1. The International Atomic Energy Agency has released a draft resolution, addressing Iran’s past nuclear activities. The IAEA Board of Governors is now set to vote on the draft resolution on December 15. If passed, the July nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 Group will come into effect.
2. An intelligence consultancy group says the number of foreign terrorists fighting in Iraq and Syria has more than doubled since last year. The US-based "Soufan Group" said in a report that in all, up to 31,000 foreign militants from 86 countries have traveled to Iraq and Syria.
3. Turkey continues its crackdown on opposition groups, arresting 18 people including police officers over their links to a senior opposition figure. Turkish media have reported that arrest warrants have also been issued for 27 more police officers in 13 provinces including Istanbul.
4. Saudi warplanes continue pounding Yemen, causing more death and destruction in the impoverished Arab country. At least four people, three of them women, were killed in the latest Saudi airstrike targeting a house in Kitaf district in the northern province of Sa'ada.
5. The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution on the disarmament of nuclear powers. The non-binding resolution, proposed by Iran, calls on nuclear-armed countries to remain committed to their disarmament pledges. A majority of the Non-Aligned Movement states have supported the resolution.
6. The US has deployed a spy plane in Singapore amid rising regional tensions in the South China Sea. Singapore and Washington say the P8 Poseidon aircraft will remain in the region until December 14. The dispute between the US and China has heated up in recent months over Beijing’s island-building activities.
7. US private donors have reportedly given over 220 million dollars in funding to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. According to an investigation by the Israeli daily Haaretz, Americans are using the tax-deductible dollars to lavishly fund the same projects that the Obama administration considers as obstacles to peace.
8. A Palestinian man has been shot dead and several others wounded in clashes with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. The violence broke out after Israeli troops raided a refugee camp in the city of Bethlehem. Reports say they prevented ambulances from entering the camp.