The Queen's Christmas Broadcast 2020

“In the United Kingdom and around the world, people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year, and I am so proud and moved by this quiet, indomitable spirit.”

In her 2020 broadcast, The Queen reflects on acts of kindness and heroism during this extraordinary year.

How the Richest Get Richer in the Pandemic While Americans Struggle | The Mehdi Hasan Show

Anand Giridharadas joins Mehdi Hasan to detail how America's richest few have grown their wealth amid the pandemic, often at the expense of the poor and middle class.

The Wrecking of America by Donald J. Trump (w/ Ralph Nader)

Ralph Nader joined Thom to discuss the state of the US after four years of Donald Trump as president. From Trump pushing out Bill Barr, through to the fanatics he has appointed up to 20 January 2021.

U.S. Will Require Negative Covid-19 Test for All Travelers From U.K.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The new rule, which takes effect on Monday, will apply to Americans as well as foreign nationals.

The United States will require all airline passengers arriving from Britain to test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of their departure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

The move comes as a new highly transmissible variant of the virus, which first appeared in Britain, has led more than 50 countries to seal their borders to travelers from there or to impose restrictions on their arrival.

The new rule, which takes effect on Monday, will apply to Americans as well as foreign citizens, and will require passengers to show proof of a negative result on a genetic test, known as a P.C.R., or an antigen test. » | Russell Goldman and Isabella Kwai | Thursday, December 24, 2020

Now the Brexit Blame Game Will Play Out at the Door of No 10

THE GUARDIAN: A deal is better than no deal, but the prime minister will be personally held to account for every negative impact on the UK

They left it late but a deal has been done. It will take some time to digest the details but it is clear that the agreement reached is thin. We should not kid ourselves that this is the full and comprehensive trade deal that the country needed in order to minimise the damage caused by our departure from the European Union. January will still involve yet further disruption to our trade (it is very regrettable that there is no implementation period). More importantly, in the longer term, the UK’s diminished access to EU markets will make us a less attractive place to locate jobs and investment.

The deal gives us tariff-free and quota-free access to the EU but this is far from the frictionless access that business wanted. Importing and exporting to the EU will become more bureaucratic, complex supply chains will struggle – putting us at a competitive disadvantage. Services, of course, see little direct benefit. » | David Gauke | Thursday, December 24, 2020

The Aussie Princess: The Wedding of Mary and Frederik in Denmark | 60 Minutes Australia

'The Worst President Ever. Period': Cuomo Unloads on Trump

CNN's Chris Cuomo says that President Donald Trump's pardons of Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, his threat to upend a bipartisan Covid-19 relief bill, and veto of a military spending bill cements Trump as the worst president ever.

„ZWEI WAHNSINNIGE“: Irans Präsident vergleicht Trump mit Saddam Hussein

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Irans Präsident Rohani greift den amerikanischen Präsidenten Donald Trump mit scharfen Worten an – und zieht einen Vergleich zum früheren irakischen Diktator.

Irans Präsident Hassan Rohani hat seinen amerikanischen Amtskollegen mit dem früheren irakischen Diktator Saddam Hussein verglichen. „In der jüngeren iranischen Geschichte mussten wir uns zweimal mit zwei Wahnsinnigen auseinandersetzen ... (Donald) Trump und Saddam“, sagte Rohani am Mittwoch. Der eine habe Iran in einen militärischen Krieg (1980-88), der andere in einen Wirtschaftskrieg verwickelt, so der Präsident im Staatsfernsehen.

Iran hat aus Sicht Rohanis letztendlich in beiden Kriegen als Sieger dastehen können. Weder habe Saddam den süd- und südwestlichen Teil des Irans besetzen noch Trump den geplanten Regimewechsel erzwingen können. „Saddam wurde wegen seiner Verbrechen hingerichtet (...) Trumps Schicksal wird auch nicht viel besser aussehen“, sagte Rohani. » | Quelle: dpa | Mittwoch, 23. Dezember 2020

Lufthansa Flies 80 Tonnes of Fresh Food to UK amid Shortage Fears

THE GUARDIAN: German carrier delivers fruit and vegetables as border issues persist despite end of French blockade

Lufthansa is flying in 80 tonnes of fruit and vegetables to help restock UK supermarket shelves amid fears that the lifting of a French blockade will not prevent some shortages in stores.

The German airline said it was carrying a cargo of lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, strawberries and citrus fruits, and considering whether to put on additional special cargo flights to meet demand.

It said a B777 freighter aircraft would arrive at Doncaster Sheffield airport at lunchtime on Wednesday.

The flight comes as supermarkets and their suppliers scramble to find alternative ways to stock shelves as thousands of lorries and vans remain stuck outside Dover. » | Sarah Butler | Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Pardons Sink Trump Further into Swamp of His Own Shamelessness

THE GUARDIAN: Analysis: President sanctions first federal execution of a woman in 67 years – but war criminals, fraudsters and Russia-linked cronies go free

Lisa Montgomery is set to become the first woman put to death by the US federal government in 67 years. On Tuesday senators including Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren wrote to the justice department demanding an investigation into an “unprecedented spree” of federal executions on Donald Trump’s watch

. A few hours later the president announced a slew of 15 pardons. Strikingly they included four military contractors imprisoned for the killing of unarmed men, women and children in Iraq. In short, war criminals.

Trump’s motivation had less to do with the quality of mercy than a boundless quantity of shamelessness. In his binary worldview people on death row must face implacable justice but those who pass his loyalty test have a ticket to freedom. » | David Smith in Washington | Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Would it be even possible for America to elect a more disgusting, shameless president than Trump? – ©Mark

'Our blood is cheaper than water': Iraqis' anger over Trump pardons »

Turkey Sentences Journalist Can Dündar to 27 Years in Jail

THE GUARDIAN: Ex-Cumhuriyet newspaper editor given verdict in absentia on charges described as politically motivated

A prominent Turkish journalist has been sentenced in absentia to more than 27 years in jail on terrorism-related charges that his legal team have described as politically motivated.

Can Dündar, who edited Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper before fleeing to Germany in 2016, was previously found guilty by an Istanbul court of espionage and aiding an armed terrorist organisation.

His lawyers refused to attend the final hearing on Wednesday, saying in a written statement beforehand that “we do not want to be part of a practice to legitimise a previously decided, political verdict”. They will appeal the verdict.

“It is sad and strange that we knew what the verdict in my case would be before the case even ended. There are no means to defend yourself in Turkey anymore because the judges and judiciary cannot be trusted,” Dündar told the Guardian. » | Bethan McKernan, Turkey and Middle East correspondent | Wednesday, December 23, 2020

America Braced for Final Month of Madness as Trump Show Nears Its End

THE GUARDIAN: The president’s recent conduct has raised alarms of an increasingly desperate power bid in his last 30 days. So what can we expect?

As the Trump show nears its final episode, America is bracing for potentially the most dramatic, disturbing and outlandish twists yet.

Donald Trump’s recent conduct has led critics to suggest that he has lost touch with reality and raise alarms over an increasingly desperate, deranged power grab in the climactic month of his presidency.

Trump has entertained extreme ideas such as military intervention and appointing a conspiracy theorist as a special counsel to investigate voter fraud. He has turned on allies and retweeted threats to put Republicans who failed to back him in jail. He has also undermined his own secretary of state’s assessment that Russia launched a massive cyber-attack on the US government.

And that was just in the past week. “I guess we cannot quantify the level of crazy that could come out of the Trump White House in his final days here,” said Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill. “This behavior is 100% a by-product of Donald Trump’s psychosis.” » | David Smith in Washington | Wednesday, December 23, 2020

World's Media Ask How It Went So Wrong for 'Plague Island' Britain

THE GUARDIAN: Boris Johnson comes under fire as countries suspend travel from UK over new Covid variant

In the eyes of the world’s media, Britain – a “Plague Island” led by a man who thinks “optimism is a substitute for hard truths and proper management” – is currently getting a good lesson in “what ‘reclaiming sovereignty’ means”.

If never quite explicit, the schadenfreude is palpable as dozens of countries, days before the end of the Brexit transition period and with no trade deal yet agreed, suspend travel from the UK in response to the new, more contagious coronavirus variant.

Much of the blame was on Boris Johnson, whose U-turn on Christmas had “once more shown the yawning gulf between the prime minister’s airy promises and the real world,” said Germany’s Die Welt.

That vacuum, however, is now “fast being filled with the anger and fear of a nation hit ever since by horror story upon horror story”. The continental blockade could well be “preparing the British for what Brexit might actually mean”, the paper said, “since there is still no agreement on a trade deal, 10 days before the deadline.” » | Jon Henley | Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Europa isoliert Großbritannien aus Sorge vor mutiertem Coronavirus | DW Nachrichten

'Massive Red Line': GOP Lawmaker Reacts to Flynn's Martial Law Pitch

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) discusses Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn suggesting the President invoke martial law in an Oval Office meeting and the relationship between election conspiracy theories and social media.

COVID-19: Prime Minister to Hold COBRA Meeting as Europe Closes Borders

Boris Johnson is to call an emergency COBRA meeting after many countries in Europe closed their borders to the UK.

A Number 10 spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister will chair a COBRA meeting on Monday to discuss the situation regarding international travel, in particular the steady flow of freight into and out of the UK."

It comes after France suspended "all flows of people from the United Kingdom for 48 hours, and for all means of transport".

Bernie Sanders: COVID Relief Package Is "Totally Inadequate" for "Unprecedented" Economic Crisis

As Congress is rushing to pass a new $900 billion coronavirus aid package, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is calling the new relief package "totally inadequate, given the nature of the unprecedented crisis that we face." Sanders took to the floor of the Senate Friday to call for $1,200 emergency checks for every working-class adult and $500 per child. We air portions of his address.

Brüssel statt London: Schottlands Regierungschefin will zurück „nach Hause“ in die EU

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Nicola Sturgeon ist überzeugt, dass die Schotten bei einem weiteren Referendum für die Unabhängigkeit von Großbritannien stimmen werden. Von Boris Johnson will sie sich bei ihren Plänen nicht ausbremsen lassen – und wenn nötig auch vor Gericht ziehen.

Die schottische Regierungschefin Nicola Sturgeon hält weiter an ihren Plänen zum Beitritt Schottlands zur EU fest. Nach dem von ihr angestrebten Unabhängigkeitsreferendum werde sie ihre Nation zügig in die Europäische Union führen, sagte Sturgeon im Interview mit der Tageszeitung „Die Welt“ und anderen europäischen Medien. „Mehr als die Hälfte der Schotten will laut jüngsten Umfragen die Unabhängigkeit. Ich bin zuversichtlich, dass die Schotten beim nächsten Referendum Ja sagen werden.“ » | Quelle: dpa | Freitag, 18. Dezember 2020

Trump’s Niece Calls President’s Pandemic Handling ‘At Best, Criminally Negligent Homicide'

As the COVID-19 death toll passed 300,000 in the U.S. on Monday, President Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, reflected on her uncle’s handling of the pandemic.

“This is, at best, criminally negligent homicide and at worse, mass murder,” she said. “And I’m leaning toward mass murder, because he’s continuing to do nothing even though we have at our disposal means to stop this.”

Monday also marked the official certification of Joe Biden’s election victory, raising further concerns about what the president might do next, according to his niece.

“The problem for us now: This is really the end of the road,” she told Jim Braude on Greater Boston, where she appeared along with former Trump Organization top executive Barbara Res. “There really aren’t any other avenues to pursue, which means he’s going to become increasingly desperate. He’s going to continue to sow division because, if he feels like he’s going down, he’s literally going to try to take all of us down with him. Let’s face it, he’s committing sedition every single day. I can only imagine what’s going on behind the scenes in terms of what he’s going to smash on his way out the door.”

Breaking News: London to Enter Tier Four Covid Restrictions

The planned relaxation of Covid rules for Christmas has been scrapped for London. From midnight Sunday 20 December, a new tier four will be introduced. Those in tier four cannot mix indoors with anyone not from their household. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the changes at a Downing Street briefing after scientists said a new coronavirus variant is spreading more rapidly.