- Covid: England’s regional tiers to be set out.
- Former Great Ormond Street Hospital porter accused of 84 sex offences against children.
- Christchurch attacks: royal commission hands in report on New Zealand mosque shootings.
- Sudanese former PM and opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi dies of Covid-19.
- Israeli military braces for ‘possible US strike on Iran’ during ‘sensitive’ days of Trump presidency – reports.
- Trump pardons ex-aide Flynn, who pleaded guilty of lying in Russia probe.
- Iran says British-Australian academic freed for 3 Iranians.
Europe’s finance sector hits ‘peak uncertainty’ over Brexit – FT News
Covid-19 could ‘cut pay by £1,200 a year by 2025’ – think tank – BBC Business
Eat Out to Help Out: Businesses claimed £849m through scheme for 160 million meals – Sky Business
Rishi Sunak warns ‘economic emergency has only just begun’ – WTX News
Covid: England’s regional tiers to be set out
BBC News says most of England is expected to be placed in the two toughest tiers of restrictions when the national lockdown ends.
The system will be stricter than the previous one, meaning more local authorities will be in higher tiers.
Matt Hancock will set out the plans in the Commons later, with a review promised by 16 December.
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Christchurch attacks: royal commission hands in report on New Zealand mosque shootings
The Guardian says the royal commission’s report into the Christchurch mosque shootings has been presented to the government, 20 months after it was first commissioned.
On 15 March last year, Australian Brenton Tarrant shot and killed 51 worshippers at two inner-city Christchurch mosques. In August he was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes, which were motivated by white supremacist ideology.
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Former Great Ormond Street Hospital porter accused of 84 sex offences against children
Sky News says a former porter at Great Ormond Street Hospital has been charged with sex offences against children.
Paul Farrell, 55, of north London, faces 84 charges including rape, attempted rape, sexual assault of a child under 13, and indecent assault on a male, police said.
The charges relate to seven victims, with the alleged offences committed between 1985 and 2018.
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Sudanese former PM and opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi dies of Covid-19
France24 says Sudan’s former PM and top opposition figure Sadiq al-Mahdi died from Covid-19 on Thursday, his party said.
The 84-year-old was the country’s last democratically elected PM before he was toppled in 1989 by now-ousted president Omar al-Bashir in an Islamist-backed military coup.
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Israeli military braces for ‘possible US strike on Iran’ during ‘sensitive’ days of Trump presidency – reports
RT News says the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are preparing for a possible US attack on Iran before Donald Trump leaves office, viewing his lame-duck period as a “very sensitive” time, according to several recent reports.
The Israeli government has instructed the IDF to draw up plans in the event Trump orders a preemptive strike on the Islamic Republic, which could potentially target the country’s nuclear infrastructure, journalist Barak Ravid reported in Axios on Wednesday, citing anonymous senior officials in Tel Aviv.
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Trump pardons ex-aide Flynn, who pleaded guilty of lying in Russia probe
TRT World says Donald Trump has pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about interactions he had with Russia’s ambassador to the US in the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.
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Iran says British-Australian academic freed for 3 Iranians
Arab News says Iran has freed Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian academic who has been detained in Iran for more than two years, in exchange for three Iranians held abroad, state TV reported Wednesday.
The state TV report offered no further details Wednesday beyond saying that the three Iranians released in the swap had been detained for trying to bypass sanctions.
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In Review
Diego Maradona dead: Football legend Diego Maradona has passed away aged 60 after suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest on Wednesday., according to multiple reports. Maradona underwent surgery earlier this month to remove a blood clot from his brain.
“What Zidane could do with a ball, Maradona could do with an orange,” French Football Legend Michel Platini
Maradona, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, helped Argentina win the World Cup in 1986, the pinnacle of an illustrious career. He is immortalised by Napoli fans leading them to two Serie A titles, the first in their history, single handedly taking on the northern giants of Juventus and AC Milan. – WTX News
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What’s the media saying?
When Diego Maradona played in Saudi Arabia – Arab world mourns passing of a legend – Arab News
Pain and glory: The extraordinary life of Diego Maradona – France24
‘I feel sick’: Football legend Diego Maradona dies of heart attack aged 60 after telling his nephew he didn’t feel well and was going back to bed – two weeks after having surgery for a blood clot in his brain – Daily Mail
Diego Maradona’s demise: India PM Narendra Modi leads the tributes – Goal.com
PETER SHILTON: Diego Maradona had greatness, but no sportsmanship… He never apologised for cheating England in the World Cup quarter-final, instead he used his ‘Hand of God’ line – Daily Mail
Feuding no more, Pelé joins world in mourning Diego Maradona – AP News
Lionel Messi claimed he was ‘the greatest ever’ and Zinedine Zidane said he was ‘on another level’ – remembering Diego Maradona’s incredible career – talkSPORT
Watch some of Maradona’s best goals for Argentina – BBC News
Environmentalists cheer as John Kerry named first-ever US Climate Envoy
“The work we began with the Paris Agreement is far from done,” he wrote. “I’m returning to government to get America back on track to address the biggest challenge of this generation and those that will follow, ” Kerry said. – VOA
EU Commission: The first Europeans could be vaccinated by the end of the year
Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the first European citizens might be vaccinated before the end of December. In an address to the European Parliament, she said EU member states should start preparing to distribute vaccines. – Euronews
Amnesty International releases findings on Mai-Kadra massacre
Scores of freshly-dug graves fill the church compound in Mai-Kadra. Shovels abandoned by weary hands are strewn on the dirt among empty cans of lemon air freshener that fail to mask the stench of death. – Africanews
Protesters in Tunisia halt key phosphate production
Protesters calling for jobs stopped Tunisia’s entire phosphate output on Wednesday by launching sit-ins at the sole producer of the key export during a day of strikes and protests around the country, officials and witnesses told Reuters News Agency. – Aljazeera
