Brief. Me Better Faster December 14, 2025 8:58 pm
At least 10 EU countries will not extradite criminals to UK because of Brexit
At least 10 EU countries will no longer extradite their nationals to face prosecution in the UK because of Brexit, the government has admitted.
In correspondence with the House of Lords EU Committee, it said Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden will be “invoking constitutional rules as reason not to extradite their own nationals to the UK”. – The Independent
Belarus: Over 200 arrested during Freedom Day protests
More than 200 people were detained across Belarus on Thursday during protests against President Alexander Lukashenko as the country marked Freedom Day.
In the capital, Minsk, it was the first sizeable turnout of demonstrators since weeks of protests rocked the country last year. Freezing temperatures and the authorities’ violent crackdown had led to numbers dropping significantly. – Euronews
It took the Pentagon 22 days to make a meme
And they don’t even know if it worked.
For most people, the creativity associated with meme’s is spontaneous, cathartic – it usually mocks or satirises political and popular culture.
When US military officials at the Pentagon tried their hand at a shitposting meme, it took them 22 days. – TRT World
Iran’s online anti-government protests gain momentum
The online presence of the anti-government campaign, “no to the Islamic Republic”, calling for the removal of the clerical regime has gained popularity in the recent days, TV news channel Al Arabiya reported.
The campaign launched in March against the current government has gained traction in the recent days with more than 600 anti-regime Iranians, including political activists, artists, athletes and academics. – Arab News
At least 49 passengers on India flight to Hong Kong test positive for COVID-19
At least 49 passengers on a flight from New Delhi to Hong Kong have tested positive for COVID-19, authorities said, as the financial hub introduced an emergency ban on all flights from India as it battles a new wave of cases.
All of the passengers who tested positive flew into Hong Kong on a flight run by Indian operator Vistara on Apr 4. – CNA
James Charles: YouTube temporarily demonetises beauty influencer
YouTube has temporarily demonetised the channel of beauty influencer James Charles.
Earlier this month, he admitted to sending sexually explicit messages to two 16-year-old boys.
YouTube confirmed to the BBC that the 21-year-old has been temporarily removed from their Partnership Program. The program allows YouTubers to monetise their content. – BBC World
ESL: PM to meet football officials over breakaway group
BBC News says the PM will chair a meeting of senior football officials and fans’ representatives later to discuss what should happen to the clubs planning on joining the European Super League.
Boris Johnson described the new league, which includes six leading English clubs, as “ludicrous”.
The 12 founding members of the league face a fierce backlash after unveiling proposals for a breakaway tournament.
Thousands could fly to England from India before it joins Covid travel ‘red list’
The Guardian says thousands of people could fly from India to England before it is added to the travel “red list” from Friday, amid growing criticism that the government acted too slowly to restrict the spread of a variant that may be more resistant to vaccines.
Boris Johnson bowed to pressure to cancel a key trip to India to boost economic ties, and Matt Hancock, said most travel from the country would be banned from 4 am on Friday. Only British citizens and residents will be allowed in, and all must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.
France ‘bears significant responsibility’ for Rwandan genocide, US report says
France24 says France “bears significant responsibility” for enabling the genocide in Rwanda and still refuses to acknowledge its true role in the 1994 horror, said a report commissioned by Kigali that was released Monday.
The damning report, commissioned in 2017 and running to nearly 600 pages, labels France a “collaborator” of the extremist Hutu regime that orchestrated the pogrom of some 800,000 people, and outright rejects the position that Paris was blind to their genocidal agenda.
Food stampedes in Turkey fuel fears over rising poverty levels
Arab News says images showing desperate Turkish citizens scrambling to grab free handouts of potatoes have stoked an ongoing debate over chronic poverty in the country.
The government recently began distributing potatoes and onions to needy people in some of Turkey’s poorest provinces.
But despite strict measures on large gatherings, brought in to stop the spread of Covid-19, footage has shown crowds of people stampeding for the vegetables, some even picking up loose potatoes from the ground.
Cuba has a new leader and it’s not a Castro
Aljazeera says Miguel Díaz-Canel has been named first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), the most powerful role on the island. He will be the first person without the name Castro to run Cuba since the 1959 revolution.
The move was widely expected. He now holds Cuba’s two most important positions, head of the party and president of the state, and buries rumours that he was a placeman, subject to more powerful forces.
US warns against travel to 80% of world due to Covid-19
TRT World says the US has urged Americans to reconsider any international travel they may have planned and said it would issue specific warnings not to visit roughly 80 per cent of the world’s countries due to Covid-19 risks.
The US hasn’t had a global advisory warning against international travel since August when guidance was revoked by the Trump administration.
The advice issued by the department isn’t a formal global advisory.
US jury starts deliberations in trial of officer charged with killing George Floyd
VOA says a U.S. jury in a Minnesota courtroom Monday heard sharply different claims of how George Floyd, a Black man, died last year, then began deliberations in the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of killing Floyd in one of the country’s highest-profile cases in recent years.
A prosecutor accused Chauvin of killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. A defence attorney contended that Floyd died partly from drug use and that Chauvin was following his police training in the way he arrested Floyd last May on a Minneapolis street.
Live Updates
- European Super League: PM to meet football officials over breakaway group
- Thousands could fly to England from India before it joins Covid travel ‘red list’
- Cuba has a new leader and it’s not a Castro
- US warns against travel to 80% of world due to coronavirus
- US Jury Starts Deliberations in Trial of Officer Charged with Killing George Floyd
European Super League: ESL ‘Great game robbery’
Most of Tuesday’s front pages lead with the story of the ESL and the backlash. As well as criticism of the government for waiting too long to impose a travel ban on India.
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The Sun calls it “The Great Game Robbery” and says “anger mounted last night” at the plans by some of the world’s biggest football clubs to start a new European Super League (ESL). – The Sun
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The Daily Mail leads on what it calls Prince William’s “scathing attack” of the plans. The paper says Prince William, who is also president of the Football Association, made a “dramatic intervention” to warn of the damage a breakaway football league could do to “the game we love”. – The Daily Mail
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‘Created by the poor, stolen by the rich’
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The Daily Telegraph also leads with Prince William’s comments, saying he shares the same fan fears over the new ESL. Its main photo shows Manchester United fans standing outside Old Trafford holding a banner: “Created by the poor, stolen by the rich.” – The Daily Telegraph
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The Times reports that the plans for an ESL prompted an “extraordinary backlash” as ministers said they were prepared to do “whatever it takes” to stop them going ahead.
Sharing the front splash is the story of India and the red list. The paper says the government has been accused of waiting too long to impose a travel ban on India. – The Times
Car insurance sees biggest price drop in six years – read on
Tesco fined £7.56m for selling out-of-date food in Birmingham – read on
Sterling rises to highest levels for a month – read on
European Super League: Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp against idea but will not quit – read on
Llorente denies Liverpool place in the top four – read on
Jose Mourinho: Tottenham sack boss ‘after little daring or doing’ – read on
A spat over Covid vaccine doses has erupted between the European Union and the UK threatens to have far reaching implications over coronavirus jab disruption.
Brussels demanded access to AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in UK plants to make up for a shortfall after the pharmaceutical giant said it would have to cut the amount of doses delivered to the bloc by the end of March.
What do we know about the dispute? And what potential implications could the rumbling dispute have on future Covid vaccine rollouts? – (ITV)
Recent and upcoming changes
Restrictions are easing across the UK.
In England
Step 1 of the roadmap out of lockdown has begun. Shielding ends on 31 March.
In Scotland
People will be asked to ‘Stay Local’ from 2 April. A timetable for further lockdown easing from 5 April is on GOV.SCOT.
In Wales
The stay at home restriction was lifted on 13 March. Read about the rules on GOV.WALES.
In Northern Ireland
The next review will happen on or before 15 April. You can read the guidance on current restrictions on nidirect.
latest Covid-19 news
For the latest Covid-19 news visit the UK governement website