East and South Asia
Moon Jae-in is tightening the gap with Park Guen-hye in the final polls before the Dec. 19 vote.
Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda hasn’t had such amazingly great luck.
Asahi Shimbun profiles Shinzo Abe.
Former Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has been charged with murder.
Gujarat’s voters went to the polls in the first of two rounds of voting on Thursday.
North America
Susan Rice withdraws from consideration as a candidate for U.S. secretary of state.
Latin America / Caribbean
Cayman premier McKenna Bush won’t resign.
Which Caribbean country is set for the highest GDP growth estimates in 2013?
Argentina agrees to largest bondholder payout since 2001.
Africa
Kgalema Motlanthe is challenging Jacob Zuma for the leadership of the African National Congress in South Africa.
More on Egyptian and Sudanese tensions over Ethiopia’s planned Blue Nile dam.
The NPP will challenge the NPC’s win in Ghana’s presidential race, but will respect the Ghanaian Supreme Court’s ruling.
Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi are battling for the presidential nomination of Kenya’s Jubilee coalition.
Europe
The United Kingdom’s AAA debt rating may be downgraded.
Europe moves toward a banking union.
Silvio Berlusconi might not run for prime minister again in Italy if current technocratic prime minister Mario Monti runs. But who knows? [Italian]
Ukraine’s parliamentarians brawl (literally — see photo above).
A Bulgarian view on the Romanian election.
Jean-François Copé and François Fillon are still dividing the center-right UMP in France. [French]
Middle East
Foreign Policy considers a post-Abbas West Bank.
Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati offers to step down in exchange for election law reform from the March 14 coalition.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was charged with fraud and breach of public trust.
New Republic profiles Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi.