* Mainland China reported 18 new COVID-19 cases on Dec. 5, up from 17 cases from a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Sunday (December 6). The National Health Commission said in a statement that 17 of the new cases were imported infections. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China stands at 86,619. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
* The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 14,255,535 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 214,099 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 2,439 to 277,825.
* Brazil reported 43,209 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 664 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. The South American country has now registered 6,577,177 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 176,628, according to ministry data, in the world's third worst outbreak outside the United States and India.
* Residents of a coastal township on Australia's World Heritage-listed Fraser Island were told to evacuate on Sunday as a bushfire approached. Queensland's emergency services urged residents to evacuate late on Sunday afternoon.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen instructed their negotiators to resume trade talks on Sunday in a last ditch attempt to bridge significant differences. The decision to revive the long-running talks after they stalled on Friday over three of the thorniest issues suggests both sides believe there is still some hope they can secure a deal governing almost US$1 trillion of trade a year.
* Japan, France, and the United States will hold joint military drills on land and sea for the first time in May next year as the Chinese military steps up activity in the region, the Sankei newspaper said on Sunday.
* The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 17,767 to 1,171,323, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 255 to 18,772, the tally showed.
* Mexico's Health Ministry on Saturday reported 11,625 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and an additional 593 fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,168,395 cases and 109,456 deaths.
* Australia's Victoria state eased COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday after the country's pandemic hotspot recorded 37 days without any new coronavirus infections, moving toward a "COVID-safe" holiday season.
* French health authorities reported a further fall in daily hospital deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday and said the total number of hospital admissions due to the disease had also declined over the past 24 hours. There were 12,923 new confirmed cases on Saturday, higher than Friday's total and bucking a general month-long downward trend.
* Irish Prime Minsiter Micheal Martin said on Saturday that every effort should be made to get a new EU-UK trade deal.
* Turkey has entered its first full weekend lockdown since May as deaths from coronavirus more than doubled in less than three weeks to hit record highs, with daily infections now among the highest numbers recorded globally.
* Britain reported 15,539 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and 397 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test result, both falls on the previous day's figures.
* Portugal will ease coronavirus rules over the Christmas period to allow people to visit loved ones but measures will be reinforced again a few days later to crack down on New Year's Eve parties, the government said on Saturday.
* The orbiter and returner combination of China's Chang'e-5 probe successfully separated from the spacecraft's ascender at 12:35 p.m. Sunday (Beijing Time), according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The orbiter-returner combination will continue to orbit the moon, and wait for the right time to return to Earth with lunar samples.
* New Zealand reports no new case of COVID-19 on Sunday, the second time in several weeks. Three previously reported cases have now recovered, so the total number of active cases is 56, and the number of confirmed cases remains at 1,722.
* Under special protection measures, over 18 million Romanians are expected to cast their ballots on Sunday to elect a new bicameral parliament for the next four years. As many as 18,802 polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and will close at 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) in 42 constituencies in the country, while 748 stations in 93 foreign countries remain open on Saturday and Sunday.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday welcomed the continuing ceasefire in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, saying the world body stands ready to provide humanitarian support to all impacted civilians.
* The Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) endorsed on Saturday the parliament-ratified "Strategic Action to Lift Embargoes" law, intended to reduce international monitoring of Iran's nuclear program if embargoes on the country are not lifted in two months.
* The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement signaled a new era of progress, African Union (AU) Chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday. Ramaphosa called on the private sector to be involved in this through investment in financial resources and infrastructure development.
