| Make or break | A British official warned that talks over a future trade deal with the European Union could collapse today unless negotiators make progress in the next few hours. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to speak to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this evening and that conversation will be a make-or-break moment, another official said. The pound declined against the dollar. Giuliani's infected | The point man of Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the general election, Rudy Giuliani, tested positive for the coronavirus. It's the latest setback for the president's effort to cling to power by asserting without evidence that the Nov. 3 ballot was riven with fraud. - Officials in Georgia rejected Trump's attempt to pressure them to reverse the state's election result.
- Georgia's two Senate runoff elections are now an all-or-nothing showdown to determine control of the chamber and the fate of President-elect Joe Biden's agenda in Congress.
Targeting officials | The U.S. is preparing to sanction at least a dozen more Chinese officials over their role in the recent disqualification of Hong Kong legislators from office, Nick Wadhams and Karen Leigh report. The latest round of sanctions could be rolled out as soon as today and comes as Trump continues to pile pressure on China's Xi Jinping in the U.S. leader's final weeks in office. Beijing has vowed to take countermeasures. - Chinese exports surged in November, taking Beijing's trade surplus with the U.S. to a monthly record of $37.4 billion, despite Trump's efforts to redress the balance in favor of America.
Ethnic militias | Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on its border with Myanmar, opening another front in the conflict between two nations already engaged in a deadly standoff in the Himalayas. As Sudhi Ranjan Sen reports, the officials say the United Wa State Army and the Arakan Army are acting as Beijing's proxies by supplying weapons and providing hideouts for insurgents in India's northeastern states — a claim China denies.  Maduro unopposed | Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro regained control of the National Assembly in elections yesterday that were boycotted by the opposition. Maduro's victory cements his hold on the country's last democratic institution and further weakens opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized by the U.S. and the EU as the legitimate leader. But Guaido's international endorsement is based on his status as head of congress, a position he is about to lose. What to Watch This WeekThanks to all who responded to our pop quiz Friday, and congratulations to Adrian Makuc who sent the quickest answer naming Argentine President Alberto Fernandez as the first Latin American leader to speak with Biden last week. And finally ... Denmark's swift lockdown in the first wave of the pandemic was hailed as a success, but it's now being undermined by a scandal over the government's handling of a cull of 17 million mink, roughly equivalent to three for every person in the Scandinavian country. As Morten Buttler explains, opponents say the eradication of all healthy mink was a breach of the Danish constitution.  Skins being prepared at the farm. Photographer: Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg | 
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