The United States recorded its highest daily death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic yesterday—more than three thousand—as hospitals struggle with surges in the number of patients and officials are expected to approve a vaccine.
 
The country set another grim record yesterday: 106,688 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized (CNN). More than one-third of Americans live in areas where hospitals are facing shortages of intensive care beds, the New York Times found. Some states, such as Indiana and Mississippi, are tightening restrictions in an effort to curb infection rates. An advisory committee for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will vote today on whether the vaccine created by Pfizer and BioNTech should be granted emergency authorization (CNBC), after which the FDA would be expected to approve the vaccine for nationwide distribution. Meanwhile, members of Congress and the White House remain at odds over a new emergency stimulus package (WaPo) to help Americans cope with the ongoing pandemic.

Beijing announced that Americans with diplomatic passports will no longer be able to visit Hong Kong and Macau without visas. The move comes after (SCMP) U.S. sanctions on fourteen top Chinese officials were announced on Monday.
 
This CFR timeline traces U.S.-China relations since 1949. 
 
Singapore: The country signed a post-Brexit free trade agreement with the United Kingdom. It is the first trade deal (Straits Times) between the UK and a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

This CFR Backgrounder explores ASEAN’s history.

Gunmen killed Malalai Maiwand, a reporter and women’s rights activist, and her driver in an attack on her vehicle (TOLO) in the city of Jalalabad today. No group immediately claimed responsibility. A new report by the International Federation of Journalists found that forty-two journalists (Guardian) have been killed worldwide this year.
 
Kyrgyzstan: The United States sanctioned a former Kyrgyz customs official (RFE/RL) under the Global Magnitsky Act for his role in a $700 million corruption and money-laundering scheme. Two other people and three companies in other countries were also sanctioned (Reuters).

A push by U.S. senators to block the Trump administration from selling $23 billion worth of arms (Al Jazeera), including advanced fighter jets and drones, to the United Arab Emirates failed to garner enough votes. The deal saw bipartisan opposition over the UAE’s involvement in Yemen.  
 
Yemen: The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels said that it will start implementing the Riyadh Agreement (Reuters), which aims to reunite Yemeni parties in the coalition. It was signed by southern separatists and the UN-backed government last year.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains the crisis in Yemen.

President Nana Akufo-Addo was narrowly reelected (AFP) in the country’s Monday election, the electoral commission announced. The opposition called the election flawed and said it will appeal the results, while independent observers said voting was generally free and fair.
 
South Africa: The country’s health minister said a second wave of COVID-19 (News24) has hit, with nearly seven thousand new cases recorded in the past twenty-four hours. He said the most infections are in the age group of fifteen to nineteen years old.

Despite a meeting yesterday between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen aimed at a breakthrough in Brexit trade talks, an unnamed UK government official said “very large gaps remain” (FT) between the two sides. They set a Sunday deadline for a decision on the future of negotiations.   
 
France: The government unveiled a draft law (France24), pushed by President Emmanuel Macron, to combat Islamist extremism. Recent attacks, including the beheading of a teacher who showed his students cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, have given the legislation momentum.

Canada became the third country—after Bahrain and the United Kingdom—to approve the COVID-19 vaccine (CBC) created by Pfizer and BioNTech, following a review of clinical data. Officials said Canadians could start receiving the vaccine as early as next week.

This CFR Backgrounder explains the global effort to create a COVID-19 vaccine.
 
Argentina: The lower house of Congress will today debate a bill to legalize abortion (Reuters) amid widespread protests both in support of and against the draft law. The lower house is expected to narrowly approve it, at which point it would be considered by the Senate.