether to dissolve parliament (Haaretz) and hold new elections, the country’s fourth in two years. Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s party is at odds with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s over the state budget, which must be passed by December 23.

Somalia expelled Kenya’s ambassador (Reuters) and recalled its own envoy in Nairobi over Kenya’s alleged interference in elections in Jubbaland, a semi-autonomous state. Kenya denied the allegations.

Ethiopia/EU: The European Union is considering withholding aid (Politico) from Ethiopia due to the conflict in the northern Tigray region. European Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic flies to Ethiopia today in a bid to end a blockade of international aid groups in Tigray.

A report commissioned by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) set to be released today recommends a series of changes (NYT) over the next decade to better respond to China and Russia, including the creation of a consultative body to coordinate policy on China.

Moldova: Incoming President Maia Sandu called for Russian troops in a separatist region on Moldova’s border with Ukraine to be replaced with civilian monitors (BBC). The Kremlin rejected the proposal.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s envoy to the United Kingdom, Vanessa Neumann, resigned, telling the Financial Times that the future of Guaido’s leadership is unclear. The opposition is expected to lose control of the National Assembly, the country’s last democratically elected body, after elections this weekend.

Arizona and Wisconsin certified President-Elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory, becoming the last of six states (WaPo) to finalize results that President Donald J. Trump contested. State officials, including Republicans, have affirmed the integrity of the election, despite Trump’s claims of fraud.

Explore CFR’s suite of resources to help navigate Biden’s transition to president.