Johnson's Brexit Deal Clears Parliament With Just Hours to Spare - Bloomberg

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal was approved by the U.K. Parliament less than 24 hours before the country’s final split from the European Union.

The House of Lords gave the green light to the agreement late Wednesday, just a day before the U.K. leaves the EU single market when the transition period expires at 11 p.m. Thursday.

Johnson thanked members of Parliament for backing the “historic” legislation, which turns the accord he signed with the EU into British law.

“The destiny of this great country now resides firmly in our hands,” Johnson said in an emailed statement after the deal was approved. “We take on this duty with a sense of purpose and with the interests of the British public at the heart of everything we do.”

The rush to get the agreement through Parliament in a single day brings to an end a four-year saga that has gripped British politics and divided the country.

Since the referendum vote in June 2016, the turmoil over Brexit has forced two prime ministers to resign, roiled markets, and seen the U.K.’s relationship with its biggest trading partner radically redefined.

For Johnson it is a personal achievement as well as a political milestone. He was the face of the pro-Brexit campaign in 2016 and had the most to lose politically from failure to deliver an orderly divorce.

Four and a half years, three prime ministers, two general elections and plenty of deadlines. Here‘s a 100-second recap of the U.K.’s exit from the EU.

(Source: Bloomberg)

There are still risks for Johnson -- and for Britain -- in the months and years ahead, with new rules for trade and checks on goods crossing the border likely to make disruption inevitable. The question of how close or distant the U.K. should be to the EU market is set to become a permanent feature of British political debate.

It’s Not Over: Major Issues the Brexit Deal Leaves Unresolved

In the short term, however, the deal gives Johnson a domestic victory at a difficult time. His government is battling a resurgent coronavirus that has already inflicted the deepest recession for more than 300 years and now threatens to overwhelm the health service.

Under the agreement, there will be zero-tariff, zero-quota trade in goods between Britain and the EU -- but very limited provisions for services firms, which account for 80% of the U.K. economy.

The deal -- struck on Christmas Eve -- was signed Wednesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, before being flown to London to be inked by Johnson.

By signing this deal, we fulfill the sovereign wish of the British people to live under their own laws, made by their own elected Parliament. pic.twitter.com/FQDj1Nnqan

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 30, 2020

As the clock ticks down to the U.K.’s exit from the single market and customs union, the premier will be in his Downing Street residence with his family, according to a statement from a government spokesperson.

The moment will mark “a new beginning in our country’s history and a new relationship with the EU as their biggest ally,” Johnson said.

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Argentina legalizes abortion, a milestone for Latin America - Vox.com

Argentina became the biggest country in Latin America to legalize elective abortion on Wednesday after an overnight vote. The measure passed the Senate 38-29 — slightly more than two years after a bill to legalize abortion failed in the upper house 38-31.

Declining support for religion’s role in governance, as well as the growing power of women’s rights activists, contributed to this shift. And now women in Argentina who would have gone through with abortions regardless of legality will no longer face unnecessary medical complications or fear of prosecution.

This change could be the catalyst for neighboring countries like Colombia and Chile to reduce restrictions on the procedure, the Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the BBC, a minimum of 350,000 illegal abortions occur annually in Argentina, a figure that some activist groups feel is undercounting the real number. Illegal abortions can lead to health complications and even death for the people who experience them — the World Health Organization estimates that up to 13.2 percent of maternal deaths worldwide can be attributed to unsafe abortions.

Argentina has seen adherence to Catholicism decline in recent years, according to a study from the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). The Buenos Aires Times reports that in 2019, 62.9 percent of the population identified as Catholic, a 13.6 percentage point drop since 2008. Simultaneously, while evangelicals gained new adherents, the share of people identifying with no religion grew the most, reaching nearly 20 percent of the population.

A woman prays outside the National Congress in Buenos Aires, on December 29, 2020, where legislators debate a bill to legalize abortion. Abortion rights activists wore green scarves which have become a symbol of their cause, in contrast with anti-abortion activists who often wear blue.

Mario De Fina/Getty Images

The survey also found decreased support for the government to finance and support religion: 46.2 percent agreed that religion shouldn’t be a part of public school instruction, a 19 percentage point increase since 2008.

While Argentina is still a largely Catholic country, this decline could explain why Pope Francis’s comments opposing legalizing abortion did not have an overwhelming effect on the outcome of this vote. Francis, who was born and worked in Argentina for much of his life, has referred to abortion as being part of a “throwaway culture” and has rooted his opposition to the medical procedure as being based in science, according to Crux, a Catholic online newspaper.

According to France 24, Catholics weren’t alone in opposing the measure; they joined forces with the country’s growing evangelical wing to mobilize against abortion. They will likely fight to overturn this measure, especially as this change exposes Argentina’s religious fault lines.

But the victorious activists are the abortion rights feminists who have spent years fighting for abortion legalization.

In 2015, mobilizing against violence against women in response to widespread murder and rape, a feminist movement grew under the slogan “Ni Una Menos” or “Not One Less.” According to the Buenos Aires Times, “more than 300,000 are estimated to have attended” the first march.

The first major story that catalyzed the movement was one of a pregnant 14-year-old who was killed by her boyfriend — her mother asserted that the boyfriend’s family was opposed to her having the child, according to the New York Times. The burgeoning movement pointed to statistics arguing that in addition to male violence against women, many women were dying due to unsafe procedures and lack of access to medical care.

People take part in the “Ni Una Menos” (Not One Less) march against femicide in Buenos Aires, on June 3, 2016.

Eitan Abramovich/Getty Images

A report by Human Rights Watch cites research that estimates up to 522,000 abortions are performed every year in Argentina, though it’s not clear how many of those are performed outside of the preexisting legal exceptions for rape and the health of the mother. The AP reported that about 38,000 Argentinian women are hospitalized annually due to substandard procedures and that “several thousand women seeking abortions have died since 1983.”

Ni Una Menos was energized in 2018 when a bill to legalize abortion was defeated in the Senate after receiving a nod in the lower chamber. As Vox’s Emily Stewart wrote at the time, the “new wave of feminism has spurred more women to speak out about a variety of issues, including abortion. Activists see illegal abortion as another way of keeping women oppressed.”

Stewart also reported that “abortion legalization supporters plan to continue to build momentum and take advantage of the current media coverage.”

Win or lose, a prominent member of the movement tweeted in 2018 that: “We won. Whatever the result. The green wave is unstoppable. We’ve opened consciences. And there’s no turning back.”

---

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China Approves First Vaccine for Use in General Population - Bloomberg

China’s drug regulator approved the country’s first coronavirus vaccine for general public use, a sign of confidence in the experimental shots the nation plans to roll out within and beyond its borders.

China’s National Medical Products Administration gave the authorization to a Covid-19 vaccine developed by state-owned China National Biotec Group Co., a unit of Sinopharm, officials told reporters in Beijing Thursday.

With the approval, the vaccine -- which has been authorized for emergency use in China since mid-year along with other frontrunner shots -- will be made commercially available, meaning it can be administered to the general population. Regulators from the U.S. to Singapore have approved shots over the past month, among them vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc, but those have been largely for emergency use, a status China granted to its developers months ago.

China will target members of the population at higher risk in its inoculations, among them the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, and then roll vaccines out to the general public, Zeng Yixin, vice minister of the country’s National Health Commission, said at the briefing.

The country has already administered more than 4.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, with 3 million alone given since mid-December, Zeng said. It is said to be aiming to inoculate 50 million people against the virus by early February, ahead of the annual Lunar New Year holiday. The ratio of adverse reactions, including allergies, is about two in every 1 million, Zeng said Thursday.

Faces Challenges

After the briefing, state media including the People’s Daily newspaper reported that the vaccine would be provided for free to Chinese citizens. While Zeng raised the prospect of the shots being free, specific details about the roll out were not provided.

“Vaccines are by their nature a public good and the price will vary according to the scale of usage,” Zeng said at the briefing. “But the broader premise is that it will be offered for free to all the population.”

The go-ahead for broader use underscores China’s determination to be a major player in supplying vaccinations to its own people and countries around the world. Yet the nation faces challenges in winning over the trust of millions of people who may have to rely on its vaccines.

China Is Struggling to Get the World to Trust Its Vaccines

Chinese developers have been slow compared with their western peers in releasing clinical trial data, raising questions over transparency, efficacy and safety as the world puts a laser focus on which vaccines will be most successful in fighting the pandemic. Pfizer and Moderna, which developed cutting-edge coronavirus vaccines that make use of messenger RNA technology, submitted data to the FDA that is publicly available. AstraZeneca’s peer-reviewed results were published in The Lancet this month.

CNBG will publish detailed data about its shots in recognized international medical journals, President Wu Yonglin said Thursday.

“We can’t simply compare whether Chinese vaccines are better or overseas ones,” said Zheng Zhongwei, a National Health Commission official. “Only by comprehensively evaluating the the safety, efficacy, accessibility and affordability of each can we make a scientific review.”

Lack of Trust

Conflicting interim data released by some of the companies has contributed to the lack of trust in China’s vaccines. CNBG said on Wednesday its shot is effective in preventing Covid-19 in 79.3% of people, less than the 86% reported earlier from its trials in the United Arab Emirates.

Rival domestic developer Sinovac Biotech Ltd., meanwhile, has yet to produce definitive results on how effective its vaccine is, with trials in Brazil and Turkey suggesting the shot has a protection rate on either side of 90%. The company is still reconciling results of independent Phase III trials carried out in Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and Chile, a person familiar with the trials said last week.

The Pfizer and Moderna shots have produced better results, reducing symptomatic Covid-19 cases by well over 90% in giant trials. But the Chinese vaccines have the advantage of easier storage and distribution because they don’t need to be frozen, as the mRNA shots do, making distribution to rural areas and developing countries potentially easier.

Geopolitical Influence

The approval for general use isn’t likely to make a major difference within China itself, given that the country has largely stamped out local transmission of the virus through strict local lockdowns and mass testing. But it could be a game-changer for other countries facing uncontrollable outbreaks -- like Indonesia and Peru -- which have deals for China’s vaccines.

The vaccines could also help China win geopolitical influence and restore an image tarnished by criticism of its initial response to the virus and role as the original epicenter. President Xi Jinping has vowed to share any successful vaccine overseas, and China has joined Covax, a World Health Organization-backed program aimed at ensuring an equitable supply of working vaccines for both wealthy and poor countries.

China’s Race for Covid-19 Vaccine Raises Safety Questions

Chinese vaccines will be priced fairly and reasonably as a public good to the world, and the country is considering various ways of distributing shots to developing nations, including donations, said Shen Bo, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Beijing mobilized its regulators, research institutes and companies to come up with vaccines soon after the novel pathogen first emerged from the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. That gave the vaccine candidates a head-start, and they were among the world’s first to start testing on humans.

Black Market

But the western peers were faster in providing data on pivotal Phase III trials. The near elimination of the pathogen in China caused delays for the domestic developers, who had to scramble to find testing sites overseas where the pathogen was still spreading rapidly.

Despite the delays, more than a million Chinese received shots under the emergency-use program -- the definition of which was expanded to include frontline medical workers, state-owned employees and students who needed to travel abroad. Even government officials and corporate executives have had access to the shots, raising fears that a black market was developing.

China now has 14 vaccines in clinical trials, five of them in last-stage Phase III, Xu Nanping, deputy head of Ministry of Science and Technology, said at Thursday’s briefing.

— With assistance by John Liu, Claire Che, Kenneth Wong, and Timothy Annett

(Updates with reports of vaccine provided for free, beginning in sixth paragraph)

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Florida's Dan Mullen says depleted Gators could've opted not to play in Cotton Bowl - ESPN

1:47 AM ET

Florida coach Dan Mullen said his team could have opted to not play in Wednesday night's Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic based on player availability but chose to anyway because the players wanted to compete.

Following a 55-20 blowout loss to No. 6 Oklahoma, Mullen said his depleted roster would have allowed the No. 7 Gators to skip the game.

"With the number of people that were out for the game, we were under numbers actually," Mullen said. "We had the numbers to not play the game.

Added Mullen: "I give our guys credit. ... Our young guys wanted to go play in that game, and they wanted to get that experience and wanted to be on that stage."

• 

On Tuesday, Mullen estimated that he would have 60 scholarship players available. The SEC this season established a minimum threshold of 53 scholarship players for game participation, but teams could opt to play even if they didn't meet that number. There were also minimums at three key positions: quarterbacks (one), defensive linemen (four) and offensive linemen (seven).

Mullen did not specify if the Gators were under the minimum at a specific position.

"I kind of viewed -- I don't know, maybe this is wrong -- that wasn't the 2020 football team that you saw," Mullen said of the Gators. "There were 25 guys missing off the 2020 football team out there tonight. That was kind of a kickstart for us for the future, an opportunity for the young guys to play."

Mullen added: "The last game the 2020 team played was 11 days ago [in the SEC championship]."

Among the missing Gators were multiple starters. Their top three receivers -- Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland -- were all out, and so was star tight end Kyle Pitts. Grimes, Pitts and Toney opted out of the game as they prepare for the NFL draft, and Copeland was out because he tested positive for COVID-19. The Gators were also without four defensive starters.

The missing pass catchers had a significant impact on quarterback Kyle Trask, a Heisman Trophy finalist. He threw a season-high three interceptions and did not throw a touchdown after coming into the game with 43 to his credit. His completion percentage (57.1%) was also a season low. Sophomore quarterback Emory Jones also saw significant playing time in the game, attempting 16 passes and rushing 10 times for 60 yards and a score.

Oklahoma dominated Florida, finishing with 684 yards, including 435 rushing. Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said they decided "we were going to be a team on a mission," and "we wanted to make a statement with the way that we played."

Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey said, "We saw the [Gators'] opt-outs. We didn't really care who was opting out and who was staying for this game. We were ready to roll and go out there and play them anyway, no matter who it was. We're just glad they showed up and gave us a chance to play."

The Sooners also said they were aware of the comments Florida linebacker James Houston made last week, referring to Oklahoma as "a good matchup" but "not on our level." Oklahoma freshman receiver Marvin Mims said, "it definitely fueled the fire a little bit," and Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler tweeted after the game, "It was a good matchup."

"I'd be lying if I said we didn't see what our opponent said," Rattler later said. "We went out there and just did our job, executed, focused on what we had to do as a group and came out on top."

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Notre Dame DB says defense 'will stop' Najee Harris in Rose Bowl - Touchdown Alabama Magazine

Alabama football has another moment to shatter an opponent’s confidence.

Mac Jones was called a ‘game manger’ during Iron Bowl week, but he’s proven to be explosive.

Student-athletes for the Florida Gators said its defensive secondary would ‘lock up’ DeVonta Smith; however, he totaled an SEC Championship Game record for receptions (15) and recorded 184 yards with two touchdowns. Ed Orgeron of LSU said his Tigers would beat Alabama in everything after a victory in 2019, unfortunately he took a brutal drubbing this season and lost two of his recruits to Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. Kyren Williams, a running back, said Notre Dame will be able to run the ball on Alabama, and now his teammate has joined him.

Kyle Hamilton, a safety, is very confident in the Fighting Irish shutting down Najee Harris on defense.

The sophomore leads the team for total tackles (56) and has 3.5 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, two quarterback hurries and one interception. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 219 pounds, Hamilton knows Harris is an elite player.

As a senior from California, Harris leads all running backs in college football for rushing touchdowns (24) and has 27 total scores. He’s accounted for 1,262 rushing yards and 312 yards receiving, while averaging 114.7 yards per carry.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder is responsible for five 100-yard rushing performances and nine 100-yard games from scrimmage. He dominated the Gators’ defensive front for 178 yards rushing, 67 yards receiving and five total scores — en route to pushing the Tide to a Southeastern Conference title.

Harris was named Most Valuable Player for his efforts, and he finished in the top-five as a Heisman finalist.

Despite him garnering the status of consensus All-American, Hamilton feels like Notre Dame ‘will stop’ Harris. During his media availability on Tuesday, he said the Fighting Irish will not have the problems other teams have had when it comes to stopping Harris.

“He’s a freak,” Hamilton said of Harris. “He’s a big guy. Shouldn’t be moving as fast as he does and laterally as quick as he does. But I think we have people on defense that can stop that and will stop that on Friday.”

With an offensive line that wants to prove it deserves the Joe Moore Award, it will be interesting to see how Notre Dame’s defense goes about stifling Alabama’s front group.

The lineup of Alex Leatherwood, Deonte Brown, Chris Owens, Emil Ekiyor and Evan Neal are looking forward to taking on Hamilton’s challenge.

Even in him not playing, Landon Dickerson will be cheering and pointing things out to his teammates.

We will have a trench warfare on Friday and the Tide is ready for it at the Rose Bowl.

*Get the BEST Alabama football insider information, message board access, and recruiting coverage today! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our subscriber only content!*

Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine.  You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith

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Florida vs Oklahoma Football Highlights - Goodyear Cotton Bowl - Big 12 Conference

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1. Florida vs Oklahoma Football Highlights - Goodyear Cotton Bowl  Big 12 Conference
2. Oklahoma goes from Cotton Bowl underdogs to favorites as Florida stars opt out  ESPN
3. Sadly, Cure Bowl meant more than Gators' Cotton Bowl meltdown  Orlando Sentinel
4. 3 Sooner Takeaways: OU Clamps Down On Florida's Heisman Trophy Finalist To Win Cotton Bowl Classic  News On 6
5. Oklahoma piles up 684 yards while destroying Florida in Cotton Bowl  Yahoo Sports
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Cuomo says Buffalo Bills fans can attend playoff game in person — and he'll be there too - CBS News

It's shocking enough that the Buffalo Bills have secured a home playoff game. But New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tossed in another stunner on Wednesday, announcing that thousands of Bills fans can attend the game next month in person — and he'll be one of them.

"We're all feeling the excitement," Cuomo said Wednesday in his daily COVID-19 briefing. "We've all wanted the Buffalo Bills to be good, it's been a long time, and that team has a charisma and personality that is infectious."

Cuomo said this is a first-in-the-nation pilot program for resuming live events during the pandemic that will require all attendees to test negative for the coronavirus before being admitted into the stadium. And it coincides with the Bills' first home playoff game in a quarter-century.

Cuomo announces 6,700 Buffalo Bills fans will be allowed to attend team's first home playoffs game in January, and he'll be there too. Stadium is outdoors and all attendees must test negative for COVID.

He says it's an effort to see if rapid testing can help reopen the economy pic.twitter.com/ovoDWQUH3F

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 30, 2020

Under the plan, about 6,200 fans can buy tickets and watch the game at Bills Stadium in Orchard Park — which seats nearly 72,000 people. Another 500 tickets will be set aside for team sponsors and family members. All attendees must test negative for COVID-19 before entering, Cuomo said.

A $63 fee for testing will be factored into the ticket costs. There will be drive-thru testing in the stadium's parking lots.

Fans must wear masks and maintain social distancing during the game, and tailgating prior to the game is banned. There will also be required contact tracing after the game to keep tabs on any potential spread of the disease.

Cuomo said the game is an experiment to see if rapid testing can help reopen parts of the economy in the coming months, as the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down during the early stages of vaccine distribution. If successful, the plan could be expanded to other events and businesses.

"If we can figure out how to use testing and rapid testing — some of these, you can get the results within 20 minutes — then you can start to reopen businesses safely and smartly by using those rapid tests," the governor said.

But he noted the game also has the advantage of being held in an outdoor stadium, which is safer than indoor events. "It's all the difference in the world between an outdoor and an indoor venue," Cuomo said.

Be safe, be smart and most importantly, be loud. #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/dWtOC9MdBf

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 30, 2020

The wild card playoffs game will be held on either January 9 or 10, with the time and rival team yet to be determined. Tickets go on sale Thursday and will be available to season ticketholders who had purchased tickets earlier in 2020.

The Bills are famous for their "Bills Mafia" fanbase, a particularly passionate group of fans known for, among other things, crashing through folding tables prior to games which has remained devoted to the team despite its unrivaled streak of defeat. In the surreal year of 2020, the Bills have pulled off their best season in a generation, winning their first AFC East division title since 1995.

Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula joined Cuomo's press conference virtually to celebrate the game-changing news.

"Remember, our objective here is to support our team in as many ways as we can," Terry Pegula said. "I ask them to be safe, be smart and most importantly, be loud."

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