Our daily sleigh ride around the world

🇻🇪🎄 Christmas officially started in Venezuela this week. Last month, embattled President Nicolás Maduro declared Venezuela’s Christmas season would start on October 1, in a move critics frame as an attempt to divert attention from disputed presidential election results. Residents of the capital Caracas woke up Tuesday to Christmas decorations – including LED light strings and sculptures declaring: “Feliz Navidad” – spread across public squares, boulevards, and plazas. Maduro, who’s been in power since 2013, previously declared the early arrival of Christmas during the pandemic.

🌏💉 US pharma giant Gilead will let drugmakers in Asia and Africa make cheap generics of its HIV drug. Lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injection, provides near-total protection from HIV. Gilead on Wednesday announced a deal allowing a total of six pharma companies across India, Pakistan, and Egypt to make and sell generics of lenacapavir. While the treatment costs $42,250/year for US patients, the generics makers are expected to offer a far lower price, with recent research showing the drug could be sold profitably for as little as $40/year.

🌍 The sun has set on Britain’s African empire. Yesterday, the UK government agreed to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands – a cluster of 58 tiny islands in the Indian Ocean – to the East African island nation of Mauritius, ending a long legal battle over the final remaining African territory from the British Empire. Under the deal’s terms, the UK will pay to retain control of the largest island, Diego Garcia, which is home to a joint US-UK military base.