Monday 7 December
- Brexit: UK-EU talks to resume in final push for a trade deal.
- Covid-19: First pictures of coronavirus vaccine arriving at a UK hospital ahead of the national rollout.
- Coronavirus: New businesses bucking the trend and thriving in Flanders despite pandemic.
- ‘Stronger together’: Taiwan foreign minister urges new alliance against China.
- Ghana set for a tight presidential election as old rivals compete.
- Egypt leads Africa in COVID-19 resilience, third in the Middle East.
- President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani tests positive for Covid-19 Covid cases in just five days.
- Georgia Officials Reject Trump Vote Fraud Claims
Disney faces a digital dilemma despite streaming success – FT News
Coronavirus: Weekend shopping returns but numbers down on 2019 – BBC Business
Moneysupermarket Snoops on ex-Virgin Money chief’s app – SKY News
Exclusive: U.S. preparing new sanctions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong crackdown – sources – Reuters
Brexit: UK-EU talks to resume in final push for trade deal
BBC News says talks between the UK and EU are due to resume later in a final bid to agree on a post-Brexit trade deal.
After a weekend of tense negotiations, EU sources told the BBC an agreement on fishing was close – but this was disputed by Downing Street.
The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator will continue talks with his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier.
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COVID-19: First pictures of coronavirus vaccine arriving at a UK hospital ahead of the national rollout
Sky News says batches of the coronavirus vaccine have been pictured arriving at a hospital in south London ahead of the UK-wide rollout of the treatment this week.
Staff have been unloading doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab from boxes at Croydon University Hospital before placing them in freezers on the site.
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Coronavirus: New businesses bucking the trend and thriving in Flanders despite pandemic
Euronews says the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the global economy. But the health crisis has also created unexpected opportunities for some small and medium enterprises.
Almost 2,00 new businesses opened up in the second quarter of the year in Brussels as well as 11,000 in Flanders. This is according to Unizo, the association that supports the self-employed and SMEs in the region.
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‘Stronger together’: Taiwan foreign minister urges new alliance against China
The Guardian reports, Taiwan’s foreign minister said the international community must join together in resisting China’s expansionism and preventing an invasion of Taiwan by sharing intelligence, rethinking Chinese business ties and boosting Taipei’s presence on the world stage.
Speaking to the Guardian, Joseph Wu said China’s activities in the South China and East China seas, its border skirmishes with India, and its crackdown on Hong Kong were evidence of it seeking to “expand its authoritarian order”, and that Taiwan was its next target.
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Ghana set for a tight presidential election as old rivals compete
France24 says more than 17 million people are eligible to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana on Monday with the race for the top job expected to be a close-run fight between incumbent Nana Akufo-Addo and longtime opponent John Mahama.
The two major parties have always accepted electoral outcomes and pursued any grievances through the courts.
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Egypt leads Africa in COVID-19 resilience, third in the Middle East
Arab News says Egypt led Africa for Covid-19 resiliency, news site Ahram Online has reported, adding that it was third in the Middle East.
The ranking measured the ability of countries to combat the pandemic and determined the best countries to live in during the crisis based on a set of sub-indicators including monthly cases, monthly fatality rate, total deaths per million, positive test rates, access to Covid-19 vaccines, lockdown severity, community mobility and 2020 GDP growth forecast.
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President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani tests positive for Covid-19
TRT World says Trump and many of his close associates have balked at public health officials’ advice to wear masks and avoid crowds to stem transmission of the virus.
Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for Covid-19 after a wave of travel by the former New York mayor seeking to persuade Republican state lawmakers to overturn the election results.
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Georgia Officials Reject Trump Vote Fraud Claims
VOA says officials in Georgia on Sunday rebuffed President Trump’s contention that Joe Biden fraudulently won the southern U.S. state, declaring that the president-elect’s claim to Georgia’s 16 electoral votes would stand.
Brad Raffensperger, the state’s top elections official, told ABC News’s “This Week” show that as a conservative Republican he was “disappointed” that Trump lost Georgia, but the people “have spoken” and “we don’t see anything that would overturn the will of the people.”
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In Review
French police have launched a series of raids on mosques and prayer halls across the country as part of what Emmanuel Macron has called a crackdown on “political Islam”.
The drastic action follows attacks on what President Macron has described as French liberty. And as a consequence, we will now see all of France’s 2,600 places of Muslim worship inspected, with plans already in place to close dozens. – WTX News
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What’s the media saying?
Renowned imam calls on Muslims to engage with France: Muhammed Abu Zaid has urged Muslims in France to cooperate with the government. But he told DW that the authorities should also foster dialogue with the Muslim community. – DW
Macron Seeks an Enlightened Islam: Laïcité worked well with Catholicism, but how hard is it to tame a domestic religion? – WSJ
Macron to counter radical Islam with home-schooling ban – Times
Macron’s centrist and tolerant facade is crumbling – Washington Post
America records ONE MILLION new COVID cases in just five days
The US recorded one million new coronavirus cases in just five days as White House coronavirus task force coordinator, Dr Deborah Birx, expressed frustration on Sunday over the mixed messages coming from the Trump administration that are reflected in some Americans’ perception about masks, social distancing and superspreader events. – Daily Mail
German hospitals packed to the brim with 40% more Covid-19 patients in ICUs than during 1st wave – union chief
German hospitals are getting overwhelmed by the sharp rise of Covid-19 patients requiring intensive care as opposed to the early months of the pandemic, a hospital association head told local media.
“In states like Saxony, the number of patients in intensive care is five times higher than it was in April. Hospitals are either reaching their capacity limits or have already exceeded them,” Gerald Gass, the head of the German Hospital Federation. – RT News
DR Congo President Tshisekedi says he plans new coalition
DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said he planned to form a new coalition government and warned if he could not, he may dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections.
Sunday’s announcement comes after the failure of a coalition with supporters of predecessor Joseph Kabila who currently wield a majority in parliament. – Africanews
India army chief to make historic visit to Saudi Arabia
Manoj Naravane will be India’s first army chief to visit Saudi Arabia, as Riyadh’s diplomatic relations with Pakistan deteriorate
The Indian army chief will split his four-day trip between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. – Middle East Eye
