Thursday 17 December
Thursday's News Briefing VIdeo roundup
- Covid: Areas in England await Covid tier changes
- Homeless people in temporary housing at highest level since 2006 – as some trapped in ‘intolerable’ conditions
- China to welcome WHO mission to investigate origins of Covid-19 pandemic
- US to unseal charges against Lockerbie bombing suspect: Media
- Saudi Arabia’s first batch of coronavirus vaccine arrives
- Erdogan: US sanctions ‘blatant attack’ on Turkey’s sovereignty
- MPs prepare for pre-Christmas push to sign off Brexit trade deal
- UK and US in talks over mini trade deal
- Amber Heard: ‘Nothing could have prepared me for 2020’
- Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua: Eddie Hearn says all four belts may be dropped to ensure fight happens
MPs prepare for pre-Christmas push to sign off Brexit trade deal – FT News
UK and US in talks over mini trade deal – BBC Business
Bitcoin surpasses $20,000 to hit new high – SKY News
Macron and the moguls: Inside the fight over a ‘French Fox News’ – Reuters
Covid: Areas in England await Covid-19 tier changes
BBC News says towns and cities in England will find out later whether they will be moved to a different tier of Covid-19 restrictions.
Matt Hancock is due to announce the outcome of the latest review of the three-tier system after government officials met on Wednesday.
Leaders in several areas of northern England say they have met the criteria to move from tier three to tier two, after a drop in infection rates.
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Homeless people in temporary housing at highest level since 2006 – as some trapped in ‘intolerable’ conditions
Sky News says more than a quarter of a million people in England are homeless and living in temporary accommodation, new figures show.
There were an estimated 253,620 people without a secure home at the end of June this year, according to housing charity Shelter.
The figure is the highest it has been since 2006 and has increased by 83% in the last decade.
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China to welcome WHO mission to investigate origins of Covid-19 pandemic
France24 says Beijing will welcome an international team of COVID-19 investigators due to travel to China in January, said the WHO which is leading the mission.
China has strongly opposed calls for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, saying such calls are anti-China, but has been open to a WHO-led investigation.
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US to unseal charges against Lockerbie bombing suspect: Media
Aljazeera says the United States plans to unseal charges soon against a Libyan man suspected of assembling the bomb that blew up a US airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, US newspapers reported on Wednesday.
The suspect, Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, is currently held by the Libyan authorities, according to The Wall Street Journal newspaper and US authorities are seeking his extradition to stand trial in the United States
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Saudi Arabia’s first batch of coronavirus vaccine arrives
Arab News says the first consignment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the Kingdom launched an inoculation drive to end the COVID-19 outbreak.
The vaccine will be distributed over the next three days and more than 150,000 people have already registered online to be treated.
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Erdogan: US sanctions ‘blatant attack’ on Turkey’s sovereignty
TRT World says US sanctions announced this week are a “blatant attack” on Turkish sovereignty, the nation’s president has declared.
Turkey is the first NATO member to face such sanctions, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a highway opening ceremony, pointing to the double standard in slapping such sanctions on Turkey.
In the televised video address on Wednesday, Erdogan said the sanctions imposed on Turkey over its acquisition of Russian defence systems will fail in what he said was their aim of deterring Ankara’s defence industry efforts.
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In Review
Marcus Rashford: Man of the year
The Manchester United ace turned his attention to publicly campaigning on the issues of homelessness and child hunger in the UK over the pandemic and has been praised for using his platform to be a political activist and drive societal change.
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Marcus Rashford’s new Christmas goal should be applauded – The Yorkshire Post says – YorshirePost
Manchester United follow Marcus Rashford’s lead by providing 80,000 meals for vulnerable families over Christmas with first-team stars to donate £250,000 to appeal for presents and food parcels – DailyMail
Marcus Rashford says desire to succeed at Manchester United driven by childhood experiences with his mother – The Independent
Marcus Rashford’s mum skipped meals to feed her kids as they grew up in poverty – Mirror
Marcus Rashford: ‘We all have a duty to protect our vulnerable’ – The Big Issue
Walsall set for Marcus Rashford-inspired Christmas hampers – BBC News
Barr Resignation Caps Controversial Term
Coronavirus: Non-priority groups to be vaccinated at ‘end of spring’ in France
France is to kick off its coronavirus vaccination campaign at the end of this month, Prime Minister Jean Castex has said, “if conditions are met”.
However non-priority groups will have to wait until the “end of spring”, he added. – Euronews
Nigerian schoolboy who escaped kidnapping recounts the horrors
A schoolboy survived and managed to escape from armed kidnappers in Kankara, northwest Nigeria, who took off with hundreds of students.
He recounts Friday’s ordeal, which Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for. Umar Ahmed told AFP gunmen arrived as he was preparing to go to bed. – Africanews
Palestinians left waiting as Israel is set to deploy COVID-19 vaccine
Israel will begin rolling out a major coronavirus vaccination campaign next week after the prime minister reached out personally to the head of a major drug company. Millions of Palestinians living under Israeli control will have to wait much longer. – Arab News
