• Syrian civil war:
  • The brother of the Syrian parliament speaker is shot and killed by gunmen in the capital Damascus. (Daily Star Lebanon)
  • Seven generals defect to Turkey. (CNN)
• Charcoal shipments continue in the Somali port of Kismayo under the watch of African Union peacekeepers, despite a national and international ban on such shipments. (Al Jazeera)

• AFP reports on Israel's plans to counter a Palestinian bid for enhanced United Nations status later this month. (Al Jazeera)
• Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy criticises Catalonia's drive for independence on radio, claiming its such an attempt "goes against history, goes against the sign of the times, and goes against simple common sense". (Al Jazeera)

• Malawi suspends its anti-homosexual law amid a parliamentary and public debate on whether to repeal it altogether. (The Daily Telegraph)
• At least five people are reported shot at a workplace (Apple Valley Farms, a poultry and meat processing plant with about 50 employees) in central Fresno, California, according to the Fresno Bee newspaper. Initial reports have said that the gunman then shot himself nearby. (MSN)

• United States elections, 2012
  • Voters in the United States go to the polls for a presidential election. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian) (Reuters)
  • Barack Obama is projected to defeat his Republican opponent Mitt Romney in the electoral college vote and win re-election as President of the United States, after having won the crucial swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Florida remains too close to call. (CNN)
  • In the United States Congress, the Senate is projected to maintain a Democratic majority with a two seat increase, while Republicans lose 8 seats but maintain marginal control in the House. (Businessweek)
  • The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico votes to become a U.S. state. If previous procedure is followed, Congress will now request that Puerto Rico establish a state constitution. Then, Congress would vote to approve it as a state, which it usually does. However, Congress is not obligated to follow this procedure, and by its vote, it ultimately must decide, which is not yet certain. Obama and Romney had both pledged to support the result of the referendum and to work with Congress on the issue. (BBC)
• Palauan presidential election, 2012: Voters in Palau go to the polls with incumbent President Johnson Toribiong and former President Tommy Remengesau both competing for the presidency. (Radio Australia)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin sacks the defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov amid a corruption scandal. (RIA Novosti)
• British Conservative Party MP Nadine Dorries is suspended from the party after her decision to become the first serving politician to appear on a reality television series. The move could take her away from Parliamentary business for up to a month. (BBC)

• Patriarch Maxim of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church dies at age 98 at a Sofia hospital. (ABC)

• Green Moon, trained by Robert Hickmott and ridden by Brett Prebble, wins the 2012 Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. (BBC Sport)