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Mexico became the first Latin American country Thursday to launch a COVID-19 vaccination initiative, offering hope to a nation that has lost some 120,000 people to the pandemic. Maria Irene Ramirez, the 59-year-old head nurse at the intensive care unit at Mexico City’s Ruben Lenero hospital, was the first to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in keeping with the country’s strategy to focus first on health care workers. “This is the best gift that I could have received in 2020,” Ramirez said after being inoculated in a ceremony broadcast by national media. Chile will immediately start inoculations of health care workers after receiving the first 10,000 doses of a 10-million dose order of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine on Thursday, officials said. Also on Thursday, Costa Rica was preparing to vaccinate two senior citizens in a home near San Jose with the vaccine, while Argentina received about 300,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. The first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrives at the Juan Santamaria International Airport, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Alajuela, Costa Rica, Dec. 23, 2020.In the USThe United States is about to complete its second week of vaccinations with about 1 million inoculations, mainly among health care workers and elderly residents of nursing homes. The numbers, however, are far short of the goal set by Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s effort to mass produce millions of doses of vaccines, to inoculate 20 million Americans by the end of the year.   U.S. Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui has warned that it would take longer to administer the doses.  “The commitment that we can make is to make vaccine doses available,” Slaoui said during a press call. “How fast the ramp-up of immunizations, the shots in arms, is happening is slower than we thought it would be.” The Trump administration has reached a deal worth $2 billion to secure an additional 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which would boost the nation’s supply to 200 million doses by mid-July 2021. With surges throughout the U.S. leading to 327,000 COVID-19 deaths and 18.5 million coronavirus infections, according to Johns Hopkins University, the speed with which immunizations can be administered becomes increasingly important.Intensive Care Unit Nurse Merlin Pambuan, 66, is cheered by hospital staff as she walks out of the hospital where she spent eight months with COVID-19, at Dignity Health – St. Mary Medical Center, in Long Beach, California, Dec. 21, 2020. California became the first U.S. state Thursday to record 2 million coronavirus cases. The grim Christmas Eve milestone was reached as the state was under a strict stay-at-home order and hospitals were overwhelmed with the largest number of infections since the pandemic began more than nine months ago. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease. Sinovac vaccineBrazilian researchers said Wednesday the coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese drug maker Sinovac Biotech was found to be more than 50% effective in a late-stage clinical trial.   But officials at the state-run research institute Butantan say they are withholding the results of the trial at Sinovac’s request, raising issues once again about the lack of transparency involving the vaccine’s development.   Tests of the Sinovac vaccine, dubbed CoronaVac, were halted last month after an “adverse, serious event” involving a volunteer participant in late October.   Sinovac is one of many drug makers around the world that have been racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19, which has killed more than 1.7 million people out of more than 79 million confirmed infections, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.   New variantChina on Thursday became the latest country to suspend all travel with Britain after the discovery of a new and more contagious strain of the novel coronavirus. The new variant has swept through southern Britain in recent weeks, prompting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose more restrictive lockdown measures in some parts of the country ahead of Christmas Day.   
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Aside from the occasional miniature tree and paper chains hung from cabs, there was little festive cheer for the thousands of truckers stuck on an old airfield in southeast England on Christmas Eve.Several thousand cargo trucks have been trapped for days around the southern English port of Dover since France closed borders with Britain in a bid to stop the spread of a new coronavirus strain.Army personnel were going from truck to truck, conducting rapid coronavirus tests that give results in 40 minutes as part of measures to try to start up travel again.Pawel, 34, a driver from Poland, had just been tested and said his plan was to go to Folkestone 42 kilometers (26 miles) away, take the Eurotunnel and go home to his family.”It’s impossible,” he told AFP of his three days at the Manston airfield, on the outskirts of Ramsgate, where many trucks have been parked while the travel crisis is sorted out.”I’ve no words to describe what we’re feeling here. All of our families are waiting for us. Heartbreaking.”He said drivers were furious with France for shutting their borders in response to the emergence of a new, potentially more contagious variant of the coronavirus. On his way back, he said, he will retaliate by not stopping there “for the food, for petrol, for anything.””Ninety percent of people here are also not going to stop in France,” he said.French officers give a COVID-19 test to a trucker at Dover, England, Dec. 24, 2020. Some freight from Britain and passengers with negative virus tests have begun arriving in France, after France relaxed a two-day blockade over a virus variant.Hot food and hornsOn the airfield, a cold December wind blew in from the Channel.The poorly lit site, run by the Department of Transport with the help of the armed forces, was a bewildering maze of trucks.Drivers were hoping to get to ports after spending days going nowhere but said it was unclear which ferries would run to clear the backlog, both on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.At one point, they sounded their horns together in frustration.There were free catering vans offering items ranging from burgers to Thai food. Some said they were unhappy about the food, but others said it was plentiful, with volunteer groups bringing around hot fare, including from the Polish community.”That was very nice. We were so thankful for this,” Pawel said.There were also mobile toilets that seemed clean, though drivers complained they were full.”We got stuck. It’s been three days,” said Valery, 37, a driver from Kyiv, who had not been tested yet.”They herded us in here and told us to stay. We need to get home already. Maybe we will make it for New Year’s?”There are no facilities, no showers, nothing,” he complained.Long waitOther drivers said there were showers, but it was a long walk to find them.Radko Ivanov, 56, from Bulgaria, angrily asked troops to be tested and complained that other drivers in smaller trucks were maneuvering to jump the queue.”The situation is terrible,” he said, complaining of a lack of organization. “I must guess what I got to do.”As of lunchtime on Christmas Eve, there were still 3,200 trucks at the site and at least 1,800 drivers had been tested, according to the armed forces.Altogether, 320 military personnel were conducting tests at Manston, at the port of Dover and on the M20 motorway.At Manston there were three army units including a deployment of engineers from nearby Maidstone.Two Sikh volunteer groups were distributing food in the evening on the M20, where many other stranded drivers were parked.
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When Britons voted in 2016 to leave the European Union after 47 years of membership, Brexiters said striking a free trade deal with the Eu would be simple and “one of the easiest in human history.” It didn’t turn out that way. But Thursday, after four years of talks marked by fractiousness and ill-temper and amid accusations of bullying, delusions and bad faith, there was some holiday cheer after London and Brussels finally struck a deal that will limit the economic damage both Britons and Europeans would have suffered in the absence of any agreement.  Both sides compromised and moved away from frequently emphasized ‘red lines’ to reach the deal. Britain formally exited the EU last January but had a year-long transition period allowing for free trade and free movement of people to continue uninterrupted until December 31. Pro-Brexit headline writers immediately announced “Merry Brexmas” and praised Prime Minister Boris Johnson for delivering what he said he would. “The war is over,” beamed Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader.  He added: “It’s not perfect, but goodness me, it’s still progress.”  The pound rallied modestly on the news of the deal, but then slipped back.Johnson proclaimed the deal, with an estimated overall value of $900 billion, the biggest trade agreement ever signed by the EU. “Everything that the British public was promised during the 2016 referendum and in the general election last year is delivered by this deal,” a Downing Street official said. Using similar language to what Brexiters promised more than four years ago during the Brexit referendum campaign, he added: “We have taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters.” 
 
Johnson tweeted a photograph of himself in Downing Street with two thumbs up. “The deal is done,” he announced.The deal is done. pic.twitter.com/zzhvxOSeWz— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 24, 2020Later at a press conference in London Johnson appeared triumphant, saying: “We have taken back our laws and destiny.” He added the deal will “protect jobs across this country” by allowing goods to be sold “without tariffs and quotas” in the EU. He said Britain will now control every “jot and tittle of our regulations.” 
 
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen dubbed the deal “fair and balanced,” as she announced, with obvious relief at a press conference in Brussels, “we have finally reached a deal.”European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are seen on a computer screen while giving live a statement on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, in Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 24, 2020.She said the EU and Britain also will cooperate when it comes to climate action and security. She said the negotiations had been a “long and winding road” but added, “we have a good deal to show for it.” Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said he was happy the clock is “no longer ticking.” He added that today is a “day of relief” but one tinged by “some sadness.” British politicians who opposed Brexit said they were relieved a deal had been struck, but they warned Britain would be losing a lot from exiting the bloc.  Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, tweeted: “Before the spin starts, it’s worth remembering that Brexit is happening against Scotland’s will. And there is no deal that will ever make up for what Brexit takes away from us. It’s time to chart our own future as an independent, European nation.” Before the spin starts, it’s worth remembering that Brexit is happening against Scotland’s will. And there is no deal that will ever make up for what Brexit takes away from us. It’s time to chart our own future as an independent, European nation.— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost gives a thumb up as he arrives at the British Embassy during negotiations, in Brussels, Dec. 24, 2020.For days both sides had indicated they were on the verge of a breakthrough. And starting Saturday, diplomats were telling reporters a deal was “imminent.” An announcement had been planned for Wednesday, and then early Thursday morning, only for hours to pass and diplomats to say some tweaks in the 2,000-page agreement were still necessary. The delay in announcing a deal in the past 24 hours was mainly because of fishing quota numbers when it emerged the European Commission had been using out of date figures to calculate the reduction in the amount of fish stocks that EU fishermen will be permitted to catch in British waters as part of the trade deal. The deal gives British exporters “zero-tariff, zero-quota” access to Europe’s Single Market. Any future disputes between Britain and the EU will not be adjudicated by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), a key point for Brexiters, who said if the ECJ policed the agreement it would undermine British sovereignty.  FILE – Trucks queue to embark aboard the freight shuttle at Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles near Calais, France, Dec. 16, 2020.But British firms will have curtailed rights to sell services to the EU after January, affecting the banking and insurance sectors. Service industries account for 80 percent of total British economic output. Some international banks likely will shift more of their operations to EU countries because of the deal, analysts say. Beginning in January there also will be additional customs checks on food, chemicals and medicines exported to the EU by Britain, which will add red tape and costs for British firms, likely reducing their price competitiveness, say analysts. FILE – Fishing boats are moored adjacent to the South Pier of Bridlington Harbour fishing port in Bridlington, north east England, Dec. 11, 2020.On fishing in British waters, Britain made major concessions allowing the EU fishing industry to give up only 25 percent of its current quota, a change that will be phased in over the next five and a half years, meaning that the EU fishing catch in British waters will decline 4.5 per cent annually. Even though politicians breathed a sigh of collective relief on both sides of the English Channel, the “deal is far from the deep and ambitious relationship” both sides said they were aiming for shortly after the 2016 Brexit referendum, according to Sally Jones, a trade expert at Ernst & Young, an Anglo-American multinational professional services consultancy. The hugely complex deal now will be pored over by trade lawyers and businesses. The agreement runs to more than 1,000 pages, plus hundreds of pages of annexes that cover future arrangements for trade, security and fishing, as well as scientific cooperation and regulatory alignment The biggest sticking points in the haggling during the last few years between London and Brussels have been over regulatory alignment and fishing. Both sides were at loggerheads over shared regulatory rules, competition and safety standards, workers’ rights and environment laws and restraints on state subsidies to private businesses.  Europeans were determined to ensure British firms did not secure an unfair competitive edge over EU rivals. Lower standards and watered-down regulations mean lower costs and lower prices for finished goods. FILE – British Union flag waves in front of the Elizabeth Tower at Houses of Parliament containing the bell know as “Big Ben” in central London, March 29, 2017.The British Parliament will have to ratify the deal, but it already has recessed for Christmas. British lawmakers are likely to be recalled on December 30 to approve the last-minute agreement. 
 An EU official told Reuters news agency a provisional application of the deal will need to be approved by member states because there’s not enough time for the EU Parliament to ratify the agreement before the December 31 deadline, when Britain’s transition period.  
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Latin America received its first doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, with a shipment landing in Mexico City.Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard was on hand when the flight carrying the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine landed from Belgium.”Today is the beginning of the end of that pandemic,” Ebrard said.Mexico is scheduled to receive 1.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Officials on Wednesday did not say how large the shipment was, however, but said they planned to begin vaccinating health workers in Mexico City and Saltillo, in Mexico’s north, on Thursday.Other Latin American countries are expecting vaccine shipments or, as Argentina did on Wednesday, approving vaccines for use in their countries.Also Wednesday, researchers found that people who had contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, were much less likely to test positive again. Those people who developed antibodies were “at much lower risk” to get the disease again, and could remain virus free for up to six months or longer, the two studies found.Dr. Ned Sharpless, director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, which conducted one of the studies, told the Associated Press that people who develop antibodies from natural infections develop “the same kind of protection you’d get from an effective vaccine. … It’s very, very rare” to get reinfected.The National Cancer Institute study involved more than 3 million people who had antibody tests. The NCI study found that only 0.3% of those who had antibodies later tested positive for the coronavirus, compared with 3% who lacked such antibodies, the AP reported.The second study, published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine, involved a much smaller group. It followed 12,500 health workers, 1,265 of whom had coronavirus antibodies at the start. The study found that only two health workers tested positive in the following six months, and neither person developed symptoms, AP reported.U.S. Army General Gustave Perna, Operation Warp Speed chief operating officer, said Wednesday that the U.S. government would distribute nearly 4.7 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines next week.By the end of the first week of January, Perna said, about 20 million vaccine doses will have been delivered throughout the United States.U.S. Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui warned, however, that it would take longer to administer the doses.”The commitment that we can make is to make vaccine doses available,” Slaoui said during a press call. “How fast the ramp-up of immunizations, the shots in arms, is happening is slower than we thought it would be.”Public data show that health care workers in the United States have received about 1 million shots so far, a small fraction of the total shipped. U.S. officials said there was a lag in vaccination data of several days, however.Chile’s Santiago international airport is employing sniffer dogs in detecting travelers with COVID-19.A team of golden retrievers and Labradors wear green “biodector” jackets adorned with red crosses.Passengers will be required to wipe their necks and wrists with gauze pads. Once placed in glass containers, the dogs, who have been trained to detect the coronavirus, will give a sniff.Dogs are being used in airports in the United Arab Emirates and Finland. A recent study found dogs can identify individuals who have COVID-19 with 85% to 100% accuracy.Chile’s Carabinero police trained the dogs.
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Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, is outraged about a statement issued Tuesday by three Democratic U.S. congressmen calling for a “Haitian-led transition back to democratic order.”“It is really disturbing,” Edmond told VOA on Wednesday in an exclusive interview. “It saddens us to see democratic officials call for a transitional government. We don’t think that going through a transition again will help Haiti.”Haiti has had eight provisional governments since the departure of Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier in 1986.The joint statement issued by Representatives Andy Levin, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Gregory Meeks, incoming chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Albio Sires, chair of the Western Hemisphere civilian security and trade subcommittee, says they are watching events unfold in Haiti with “growing concern.”“Haitian President Jovenel Moïse is pursuing an increasingly authoritarian course of action, issuing a series of recent decrees that include creating an extraconstitutional domestic ‘intelligence’ force,” the statement said. “His latest actions are reminiscent of past anti-democratic abuses the Haitian people have endured, including the run-up to the Duvalier dictatorship. We will not stand idly by while Haiti devolves into chaos.”’Limit the decrees’Jon Piechowski, U.S. deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, echoed that concern in an exclusive interview with VOA Creole earlier this week.“We are asking the government of Haiti to limit the decrees and only issue them to prepare the legislative elections or address issues pertaining to the well-being, health, security [of the Haitian people] until a new Parliament is installed and can address constitutional matters,” Piechowski said.Moise has been ruling by decree since January 2020 because Parliament is out of session. The terms of two-thirds of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate expired months before the pandemic hit the Caribbean nation in March.In their statement, Levin, Meeks and Sires said they would work with the incoming Biden administration and international partners to develop a multilateral strategy to address those concerns and hold accountable Haitian officials who violate the people’s human rights.The lawmakers said they would develop a U.S. policy that “prioritizes the rights and aspirations of the Haitian people and supports a credible, Haitian-led transition back to democratic order.”Meeting expectedEdmond told VOA he immediately reached out to the congressmen and intends to meet with them in the new year.“I am looking forward to talking with them in January,” he said.Haiti has faced increased pressure from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Organization of American States and the United Nations to hold elections as soon as technically possible.Pompeo Calls on Haiti to Hold ‘Overdue’ Legislative ElectionsA newly created electoral council is charged with organizing elections, but it faces pushback from Haiti’s oppositionBut the ambassador said the January 2021 timeframe suggested by the U.S. was not feasible because the Moise government believes an overhaul of the current constitution is necessary first and plans to hold a referendum on that in early 2021.“I think we have already met them in the middle,” Edmond told VOA. “We have agreed to elections. President Moise has done his job in naming an electoral council. We are working on possible calendars to submit now.”Pressed on a precise date for elections, Edmond said the Moise administration did not want to give a date it could not realistically uphold. He said an election schedule was in the works and would be made public early next year.As for the Provisional Electoral Council, Edmond told VOA that members were working with Haiti’s international partners “to make sure the election is fair. We understand this is the path to go.”But Haiti’s opposition has criticized the Moise government for unilaterally naming members of the council without seeking its input and has vowed not to participate in any elections organized by the administration. The opposition urged Moise to step down February 7, 2021. He responded that his five-year term would end on February 7, 2022.Concern about human rightsWith regard to the human rights concerns expressed by both Republicans and Democrats, Edmond said the Moise government shared those concerns.“What is going on in those slums [La Saline, Village de Dieux] is gang battles for turf control,” Edmond said. “What happened in La Saline, the government condemned it several times. There is a legal process going on. An investigative judge was appointed on this issue — he is working on it. We need to be very patient and make sure that these victims receive justice, because we understand that these crimes cannot remain unpunished. But the executive [branch] cannot interfere in the judicial process.”During the La Saline massacre in November 2018, armed gangs killed at least 71 people, raped numerous women and destroyed the homes of hundreds of residents. U.S. lawmakers have repeatedly called on Haiti’s government to bring those responsible to justice.The ambassador said the Moise administration had also prioritized training for the national police force, which has been under fire for human rights violations.Reflecting on 2020 and his mission to reinforce bilateral relations, Edmond, who previously served as Haiti’s foreign minister, said that “it has been a pleasure to work with the Trump administration, and we are looking forward to working with the Biden administration.”But at the end of the day, “Haiti will always handle its foreign policy considering its [own] interests,” he said.
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Stella Tennant, the aristocratic British model who was a muse to designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Gianni Versace, died suddenly at the age of 50, her family said Wednesday. Tennant, the granddaughter of a duke, rose to fame in the 1990s while walking the runway for Versace, Alexander McQueen and other designers. FILE – Model Stella Tennant poses during a photocall before Chanel Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, Jan. 23, 2018.In a statement, her family said: “It is with great sadness we announce the sudden death of Stella Tennant on Dec. 22.”  “Stella was a wonderful woman and an inspiration to us all. She will be greatly missed,” it said.  The family asked for privacy and said arrangements for a memorial service would be announced later. They did not disclose her cause of death.  Police Scotland said officers were called to an address in the Scottish Borders town of Duns on Tuesday following the sudden death of a 50-year-old woman. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.  The granddaughter of the 11th Duke of Devonshire Andrew Cavendish and his wife Deborah Mitford of a glamorous, unconventional aristocratic family, Tennant was one of the leading British models of the 1990s. Late in the decade, Lagerfeld announced her as the new face of Chanel, with an exclusive modeling contract, and she became a muse to the designer. Fashion house Versace paid tribute to Tennant on Twitter, saying: “Versace is mourning the death of Stella Tennant. Stella was Gianni Versace’s muse for many years and friend of the family. We will miss you forever, Stella. Rest in peace.”  Donatella Versace posted a photo of Tennant on Instagram in a tribute to the model.”Stella, I cannot believe you are gone,” she wrote. “You have left us way too soon. We met when you were at the beginning of your career. I cherish every moment we spent together. Ciao. Rest in peace.” FILE – Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre, right, acknowledges applause on the catwalk with top model Stella Tennant, in Milan, March 2, 2003.Stella McCartney said she was “speechless” after hearing the news.”What sad, horrific news to end this already shocking year!” McCartney wrote in a post on Instagram that included a photo of her and Tennant. “Rest in peace, you inspiring woman. Your soul and inner beauty exceeded the external perfection, Stella.” Tennant also appeared in advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein, Chanel, Hermes and Burberry.  In 1999, Tennant married French photographer David Lasnet. She is survived by him and their four children. “From the first time I met Stella I was completely blown away,” fashion designer Marc Jacobs said on social media. “Her beauty, style and body language combined with her manners, kindness, sense of humor and personality were like no other. … My condolences to David and her family. What a terrible, heartbreaking loss.” 
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Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona did not consume alcohol or illicit narcotics in the days before his death, an autopsy released on Wednesday said.Maradona, who died in November at age 60, had taken seven different medicines to treat depression, anxiety and other ailments but “there was no presence of [illegal] drugs,” a judicial official told Reuters.The autopsy, which was based on blood and urine samples and was released by the Buenos Aires Scientific Police, said Maradona had problems with his kidneys, heart and lungs.Investigators are looking into various facets of his death, which rocked Argentina and the wider footballing world, and they have not ruled out wrongful death.The more detailed autopsy confirmed the results of one carried out immediately after his death that said the former Boca Juniors and Napoli player died from “acute pulmonary edema secondary to exacerbated chronic heart failure with dilated cardiomyopathy.”In an angry broadside at her father’s critics, Maradona’s daughter Gianinna said the autopsy showed “a result compatible with cirrhosis of the liver.”The charismatic 1986 World Cup winner, regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time, had battled alcohol and drug addiction for much of his life.A judge last week ruled that Maradona’s body could not be exhumed or cremated in case DNA is needed at a later date for use in paternity or other cases.Maradona has five recognized children and six with filiation requests. They are part of a complex inheritance process under way in Argentina.
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European Union and British negotiators are nearing a trade deal as Britain’s New Year’s Day exit from the 27-nation bloc approaches, EU officials said Wednesday.Two officials said negotiators are working to resolve as early as midnight Wednesday a fishing rights issue in British waters in hopes of avoiding a messy economic break between the two sides.One of the sources, who asked to remain unidentified because the talks were still ongoing, said talks had entered the final phase. “I expect to see some white smoke tonight,” the official said.Since formally leaving the EU on January 31, Britain immediately entered an 11-month economic transition period, giving negotiators time to reach a free trade deal to ease its exit from the Single Market and the Customs Union at the end of this year.EU, UK Each Demand Concessions as Post-Brexit Talks StallSources from each side said that unless the other backed down on access to UK waters, Britain would leave the single market at midnight December 31 without a deal on cross-channel commerceNegotiators are attempting to reach a deal that ensures the annual trade of goods between the two sides worth nearly $1 trillion remains exempt from tariffs and quotas. Britain is calling for quotas for EU vessels in British waters, and sources from both sides have reported progress in the talks.An EU diplomat said negotiators previously reached a compromise over EU concerns that Britain would weaken the bloc’s social, environmental and state aid rules to gain an unfair advantage with its exports to the EU. Britain maintained that EU rules would have undercut its sovereignty.It is unclear how trade between the two sides would take place if they fail to meet the January 1 deadline.
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The U.S. departments of Treasury and State on Wednesday announced sanctions and visa restrictions on dozens of Belarusian citizens and several entities for their alleged roles in what the U.S. calls a fraudulent Aug. 9 election and the violent crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters that followed.
 
“The election included a myriad of irregularities that made it neither free nor fair, including barring opposition candidates, denying access to poll observers, and certifying inaccurate vote tallies,” the Treasury Department said in a news release.
 
Treasury officials accused leaders of the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus on Elections and Holding Republican Referenda — led by Chairwoman Lidziya Yarmoshina, Deputy Chairperson Vadzim Ipatau, and Secretary Alena Dmukhayla — of fraud. All three had already been sanctioned Oct. 2. 
 
The U.S. department also says Deputy Minister of the Interior and Chief of the Criminal Police Henadz Arkadzievich Kazakevich “was responsible for the actions of the Criminal Police in their role of carrying out previously sanctioned Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s policy of violently cracking down on pro-democracy protests in Belarus.”
 
The Minsk Special Purpose Police Unit, the Main Internal Affairs Directorate of the Minsk City Executive Committee, and KGB Alpha, an elite unit of Belarus’s secret services, are all being sanctioned for their roles in the violent crackdowns, Treasury said.
 
“The Belarusian people continually seek to peacefully exercise their basic democratic rights, and the state repeatedly responds with violent crackdowns,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin in a press release. “This action, in conjunction with those taken previously by the United States and our international partners, continue to hold accountable the individuals and organizations carrying out these unacceptable actions.”
 
After Treasury’s announcement, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced more sanctions via Twitter.
 
“This morning, I imposed visa restrictions on 39 individuals and @USTreasury sanctioned additional officials and entities for their roles in the fraudulent August 9th election and the violent crackdown in Belarus. The Belarusian people deserve free and fair elections.”
 
Earlier this month, Belarusian security forces detained dozens of people across the country as street protests calling on authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko to resign continued.
 
Demonstrators have gathered in Minsk and other Belarusian cities in nearly continuous protests since the disputed presidential election in August.
 
The Aug. 9 vote gave Lukashenko a sixth presidential term, but the opposition believes candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was the real winner of the election and is calling for the strongman’s resignation, the release of all political prisoners, and a new election.
 
Today’s sanctions come just six days after the European Union unveiled fresh sanctions against dozens of Belarusians, including Deputy Prime Minister Anatoli Sivak, and the head of state television.
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A Turkish court has convicted journalist Can Dundar on espionage and terror-related charges for a news report.
The court in Istanbul on Wednesday found Dundar guilty of “obtaining secret documents for espionage” and “knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization without being a member,” sentencing him to a total of 27 1/2 years in prison. Dundar’s lawyers did not attend the hearing in protest, saying the proceedings violated the rules of fair trial and impartiality.  
Dundar, the former editor-in-chief of opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, was on trial for a 2015 story accusing Turkey’s intelligence service of illegally sending weapons to Syria. Dundar fled to Germany in 2016 and was being tried in absentia.  
The story included a 2014 video that showed men in police uniforms and civilian clothing unscrewing bolts to open the trucks and unpacking boxes. Later images show trucks full of mortar rounds. The Associated Press cannot confirm the authenticity of the video.
The news report claimed that the Turkish intelligence service and Turkey’s president did not allow the prosecutor to begin an investigation into arms smuggling.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was infuriated by the publication, filing criminal charges against Dundar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul. Erdogan said the trucks carried aid to Turkmen groups in Syria and that Dundar would “pay a high price.”  
Turkey later interfered directly in the Syrian civil war, launching four cross-border operations.  
Dundar is accused of aiding the network of U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen, who the government says masterminded Turkey’s 2016 failed coup. The prosecutor who ordered the trucks stopped and others, including military officers, have been charged with links to Gulen. Gulen denies the allegations and remains in Pennsylvania.  
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reported that the court thought Dundar’s news report aimed to present Turkey as a “country that supports terror” domestically and internationally. The court said that perception helped Gulen’s network, which also used the story in its own publications.  
Dundar and Gul were arrested in 2015 and spent three months in pre-trial detention. In 2016, a court convicted them to five to six years in prison for “obtaining and revealing secret documents to be used for espionage.” Dundar was attacked outside the courthouse on the same day as the verdict but was uninjured.
After Dundar appealed the conviction, the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the sentences in 2018 and ordered a retrial with harsher sentences. The retrial began in 2019.
Dundar’s property in Turkey is in the process of being seized.
Reporters Without Borders ranks Turkey at 154 out of 180 countries in its 2020 Press Freedom Index.
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Police in Canada have declared the death of a dissident Pakistani human rights activist a “non-criminal” incident. 
  
Thirty-seven-year-old Karima Mehrab, also known as Karima Baloch from Pakistan’s troubled Baluchistan province, was found dead Monday, a day after she went missing in Toronto’s downtown area.  
  
“The circumstances have been investigated and officers have determined this to be a non-criminal death and no foul play is suspected. We have updated the family,” a Toronto Police statement said.  The Toronto Police Service is aware of heightened community and media interest surrounding a missing person investigation.
Earlier today, we confirmed a 37-year-old woman was sadly located deceased on Monday, December 21, 2020.
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) December 23, 2020Baloch had been living in Canada since fleeing Baluchistan in 2015, where she campaigned for the province’s separation from Pakistan and was reportedly charged with terrorism. 
 
Her death sparked speculation of the involvement of Pakistani intelligence operatives, charges officials in Islamabad rejected as “ridiculous” and an attempt to malign Pakistan.  
  
Baloch’s husband, Hammal Haider, told media she went on a walk on Toronto’s Center Island and never returned. 
 
“I can’t believe that it’s an act of suicide,” he told the Guardian newspaper. “She was a strong lady and she left home in a good mood. We can’t rule out foul play as she has been under threats. She left Pakistan as her home was raided more than twice,” Haider said.  
  
Baluchistan has long been home to insurgent separatist movements and often experiences deadly attacks on Pakistani security forces blamed on the separatists. 
  
The Pakistani military said on Tuesday an “intelligence-based operation” against a suspected militant hideout in the province’s Awaran region triggered a shootout with “terrorists,” killing 10 of them.  It added that the slain men were behind a recent deadly attack on a security convoy in the area.  
 
Pakistan alleges Baluch separatists are being supported and funded by rival India, charges New Delhi denies.   
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Russia has sent 300 military instructors to the Central African Republic at the request of the country’s leadership to help counter a surge in rebel violence ahead of Sunday’s election, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.Officials and a security source in the Central African capital Bangui said earlier on Monday that Rwanda and Russia had dispatched troops and supplies.The 300 Russian instructors coming at the request of Bangui authorities are to provide training to the national army.They could bolster security forces and over 12,000 United Nations peacekeepers as armed rebel groups, some of whom fought one another in the country’s prolonged conflict, have formed an alliance and are threatening to march on the capital.”We are carefully following the unfolding situation in the Central African Republic,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. “We are seriously concerned that the events of recent days have led to a sharp deterioration in the security situation in this country.”The mineral-rich but deeply impoverished country has struggled to regain stability since 2013 when then-President Francois Bozize was ousted by a rebellion of mainly Muslim Seleka rebels.Alleged human rights abuses by the Seleka sparked reprisals from the mostly Christian Anti-balaka militia, plunging the landlocked country into a spiral of tit-for-tat violence.Clashes surged in the days after the country’s highest court barred Bozize from running in Sunday’s election.President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s government has accused Bozize of plotting a coup.Some political parties have called for the election to be postponed due to the spate of violence, while the International Crisis Group think tank urged neighboring heads of state on Tuesday to help Bozize and Touadera strike a deal and calm the situation to ensure the election can proceed.The United Nations mission in Central African Republic and the government insist that the vote will go ahead.Security and diplomatic sources said on Tuesday a rebel group had seized control of Bambari, a trading hub around 380 kilometers (235 miles) east of the capital. The government could not be reached for comment.Mankeur Ndiaye, the U.N. envoy in Central African Republic, told a news conference on Tuesday the security situation was relatively calm, and measures were in place to secure the vote.”If the elections don’t hold … we risk entering a period of uncontrolled instability,” Ndiaye said.
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Top European Union officials say the bloc must invest more heavily in Mediterranean countries to be able to compete with China. Beijing has financed or purchased key infrastructure in the region as part of its so-called Belt and Road Initiative. More in this report by Alfonso Beato in Barcelona, narrated by Henry Ridgwell.Camera: Alfonso Beato   Produced by: Rod James  
 
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The number of journalists murdered for their work doubled in 2020, as criminal gangs and militant groups sought to silence reporting with violence, a new report says.  At least 30 journalists were killed between January 1 and December 15, including 21 who were murdered, and others who were killed in crossfire or while on assignments, the report by press freedom organization the FILE – Afghan journalist Rahmatullah Nikzad poses for a photograph in Kabul, July 29, 2019. He was killed Dec. 21, 2020.Rahmatullah Nikzad, who was head of a local press union, is the fifth journalist to be killed in Afghanistan in the past two months. The attacks also claimed the life of Elyas Dayee, a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Afghan service.  Cartels, criminal groups and militants in democratic but violent countries account for the doubling of murders in 2020, CPJ found.   Two of the deadliest countries — Mexico and the Philippines — have protection mechanisms in place that are supposed to improve journalist safety.  A failure to secure prosecutions in journalist killings adds to the problem, said Courtney Radsch, advocacy director at CPJ.  “Nobody is typically held accountable, and there are not meaningful investigations into a lot of these murders,” Radsch said. “It just sends a signal that reporters are expendable, and you don’t really need to worry because no one’s going to hold you accountable.” FILE – People hold posters of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, marking the two-year anniversary of his death, Oct. 2, 2020.“We need people to be brave enough to continue exposing corruption, exposing crime,” he said.  The United States has introduced legislation that will hold countries that commit rights abuses against journalists accountable via sanctions and restrictions on foreign aid.  The Jamal Khashoggi Press Freedom Accountability Act was named in honor of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Khashoggi who was killed in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. “We must ensure that journalists in the United States and around the world are able to do their jobs without fear of harm,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who proposed the bill with her Democratic colleague Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.  “It is unacceptable to suppress, imprison and violently target the press, and the Jamal Khashoggi Act would ensure that the United States holds foreign governments who attempt to do so accountable.”  
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Thousands of people have poured into the Armenian capital’s main square as the opposition continues its campaign to pressure Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to quit over last month’s cease-fire deal with Azerbaijan.
 
The protesters gathered in Republic Square on Tuesday and chanted slogans such as, “Nikol, traitor” as riot police guarded the prime minister’s offices nearby.
 
Another group of demonstrators walked into another building that houses several government ministries and briefly scuffled with security forces there, while a major highway was reportedly blocked by opposition supporters in the afternoon.
 
Leaders of a coalition of more than a dozen opposition parties have vowed to hold daily demonstrations until Pashinyan agrees to hand over power to a “transitional” government tasked with organizing snap parliamentary elections within a year.Vazgen Manukian, who has been nominated by the opposition National Salvation Movement to head such a government, urged Armenian armed forces and police to stop carrying out Pashinyan’s orders and “join the people.”
 
“Switch to our side so that we solve the issue today,” Manukian told the crowd on Republic Square.
 
Pashinyan earlier on Tuesday made clear that he has no intention to leave office and portrayed the anti-government protests as a revolt by the country’s “elites” who had lost their “privileges” when he swept to power amid nationwide protests in 2018.
 
The prime minister has come under fire since agreeing to a Moscow-brokered deal with Azerbaijan that took effect on November 10, ending six weeks of fierce fighting in and around the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
His opponents want him to quit over what they say was his disastrous handling of the conflict that handed Azerbaijan swaths of territory that ethnic Armenians had controlled since the 1990s.
 
They also say Pashinyan is not capable of dealing with the new security challenges Armenia is facing.
 
Calls for his resignation have been backed by President Armen Sarkisian, the head of Armenia’s Apostolic Church Catholicos Karekin II, as well as other prominent public figures in the country and the Armenian diaspora. 
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A Pakistani human rights activist who had been missing for days has been found dead in Toronto.
 
Karima Baloch, 37, who had been living in exile in Canada for five years, campaigned for human rights in the troubled region of Balochistan.  
 
Baloch left Pakistan in 2015 after she was charged with terrorism, the BBC reported.  
 
Balochistan has long been home to insurgent separatist movements.
 
Before coming to Canada, she was the first female leader of the Baloch Students’ Organization, which is now banned, the BBC reported.  
 
Toronto police said she went missing on Sunday. No cause of death has been announced.
 
Baloch’s husband, Hammal Haider, told Britain’s The Guardian newspaper that she went on a walk on Toronto’s Center Island and never returned.
 
“I can’t believe that it’s an act of suicide,” he told the newspaper. “She was a strong lady and she left home in a good mood. We can’t rule out foul play as she has been under threats. She left Pakistan as her home was raided more than twice. Her uncle was killed. She was threatened to leave activism and political activities, but she did not and fled to Canada.”
 
Her friend, Lateef Johar Baloch, told the BBC Baloch had recently received anonymous threats that someone would “teach her a lesson.”
 
Baloch’s sister, Mahganj Baloch, called the death a “tragedy for the family” and for the Baloch national movement.  
 
The Balochistan National Movement announced a 40-day mourning period upon learning of Baloch’s death.
 
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The head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, the country’s national public health organization, says it is likely the variant of the coronavirus recently identified in Britain has already made its way to Germany.Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Berlin, Lothar Wieler said that while he has not heard of any actual case in Germany, he said they know the strain was first found in Britain in September and has since been discovered in the Netherlands and Denmark. He said that means the likelihood of it being in Germany already but undiscovered, is probably “very, very high.”The discovery of the new variant has prompted many nations to ban air travel from Britain. On Monday, officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) said that while there may be evidence the variant spreads more quickly, there is no evidence it is severer or deadlier.  WHO officials said virus variations are common, and the best way to prevent them is to prevent transmissions.Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of BioNTech, co-creator of the first coronavirus vaccine approved for use in Europe, said, “Scientifically, it is highly likely” that the immune response created by their vaccine also can deal with the new variant. But he cautioned the new variant has nine mutations and they do not know for sure if the vaccine will also provide protection against it.The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the continent’s drug regulator, gave initial approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Monday, and Europe Union officials say they expect vaccinations to begin December 27.  Wieler said the EMA approval of the vaccine is good news, but the shots will not change the overall situation for a very long time. He urged people to continue limiting contacts with others as the virus continues to spread in the country.
 
 
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FIFA has filed a criminal complaint against former president Sepp Blatter over the finances of its loss-making soccer museum in Zurich. Soccer’s governing body said on Tuesday it suspected “criminal mismanagement by FIFA’s former management and companies appointed by them” to work on the museum — long seen as a pet project of Blatter’s — in a renovated and rented city center building. The FIFA World Football Museum opened in 2016 after $140 million of soccer money was spent refurbishing the 1970s office building to also include 34 rental apartments. It was meant to open around May 2015, when Blatter won a fifth presidential election, but was delayed until after he left office amid pressure from American and Swiss investigations of international soccer officials. FILE – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter talks to the media as he arrives before a commemoration service for the former coach of the Swiss national soccer team Koebi Kuhn at the Grossmuenster church in Zurich, Dec. 13, 2019.Blatter committed FIFA to a rental contract with the building’s owner, insurance firm Swiss Life, that requires paying $360 million through 2045 at above market rates, soccer’s world body said. FIFA said its criminal complaint following an external audit of the project was delivered by hand to canton (state) prosecutors in Zurich.  “That audit revealed a wide range of suspicious circumstances and management failures, some of which may be criminal in nature and which therefore need to be properly investigated by the relevant authorities,” FIFA deputy secretary general for administration Alasdair Bell said in a statement. The Zurich prosecution office acknowledged receiving the complaint without giving more details. Blatter’s lawyer, Lorenz Erni, said in a statement: “The allegations are baseless and are vehemently denied.”  Blatter risks investigation at local level while already a suspect in two criminal proceedings opened by federal prosecutors into how he spent FIFA’s money as president. Those investigations involve FIFA paying $2 million to former UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011 and $1 million to the Trinidad and Tobago soccer body — effectively to disgraced former FIFA vice president Jack Warner — weeks before the Caribbean islands’ general election in 2010.  “Given the massive costs associated with this museum, as well as the general way of working of the previous FIFA management, a forensic audit was conducted in order to find out what really happened here,” Bell said. The museum has made a loss each year including $50 million in 2016 that included one-off costs, FIFA said then in its financial report. The  most recent FIFA accounts for 2019 show almost $3.5 million revenue from the FIFA World Football Museum and $6.3 million costs for “investment and expenses.” There was a record 161,700 visitors at the Zurich building last year. In the 2018 accounts, museum revenue was almost $4 million against $12 million in spending. The FIFA museum was identified closely with Blatter from the time it was announced in April 2012.  His executive committee had already approved 180 million Swiss francs ($203 million) for what was being called “Project Libero,” and forecast to attract 300,000 visitors each year. “It is high time that world football had a meeting place for its millions of fans,” Blatter said then of a museum originally to be built underground next to FIFA’s headquarters on a wooded hillside above the city. One year later, the museum plan changed to a FIFA-funded renovation of a modernist building owned by Swiss Life. FIFA said in a 2013 news release it signed a 40-year rental of “Haus zur Enge.” The museum would “occupy the second basement level through to the first floor” with office space and apartments on the upper levels to the ninth story.  “The FIFA museum project is a stroke of luck for Zurich and is a perfect fit for Swiss Life’s investment policy,” the insurance firm’s chairman, Rolf Dörig, said in the FIFA statement. In a statement on Tuesday, Swiss Life said “we consider this a matter for FIFA. Therefore, we have no further comment.” When the museum formally opened on Feb. 28, 2016 it was a first public duty for the new FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, who had been elected two days earlier.  Blatter did not attend the ceremony and had begun serving a ban from soccer by FIFA’s ethics committee after Swiss authorities revealed the Platini payment in September 2015. The ban expires next October when Blatter will be 85.  FIFA said on Tuesday its files on the museum project will be sent to ethics investigators. The complaint filed against Blatter is the latest act in a busy year in criminal investigations linked to FIFA’s past and present presidents. At least four criminal complaints were filed anonymously against Infantino and Switzerland’s attorney general, Michael Lauber, about three meetings they had in 2016 and 2017. Lauber was forced from office in the fallout including misleading a committee overseeing his work. A special prosecutor appointed by Switzerland’s parliament to examine the meetings opened a case against Infantino in July. Potential charges include inciting Lauber to abuse his public office.  Blatter spoke this month with the special prosecutor, Stefan Keller. Keller also recommended this month that federal prosecutors investigate Infantino for using a private jet on FIFA business in 2017. He could not open his own case because his remit is limited to matters involving Lauber.  FIFA said two weeks ago that Keller’s “malicious and defamatory” statement “borders on character assassination.”  
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U.S. officials are considering a requirement for all travelers from Britain to offer proof they have tested negative for COVID-19.News outlets say the White House coronavirus task force met Monday and discussed crafting a rule that passengers prove they have taken a negative test within 48 or 72 hours before leaving Britain.The proposed rule comes as more than 40 countries have suspended travelers from Britain in response to a dramatic rise of infections because of a new strain of COVID-19 sweeping across southern Britain.WHO Says No Evidence Coronavirus Variant is Deadlier, More Severe Social distancing remains best way to avoid catching virus, experts sayDiscovery of the new variant has overshadowed the introduction of the new COVID-19 vaccines developed separately by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Hospitals across the United States received nearly 6 million doses of the vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, adding to the 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipped last week for a vaccination effort that has started with front-line health care workers and nursing home residents.The European Union Monday authorized use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine across the 27-nation bloc after its regulatory agency, the European Medicines Agency said the inoculation meets quality and safety standards.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said deliveries of the vaccine are scheduled to start Saturday, with inoculations beginning across the EU Dec. 27-29.“This is a very good way to end this difficult year and to finally start turning the page on COVID-19,” she said of the disease caused by the coronavirus.EU Approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID Vaccine US begins distributing second coronavirus vaccine across the countryThe Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective in late-stage trials in Brazil, citing people involved in the vaccine’s development.The Journal said Brazil is the first country to complete late-stage trials of Sinovac’s vaccine, CoronaVac, which is also being tested in Indonesia and Turkey. It said Brazilian officials will announce the vaccine’s efficacy rate Wednesday.  With the number of new COVID-19 vaccines increasing, the Vatican says it is “morally acceptable” for Roman Catholics to receive vaccines developed using tissue from aborted fetuses.   The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Church’s doctrinal oversight office, issued a statement Monday granting permission for Catholics to take such vaccines because it does not “constitute formal cooperation” with the means in which the tissue was obtained.  The office also said it is not always possible to obtain vaccines that do not pose an ethical dilemma.  The Vatican’s statement echoes one made last week by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to American Catholics, who said receiving the vaccines is justified “in view of the gravity of the current pandemic and the lack of availability of alternative vaccines.” The Roman Catholic Church has long opposed development of vaccines or other therapeutic treatments using stem cells obtained from abortions, which the Church considers a moral sin.   The Vatican’s doctrinal office said that vaccination must be voluntary, and that those who refuse to be vaccinated “must do their utmost” to avoid becoming infected and spreading the disease.  The office also said there is a “moral imperative” for the pharmaceutical industry, governments and international organizations to ensure that vaccines “are also accessible to the poorest countries”. 
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EU and British trade talks inched onward under renewed pressure Monday as transport chaos triggered by the emergence of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus in Britain overshadowed efforts to reach a Brexit deal. Only 10 days are left until January 1, when Britain will leave the EU single market and customs union. Hopes of securing a new arrangement suffered a blow as another deadline passed. EU and British negotiators remained in Brussels, with talks still blocked over the right of European crews to continue fishing in Britain’s waters, as well as concerns over fair trade rules. Without a deal, Britain’s links to the European Union end at midnight December 31 (11 p.m. in London) with a new tariff barrier that will sharpen the big shock of unraveling a half-century of EU membership. A man walks past EU flags flapping in the wind in front of the European Union headquarters in Brussels, Dec. 21, 2020.A Sunday deadline set by the European Parliament expired without an agreement being found, leaving no time for lawmakers to ratify an eventual deal before January 1. “Political games from Westminster have wasted too much time,” said Manfred Weber, German member of the European Parliament who leads the conservative group in parliament, warning that members would take their time and not rubber stamp a text. But Weber also said parliament “will remain constructive partners” and that “alternative procedures are possible,” though what they were was not yet agreed. As long as a deal is found in the next hours or days, European sources said this could involve a provisional implementation of a pact with lawmakers having their say in January. “Broadly speaking, the EU side is of the view that the only deadline that now matters is December 31,” said Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia Group, a consultancy.  Whatever the case, the EU has finalized interim plans to manage road and air transport for six months and fishing for a year in the event of a no deal, but these would also require an agreement from Britain to reciprocate. “We remain very far from an accord,” warned a European diplomat, who said that some on the EU-side were weighing whether it was time to walk away. “Negotiating through exhaustion is not very healthy,” the diplomat added. Brexit ‘tragedy’ The talks in Brussels continued as Britain was effectively cut off from the world, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a highly contagious mutation of the coronavirus was spreading in Britain. The emergency left holiday travelers stranded and blocked goods crossing the Channel, presaging the potential effects of a failure to secure a last-minute trade deal. A closed road and the logo of the Port of Dover is seen at the port as EU countries impose a travel ban from the UK following the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Dover, Britain, Dec. 21, 2020.France’s snap decision to halt trade across the Channel forced Britain to bring forward “Operation Stack,” the contingency plan drawn up to deal with anticipated freight delays in the port city of Dover in the event of a no-deal Brexit. “It’s a tragedy what’s happening in Britain, and this Brexit is a tragedy, we see it more and more every day,” France’s EU commissioner Thierry Breton told BFM Business. If Britain “had chosen to remain in the European Union … today we could have helped them,” Breton said. Brexit supporters accused France of exploiting the crisis to try to force trade concessions. Restriction of freight movements “appears political,” tweeted the anti-EU Bruges Group think tank.  ‘Very greedy’ With just days before negotiators should head home for Christmas, assuming the borders reopen, Johnson insisted that Britain’s position has not budged. “It’s vital that everybody understands that the U.K. has got to be able to control its own laws, completely, and also that we have got to be able to control our own fisheries,” Johnson told a news conference. Britain intends to assume control over its waters January 1 but is ready to allow continued access to EU fishing fleets for a transitional period under new terms. Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost leaves the UK ambassadors residence in Brussels, Dec. 21, 2020.British negotiator David Frost wants Britain to take back more than half the fish currently assigned under the EU quota system, under a three-year agreement. The European side insists Britain accept getting back only a quarter of the fish quota, and that the transition period should last six years. Hubert Carre, head of France’s top commercial fishing lobby, said this was already too much. “We’re wondering whether a no deal is better than a bad deal,” he told BFM, accusing the British of being “very greedy.” 
 
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Over 40 countries have imposed travel bans on people arriving from Britain, after the government announced last week it had detected a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, the restrictions have caused major disruption as Britain struggles to contain its latest outbreak.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    
 
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Britain became more isolated Monday as additional countries imposed bans on British commercial airline flights, automobile journeys and cross-Channel trains and freight because of rising international alarm over a more infectious coronavirus strain that has flared in London and southern England.Countries imposing travel bans include France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, India and Canada.  In all, more than 40 countries have instituted bans on arrivals at their airports from Britain.U.S. politicians were also pushing to halt all flights from Britain to America. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged federal officials to ban or at least set stringent travel restrictions on Britons. He warned that the new, more easily transmitted strain could spread to New York from the half-a-dozen flights a day that land at JFK airport from Britain.On Sunday, France took the unprecedented step of completely shutting its borders to Britain, initially for 48 hours. That has prevented British freight drivers from accessing mainland Europe and deterred European cargo-handlers from dispatching goods to Britain, disrupting supply chains and raising the prospects of food and drug shortages in Britain over the Christmas holiday season.Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a virtual news conference about increased travel restrictions amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, at 10 Downing Street, in London, December 21, 2020.In a press conference on Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Britons to remain calm, saying most supplies are coming in and out of the country as normal.  “I have just spoken to (French) President (Emmanuel) Macron, and we both understand each other’s problems and want to resolve the problems,” Johnson said, adding that he understood the anxieties of Britain’s neighbors but said there was little risk of a spread via truck drivers.  But one of Britain’s major supermarket chains warned the blockade could trigger shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables later this week. In a statement, Sainsbury’s said it expected shortfalls in fresh produce such as lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and citrus fruit, “all of which are imported from the continent at this time of year.” The French haulage ban caused chaos in the southern English County of Kent, where Britain’s busiest port, Dover, is located and where trucks were backed up on roads miles from the coast. About 6,000 trucks were scheduled to cross the English Channel to northern France on Monday.  All haulers were ordered by the government to stay away from Kent. Thousands of trucks already bound for the southrn coast were being redirected to an unused airport. Security guard the entrance to the ferry terminal in Dover, England, Dec. 21, 2020, after the Port of Dover was closed and access to the Eurotunnel terminal suspended following the French government’s announcement banning travel from Britain.Ministers downplayed the risk of food shortages. Transport Minister Grant Shapps said Britons would not notice supermarket shortages “for the most part.” But British ministers held urgent talks with their French counterparts to see if the ban could be lifted.  There were some signs that the French might rethink the blockade. French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari held out the prospect of the ban being reversed once Paris and the European Union agreed to a new “health protocol” to allow traffic to resume between Britain and France.  “In the coming hours, at European level, we will be putting in place a solid health protocol so that flows from the United Kingdom can resume. Our priority: protect our nationals and fellow citizens,” Djebbari tweeted. But French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the major aim of the discussions around a protocol is to ensure that 2,000 French truckers stranded in Britain “could come over the border as soon as possible.” Officials from EU member states were briefed Monday by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control on the new coronavirus variant. They agreed the priority was to keep EU borders open and to ensure the repatriation of citizens and legal EU residents wishing to return from Britain, according to European diplomats. Freight-carrying trucks were still being allowed to travel Monday from Britain to Dutch and Belgian ports, and the French have been allowing unaccompanied freight in containers to be maneuvered back and forth. A member of the British Transport Police speaks with travelers at Waterloo Station in London, Dec. 20, 2020.An additional 33,364 Britons tested positive for the coronavirus Monday, following a record-breaking 35,928 new infections on Sunday. The new figures bring Britain’s total confirmed cases to 2,073,511, and its death tally to 67,616 — just 2,384 short of the country’s total civilian death toll in World War II. Johnson chaired a meeting of the British government’s Cobra emergencies committee Monday.  On Saturday, he announced strict pandemic restrictions on London and much of southern and eastern England. Downing Street played down the need to expand restrictions to the north of the country. Ministers hope the actions they have taken, which virtually cancel Christmas “as planned,” according to Johnson, for nearly 20 million Britons and prevents households from mixing in the newly locked-down areas, will be enough to curb the spread of the new strain. Britain’s chief scientific officer, Patrick Vallance, said it has become clear that the new variant is more easily transmitted but said there is no evidence it is any more lethal than other coronavirus strains. He also emphasized there is nothing to suggest that newly developed vaccines would not be effective against this new mutation.  But government advisers and independent experts have cautioned that more work is necessary to ensure that is the case.  The new variant of the coronavirus is concerning, said Danny Altmann, a professor at Imperial College London, but he believes widespread inoculation will control it in the end.  Writing in The Times newspaper, Altmann said, “As a professor of immunology who has spent the past 10 months working on detailed mapping of immunity to Sars-CoV-2, I feel we need to do careful experiments, but I am calm and retain total faith in these stupendous vaccines.” The new strain was confirmed December 13 in the county of Kent in southern England. Initial analysis by government scientists suggested it is “growing faster than the existing variants.”   The variant was initially found in a patient in September. Genome sequencing, which took nearly a month, indicated it was a new strain, but government scientists were not too worried, as mutations come and go.  But as infections continued to surge in November and December, scientists realized they were dealing with a more infectious version of the virus. The new variant includes up to 23 changes, including with the spike protein, which the virus uses to enter human cells that allow it to replicate. There have been many mutations in the virus since it emerged last year in Wuhan, China, with 4,000 mutations in the protein alone. Virologists say most mutations are insignificant and part of the expected evolution of the virus. 
 
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Relations between Israel and Turkey could be on the verge of a breakthrough, with a Turkish presidential adviser confirming bilateral talks and that full diplomatic relations could be restored by March. Relations between the once close allies all but collapsed with Turkey withdrawing its ambassador in 2017, amid escalating tensions.FILE – Mesut Casin, a foreign relations adviser to the Turkish presidency. (Dorian Jones/VOA)”If Israel comes one step, Turkey maybe can come two steps,” the Turkish presidential adviser on foreign affairs, Mesut Casin, said in reference to ongoing talks with Israel.”If we see a green light, Turkey will open the embassy again and return our ambassador. Maybe in March, we can restore full diplomatic relations again. Why not.””Establishing peace and security is very important to Israel and Turkey. After Mavi Marmara, we don’t want another accident with Israel,” added Casin.FILE – Demonstrators march with a giant Palestinian flag May 31, 2018 at Istiklal avenue in Istanbul, to mark the 8th anniversary of a deadly raid on Turkish-registered Mavi Marmara.The Mavi Marmara was the largest of six vessels in a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians back in 2010. Pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel’s economic blockade of the Gaza Strip were on board when Israeli forces stormed the vessel, killing nine Turkish nationals.Since then, Turkish-Israeli relations have never fully recovered despite intense mediating efforts by the United States to rebuild ties between its two key regional allies.U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and Israeli security forces’ crackdown on Palestinian protests saw Turkey and Israel withdrawing their ambassadors.Casin acknowledged the election of Joe Biden to the U.S. presidency as a boost to efforts to repair ties. “There are new perspectives with Biden; a lot of things will change,” he said.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enjoyed a close relationship with Trump, but a Biden presidency is predicted to be more challenging for Ankara.FILE – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks after a cabinet meeting, in Ankara, Turkey, Dec. 14, 2020.”Turkish-American relations are expected to enter a tough period, at least in the short run, considering the Biden administration’s sensitivity toward issues of democracy and human rights,” said Selin Nasi, an analyst on Turkish-Israeli affairs.”Given the anti-Turkish opinion prevalent in the U.S. Congress, Turkey might be hoping that Israel can neutralize the opposition and help Turkey win Washington’s ear again,” she added.Turkey and Israel did find recent common ground in the recent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed mainly ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan. Israeli and Turkish drones and reported intelligence support from the two countries proved pivotal in Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenian forces backed by Iran.”It is harder to read Israel’s motivation [in improving ties with Turkey], Nasi told VOA. “Though, it is true that Turkey and Israel have convergent interests in the Middle East, particularly in terms of rolling back Iran’s power and influence.””At a time when Israel is normalizing her relations with several Muslim countries, adding Turkey to the list will improve her conciliatory image in the international arena,” she added.Much to gain for TurkeyTurkish presidential adviser Casin argues Israel has a lot to gain from normalization. “Turkey bought a lot of weapons from Israel. We can arrange this again,” he said, “Turkey’s and Israel’s defense industries can go ahead together.””Secondly, energy resources, They [Israel] discover oil and gas. OK, Israel is 8 million people. Where can they sell this oil and gas? The biggest market is Turkey, and Turkey will be via a pipeline, the corridor to the European Union market.”A significant repercussion from Israeli and Turkish tensions is Israel allying itself with Turkey’s regional rivals, Egypt and Greece. The three countries are developing cooperation based on energy and defense, a move that observers say is a reaction to Turkey’s increasingly robust stance in the region.Egypt, Greece are important ties for IsraelAnalysts suggest Israel will likely be careful not to jeopardize its recent deepening ties with Egypt and Greece.A potentially more significant stumbling block to Israeli-Turkish rapprochement is Ankara’s backing of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.”From Israel’s point of view, Turkey should stop agitating about the status of Jerusalem, and drop support for whom they consider as terrorists,” said analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners.” Turkey has to cut its ties with Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood.”Erdogan, who likes to present himself as a defender of global Muslim rights, remains in the forefront of opposing Israel’s diplomatic efforts to secure Jerusalem’s international recognition as its capital. At the same time, Ankara’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood is a central plank of Turkish diplomacy in the region.Turkey ready to make concessionsInternational relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University suggests Ankara is ready to make concessions. “Ankara will lessen their support,” Bagci said. “Turkey has promised not to support so openly the Muslim Brotherhood. When Ibrahim Kalin [Erdogan’s spokesman] visited Brussels, he probably made promises on similar lines. This is why there is a higher expectation Turkey is making reforms, not to support the Muslim Brotherhood.”But ultimately, any improvement in ties will need to overcome the animosity between Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “There is the bad blood between the two leaders, Erdogan and Netanyahu,” said Bagci.Both leaders routinely exchange insults, which observers say plays well with their electoral bases. With Israel likely set for new elections, analysts say it is unlikely there will be an announcement of any breakthrough before the expected poll outcome.
 
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The remaining signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal Monday expressed “their readiness to positively address” the potential return of the United States to the agreement.
 
President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018, arguing it unfairly favored Iran.   
 
But President-elect Joe Biden, who was part of the U.S. administration that signed the deal, has said he would seek to rejoin it if Iran returns to compliance with its commitments.
 
Ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and the European Union said in their statement after a virtual meeting that they deeply regret the U.S. withdrawal and stressed that in their view the agreement “remains fully in force.”
 
Iran has breached several of its promises since the U.S. withdrawal and reimposition of sanctions, saying it was not getting the economic relief it was due in exchange for limiting its nuclear activity. Iran has said the moves, including enriching uranium to higher levels and holding larger stockpiles, are reversible.
 
The ministerial statement Monday said the parties discussed the need to address challenges to implementation of the agreement, “including on nuclear non-proliferation and sanctions lifting commitments.” 
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