European Union ambassadors were convening to start assessing the massive free-trade deal that the bloc struck with Britain, which should begin next week when the acrimonious Brexit divorce process finally comes to an end.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has accused the UK government of breaking promises to Scotland's fishing industry over the post-Brexit trade deal. The Scottish government said the agreement announced on Thursday was ”a bad deal for fishing.”
U.S. stocks rose for a second day in holiday-shortened trading as investors monitored the latest developments on the Congressional aid package, while the British pound strengthened after a post-Brexit trade accord agreement was reached.
A day after Britain and the European Union announced a narrow trade deal, Swiss media remain sceptical about its impact. The accord will preserve Britain's zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the bloc's single market of 450 million consumers but will not prevent economic pain and disruption for the UK or for EU member states.
Pope Francis in his Christmas message on Friday said political and business leaders must not allow market forces and patent laws to take priority over making Covid-19 vaccines available to all, condemning nationalism and ”the virus of radical individualism.”
All many people want for Christmas this year is a simple hug, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth said in her annual festive message, saying it would be hard for those who lost loved ones to COVID-19 pandemic or were separated by curbs on social mixing.
For many people, 2020 has been a year they would like to forget. But it’s a year that will go down in Falklands history for one very positive reason.
Argentina's health ministry said on Wednesday it has given the controversial Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine emergency authorization, making the country the first in Latin America to do so. The first shipment of the total 25 million doses of the vaccine bought by the Argentine government is due to arrive on Thursday.
Argentina established new requirements for entering and leaving the country, starting on Friday through January 8, the Interior Ministry said in a statement issued on Wednesday, in a bid to rein in the coronavirus.
Brazilian researchers said on Wednesday the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech is more than 50% effective based on trial data, but again withheld full results at the company's request, raising questions about transparency.