France: France is deploying more than 147,000 security forces nationwide to gird for New Year's Eve unrest as yellow vest protesters prepare to join the public revelry. The Interior Ministry said that the heavy security measures are needed because of a "high terrorist threat" and concerns about "non-declared protests." Police in Paris say they will put a security perimeter around the Champs-Elysees, the site of an annual New Year's Eve light show and celebration. Anti-government protesters angry over taxes and President Emmanuel Macron's pro-business policies are planning to be on the famed avenue. The Interior Ministry says extra security across France will focus on popular gathering places, public transportation, roads and shopping areas.
Bangladesh: The country's main opposition parties called for a fresh vote as Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, and her ruling Awami League were declared the winners of an election tainted by violence and vote-rigging allegations. At least 17 people were said to have been killed in election-day clashes, while reports flowed in of alleged vote manipulation and people being blocked from entering polling stations by ruling party supporters. Kamal Hossain, head of the Jatiya Oikya Front, the largest opposition alliance, said that votes had been "rigged on a massive scale across the country". He urged Bangladesh's election commission to dismiss the result and call "fresh elections under a non-partisan caretaker government". With 220 of 300 parliamentary seats declared, the Awami League and its allies had won 212, while the JOF had taken four. Human Rights Watch and other international groups had decried repressive measures which they said had created a climate of fear.
Congo: Election officials in Congo are counting ballots from the presidential election after a day in which numerous problems hampered voting across the vast Central African nation. People are hoping the often-delayed election to choose a successor to President Joseph Kabila after 17 years in power will produce the country's first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960. Election observers reported multiple difficulties around the country, which was supposed to have held the election in late 2016.
Bosnia: Bosnian Serb police dispersed dozens of protesters who stayed in the streets after thousands rallied in support of a man who helped launch a movement for justice and rule of law while pursuing the truth about his 21-year-old son's death. Bosnians inspired by Davor Dragicevic's quest demanded the ouster of the Bosnian Serb Interior Minister and top police officials over the death in March of Dragicevic's son David. Demonstrators gathered at a central square in Banja Luka and then marched through the downtown area. Davor Dragicevic has accused Serb police officials of protecting his son's killers. Police initially said Dragicevic's son's death was a suicide, but the young man's family insists he was killed by someone else.
- AP, Telegraph Group
