Wednesday 16 December
News Briefing VIDEO
- Covid: Relaxation of UK Christmas rules ‘unlikely to change’
- Vaccine ‘gamechanger’ will see UK economy bounce back sharply, analysts say
- COVID-19: For the first time in its history UNICEF will help feed kids in the UK
- Paris fined €90,000 for appointing too many women in senior roles
- Iran’s probe into downing of airliner has major flaws — Canada report
- After a long delay, leaders of Mexico, Brazil congratulate Biden on US election win
- Republican leader of US Senate congratulates Joe Biden on election win
- While First COVID-19 Vaccines Arrive, Much of the World Will Have to Wait
- Slaven Bilic: West Brom boss could be sacked on Wednesday
- Tom Cruise unleashes f-bomb hell on Mission Impossible crew who broke Covid rules
UK draws up plans to rival Singapore with post-Brexit shipping regime – FT News
Facebook to move all UK users onto US agreements – BBC Business
Honda recalling 1.79 million vehicles worldwide for safety issues – Reuters
Heathrow: Supreme Court to give third runway the go-ahead, claims lawyer – Read on
Covid: Relaxation of UK Christmas rules ‘unlikely to change’
BBC News says warnings about the dangers of mixing over Christmas are to be issued by the UK nations later – but the rules allowing three households to meet are expected to remain in place.
There are no plans to alter England’s regulations and sources say the other nations are “unlikely to change”.
The plans for 23-27 December will be discussed in a call between officials.
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Vaccine ‘gamechanger’ will see UK economy bounce back sharply, analysts say
CityAM says the coronavirus vaccine will help the UK economy recover more rapidly than most experts think, according to economists at consultancy Capital Economics (CE) who predicted Covid will barely affect growth in the long-run.
The respected economics consultancy predicted the economy would grow by about 7.5 per cent in both 2021 and 2022, after shrinking by a record 11.5 per cent this year.
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COVID-19: For the first time in its history UNICEF will help feed kids in the UK
Sky News says for the first time UNICEF has launched a domestic emergency response in the UK to help feed children hit by the Covid-19 crisis.
The UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide has likened the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on youngsters to that of the Second World War.
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Paris fined €90,000 for appointing too many women in senior roles
France24 says Paris town hall has been fined €90,000 for appointing too many women in senior roles, a decision branded “absurd” by the city’s mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The 2013 legislation was to ensure that more women within the civil service were promoted to management level. As such, no more than 60% of management appointments can be from the same gender.
Back in 2018, 11 women were appointed to leadership positions in the Paris town hall, compared to five men.
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Iran’s probe into downing of airliner has major flaws — Canada report
Arab News says Iran is not conducting its probe into the downing of a civilian airliner in January properly and many questions remain unanswered, an independent Canadian report into the tragedy said on Tuesday.
The 79-page document is the latest expression of frustration from Western nations into how Tehran is handling the aftermath of a disaster that claimed 176 lives.
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After a long delay, leaders of Mexico, Brazil congratulate Biden on US election win
Aljazeera says the leaders of Latin America’s two biggest economies, Brazil and Mexico, congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory after a long delay that ignited criticism they were courting danger by rebuffing the president-elect.
Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro both waited until the day after Biden’s November 3 election win was confirmed by the US Electoral College before acknowledging it, each leader running the risk of alienating Biden and his fellow Democrats with their extended delay.
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Republican leader of US Senate congratulates Joe Biden on election win
TRT World says the top Republican in Congress broke weeks of election silence and sent a sober message to a defiant President Donald Trump: it’s over.
Mitch McConnell was among many congressional Republicans who had refused to acknowledge Biden’s defeat of Donald Trump, who has continued to make claims of election fraud and refused to concede.
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While First COVID-19 Vaccines Arrive, Much of the World Will Have to Wait
VOA says while the first shots against COVID-19 are rolling out in the United States, Britain and Canada, nearly a quarter of the world’s population likely will not have access to a vaccine until at least 2022, according to a new study.
Even in a best-case scenario, the world does not have the manufacturing capacity to cover the entire global population.
Wealthier countries made deals to buy the bulk of vaccine doses before the shots have even finished testing or received regulatory approval.
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In Review:
Tom Cruise Covid rant: Heroic or Abusive?
Trump campaign asks supporters whether he should run in 2024
Donald Trump’s campaign emailed supporters Tuesday night asking whether he should run again in 2024, but Trump has not conceded or admitted that he lost this year’s election.
The email, which includes a link to a poll on their campaign website, claims falsely the “Radical Left STOLE this Election from” Trump. – USA Today
Coronavirus: Germany’s tighter restrictions kick in after ‘lockdown light’ fails
Germany is closing most stores and schools, and further limiting social contacts in an effort to drive down the rate of coronavirus infections that have remained stubbornly high in recent weeks – Euronews
Boko Haram claims abduction of hundreds of Nigerian school boys
Nigerian armed group Boko Haram claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the kidnapping of more than 300 students from a secondary school attacked last Friday in Katsina state, northwest Nigeria. – Africanews
Camp closures force Iraqi families back to shattered homes
After living in a camp for three years, 70-year-old Merhi Hamed Abdullah returned to his village west of the city of Mosul to find it in ruins — his first glimpse of home since Iraq defeated the Daesh group. – Arab News
