British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels today in an effort to break a deadlock (BBC) in trade negotiations just weeks before the United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union’s trading system.
 
Negotiators have been unable to resolve disagreements (Politico) over fisheries, ensuring fair competition, and the governance of any deal. The EU’s chief negotiator told Reuters that a deal could be impossible, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is prepared for a future without an exit agreement. The UK formally left the EU in January but was given until December 31 to stay in the trading bloc. If a deal is not reached by that date, it would mean the imposition of tariffs and other barriers (FT) that hurt both sides. In separate talks yesterday, the UK and EU agreed on specific rules on Northern Ireland.

The United Arab Emirates’ health ministry said today that the Chinese company Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine has 86 percent efficacy (Reuters). The announcement follows the release of positive results from rival companies, including Pfizer and Moderna. However, neither the UAE nor Sinopharm has released detailed data from clinical trials. 
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at countries’ efforts to create a COVID-19 vaccine.
 
Indonesia: More than one hundred million voters in the world’s third-largest democracy cast their ballots (Nikkei Asia) today in regional elections for 9 governors, 224 regents, and 37 mayors. Official results are expected to be announced on December 15.

General Manoj Mukund Naravane kicked off a six-day visit (Hindustan Times) to Saudi Arabia and the UAE today in an effort to boost India’s defense ties with the Gulf nations. He is India’s first army chief to ever visit the countries.
 
Uzbekistan: The country repatriated nearly one hundred people (Reuters), including seventy-three children, from camps in Syria where they had been living with other families of fighters from the self-proclaimed Islamic State. 

A Saudi court sentenced Walid Fitaihi, a physician with dual American and Saudi nationality, to six years in prison, despite Washington’s calls for his release. He was charged with illegally obtaining U.S. citizenship and tweeting support for the 2011 Arab uprisings, a person close to his family told the Washington Post.
 
Iran: A parliamentary advisor told local media that authorities arrested some of the individuals (BBC) involved in the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Iranian officials have given conflicting accounts of Fakhrizadeh’s killing.
 
CFR’s Ray Takeyh examines the fallout from Fakhrizadeh’s assassination.

An Ethiopian government spokesperson said that troops shot at and detained (AP) UN staff who were trying to reach the conflict-ravaged Tigray region on Sunday. The staffers were later released. Humanitarian aid groups have struggled to access Tigray, where some one million people have been displaced by fighting between government and regional forces.
 
CFR’s Michelle Gavin explains the conflict in Tigray.
 
DRC: Fighting between supporters of President Felix Tshisekedi and those of his predecessor Joseph Kabila broke out (AFP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Parliament. It was the second day of clashes after Tshisekedi warned over the weekend that he could be forced to dissolve Parliament and hold new elections.

The European Commission will push for EU member countries to adopt its counterterrorism proposals (FT), including one that would force social media companies to remove terrorist content within one hour of its publication, according to a document set to be released today. 

Despite spending two years in Chinese prisons, Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are healthy and doing well (Globe and Mail), Canada’s ambassador to China said. Chinese authorities arrested the two men in December 2018 in a move widely seen as retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
 
Brazil: Officials signed a letter of intent with Pfizer to receive more than seventy million doses  (Reuters) of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine starting in January. President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted that any vaccine will be free after its approval by the country’s health regulator.

The Supreme Court refused Pennsylvania Republicans’ request to overturn President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory (NYT) in the state. It was another blow to President Donald J. Trump and his allies, who have tried and failed to overturn election results in several states.

A new report from the UN Environment Program said that the world’s wealthiest people need to reduce their carbon emissions (WaPo) by a factor of thirty to help curb the impacts of climate change. The report found that emissions by the richest 1 percent of the world’s population account for more than double the emissions by the poorest 50 percent.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.