Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s party and its allies won a majority of the seats in the National Assembly on Sunday. Maduro already controlled (WaPo) the presidency, the courts, and the military.
 
Only 31 percent of eligible voters participated (Reuters), and poll stations were barren in an embarrassment for Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). The United States and many European nations said they would not recognize the results of the election, which U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a “sham.” Regardless, the election will weaken the standing (AP) of opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom the United States and many other countries recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate president and who boycotted the vote. Guaido’s claim to the presidency is predicated on his position as head of the National Assembly. The opposition will hold a referendum this week to ask Venezuelans whether they reject the results and want to end Maduro’s rule.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for talks (SCMP) with U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration to reset their countries’ relations. Bilateral tensions have soared in recent weeks amid a flurry of actions taken by the Donald J. Trump administration against Beijing.
 
This timeline traces U.S.-China relations. 
 
Indonesia: Six supporters of a hard-line Islamic cleric were killed in a shoot-out (Reuters) with police, raising concerns about heightened tensions between authorities and Islamist groups. Police have been investigating the cleric for violating coronavirus restrictions.

Suhaila Siddiq, one of the few women to hold government office in Afghanistan, died on Friday (TOLO) at around eighty years old. A renowned surgeon, she was the country’s first and only female lieutenant general.
 
India: The government is reportedly considering whether to grant emergency use approval (Reuters) to COVID-19 vaccines created by Pfizer and AstraZeneca, according to an unnamed official.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains the global effort to create a COVID-19 vaccine.

Kuwait’s opposition won twenty-four (Al Jazeera) of the parliament’s fifty seats in Saturday’s election. None of the twenty-nine women who ran for office were victorious. The government resigned in accordance with the constitution, and a new cabinet will be formed later this month.
 
Israel/Palestinian Territories: Israeli forces shot and killed a fifteen-year-old Palestinian boy who was at a protest in the West Bank on Friday. He was the fifth Palestinian child (Al Jazeera) to be killed by Israeli forces using live ammunition this year, according to the rights group Defense for Children International - Palestine.

The Trump administration announced on Friday that it will withdraw (NYT) most of the roughly seven hundred U.S. troops in Somalia by early 2021. Some will be reassigned to neighboring countries. U.S. troops in the country have supported counterterrorism efforts against al-Shabab.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at al-Shabab and U.S. policy in Somalia.
 
Ghana: Voters are casting their ballots (Nation) today in elections for the country’s president and 275 members of Parliament. Seventeen million people—more than half of registered voters—are expected to vote.

Officials from the United Kingdom and the European Union are meeting in Brussels (BBC) to discuss a post-Brexit trade deal, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scheduled to speak with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tonight. If a deal is not reached by the end of the year, both sides will impose tariffs and border checks on goods.
 
Romania: The opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) showed a slight lead (RFE/RL) over Prime Minister Ludovic Orban’s party in preliminary results from Sunday’s election. But without allies in Parliament, the PSD will likely struggle to form a government if it wins.

The country’s Senate approved a government-backed bill (Buenos Aires Times) to levy a one-time tax on twelve thousand of the country’s wealthiest citizens. The government hopes to raise nearly $4 billion to pay for coronavirus response measures, including medical supplies and relief for businesses.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine said that directed energy is likely to blame (WSJ) for symptoms, including dizziness and memory loss, experienced by U.S. diplomats in Cuba and China. U.S. officials in Cuba first reported symptoms in 2016; diplomats in China and officials working on Russia-related operations around the world later experienced similar symptoms. The report did not say who was behind the attacks.