1. Morocco has become the fourth Arab nation to normalize relations with Israel under a deal brokered with the help of the United States this year, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan. Overall, Morocco is the sixth nation to recognize Israel, the first was Egypt and Jordan.
2. Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah reappointed Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid al-Sabah as the prime minister of the nation on December 8, 2020 following parliamentary polls in the Gulf Arab state.
3. Time magazine has named US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris as 2020 “Person of the Year”.
4. Time Magazine has named Eric Yuan as the 2020 Businessperson of the Year. Eric Yuan is the CEO of Zoom, the video chat service that gained massive popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic when all activities were taken up online.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the first virtual summit with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on December 11, 2020 to discuss the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
6. Madagascar will now host Indian Ocean Island Games 2023, replacing original hosts Maldives due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. The Maldives had been requesting the organizers to push back the 2023 games to 2025 but the organizers decided against it to avoid six years gap.
7. The 5th India-Myanmar Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation was held virtually on December 10, 2020. The meeting took place between India’s Narcotics Control Bureau and the Central Committee on Drug Abuse Control, Myanmar.
8. The International Day of Neutrality is observed on December 12, 2020. Neutrality, which means abstention of a state from all participation in a war between other states and the maintenance of an attitude of impartiality, is critically important for the United Nations to maintain the confidence and cooperation of all to operate independently, especially in politically charges situations.