USA - President Donald Trump signed the coronavirus relief bill but he made substantial changes to it before sending it back to Congress. In a statement announcing that he had signed the bill that passed the House and Senate last week, the president demanded that Congress continue to revise the bill and cut the excess spending. “I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill,” he said. House Speaker and California Representative Nancy Pelosi issued her own statement applauding the president for signing the bill and calling on him to pressure Republicans to pass a $2,000 per person stimulus.

USA - A Harvard Medical School department Twitter account referred to women as “birthing people” in a tweet, and claimed that “not all who give birth” are women. After being called out by social media users for referring to women as “birthing people,” the Harvard Med Postgraduate Twitter account posted a follow-up tweet, explaining why such verbiage was used. “The webinar panelists used the term ‘birthing person’ to include those who identify as non-binary or transgender because not all who give birth identify as ‘women’ or ‘girls,'” the account explains in its follow-up tweet. “We understand the reactions to this terminology and in no way meant for it to erase or dehumanize women,” the tweet adds.

EUROPE - In her bizarre speech, Ursula von der Leyen casually redefined ‘sovereignty’. This is why Brexit has always been inevitable. Finally free of the European Union’s ‘lunar pull’, Boris Johnson announces a no-quotas, zero-tariff trade deal days before the Brexit deadline and Britain celebrates taking back its sovereignty. But the EU will never fully understand. The Commission president decided it was a good time for a lesson in sovereignty, using a common politician’s trick to insist they first define the terms of what they are talking about in order to attempt to control the narrative.

CHINA - The South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Wednesday reviewed Chinese customs data and found several major blockages of Australian imports over the past month, including 9,000 liters of Australian craft beer turned away at the port city of Xiamen and 8,000 kilograms of frozen beef denied entry to Shanghai. China and Australia are embroiled in a long-running trade and diplomatic feud. According to the documents reviewed by the SCMP, the craft beer from Sydney Beer Co was blocked for “incorrect labeling” of its products, while the frozen beef from Meramist was held for “mismatched certifications.” Neither of these vague justifications was presented to the Australian companies at the time their products were rejected. Australia’s other exports to China are only down 0.4 percent as a consequence of the trade war, although its trade surplus with China hit a 16-month low of $62.9 billion in November.

USA - The Christmas morning bombing in Nashville left a wake of destruction that was captured in dramatic photos and videos that made downtown Music City look more like Baghdad or Beirut. Cellphone footage shot shortly after the massive blast caught victims wailing in panic and screaming for help as flames consumed vehicles parked along North Second Avenue and black smoke filled the sky. Other shots revealed gaping holes that were once storefronts in historic brick buildings, with broken glass, charred tree limbs and rubble littering the street. The explosion, which could be felt for blocks, rocked the city just as dawn was breaking around 6:30 am. Officials said cops were already at the scene, having responded to a report of shots fired about 30 minutes earlier.

USA - The US Center for Disease Control Anaphylaxis Following m-RNA COVID-19 Vaccine Receipt report says 2.3% of the 215,362 [5,052] Americans who received the COVID-19 vaccine have had a "Health Impact Event", defined by the CDC as: “unable to perform daily activities, unable to work, required care from a doctor.”Health Communication Lecturer at IDC Herzliya International School Dr Yaffa Shir Raz commented on the data: "According to this, vaccinating 150 million people would produce 3.4 million 'events'."

UK - Britain’s departure from the European Union and the legacy of the Trump administration means that the special relationship between the US and UK isn’t what it once was. But the agreement struck on Christmas Eve over post-Brexit relations between the UK and EU removed a major potential source of friction between Boris Johnson’s government and the incoming Biden administration in Washington. President-elect Joe Biden and some other Democrats, including those with active Irish-American blocs in their districts, had bristled over the possibility that a no-deal Brexit would result in a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and Ireland and violate the Good Friday peace deal, which the Clinton administration helped broker in 1998. With a deal that avoids the need for tariffs between the UK and EU member Ireland, that prospect has been averted.

UK - The EU and UK have reached a post-Brexit trade deal, ending months of disagreements over fishing rights and future business rules. At a Downing Street press conference, Boris Johnson said: "We have taken back control of our laws and our destiny." The prime minister added that although arguments had been "fierce" it was a "good deal for the whole of Europe", driving jobs and prosperity. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said it was a "fair and balanced" deal. She added that now was "time to turn the page and look to the future" and that the UK "remains a trusted partner". There will be a five-and-a-half year transition period for the fishing industry, she indicated. "It is time to leave Brexit behind, our future is made in Europe," she added. Fishing makes up just 0.12% of the UK's economy. The threat of tariffs - import taxes - between the UK and its biggest trading partner will be removed.

UK - Brexit leader Nigel Farage has advised exercising caution after the announcement that Boris Johnson and the EU had made an 11th-hour post-Brexit trade deal, until the details of the agreement are revealed, but said that today was nevertheless significant, and a “tribute to the ordinary men and women who stood up against the Westminster establishment — and won”.

ISRAEL - Israel is to hold its fourth elections in two years after the two main parties in its unity government failed to meet a deadline in a row over state budgets. Voters will return to the polls in March, just 12 months after the last round. Two previous elections were inconclusive, resulting in a rare government of national unity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on trial for alleged corruption, is hoping to return to office for a sixth time. He denies the criminal charges against him, dismissing them as politically motivated. At midnight (22:00 GMT Tuesday), Israel's parliament, the Knesset, was automatically dissolved as required by law after a deadline to pass the 2020 state budget expired.

GERMANY - Germany's Lufthansa is airlifting fresh fruit and vegetables to the UK on Wednesday as firms seek to beat the lorry chaos at sea ports. The airline said it is carrying 80 tonnes of food from Frankfurt to Doncaster Sheffield Airport for grocers including Tesco and Sainsbury's. Almost 3,000 lorries remain stuck in Kent despite moves to re-start cross-Channel access from Dover. There are concerns that testing drivers for Covid could delay food supplies. France shut its border with the UK on Sunday for 48 hours to stop the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus found in the UK. Lufthansa said the delivery, sent by freight firm Venus International Transport, was destined for Tesco, Sainbury's, the Co-op and Aldi.

RUSSIA - Russian and Chinese bombers flew a joint patrol mission over the Western Pacific Tuesday in a show of increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing. The Russian military said that a pair of its Tu-95 strategic bombers and four Chinese H-6K bombers flew over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the joint mission was intended to “develop and deepen the comprehensive Russia-China partnership, further increase the level of cooperation between the two militaries, expand their ability for joint action and strengthen strategic stability.” The ministry added that the patrol flight “wasn’t directed against any third countries.”

ITALY - The recent volcanic activity at Italy’s Mount Etna intensified overnight, as a large stream of lava spewed out westward from Europe's largest and most active volcano, putting local residents on edge as 2020 draws to a close. The eruption at the 3,329-meter (10,922-foot) volcano’s southeast crater reignited, resulting in yet another lava-fountaining episode (known as a paroxysm), lighting up the Sicilian skies in the early morning, before filling them with thick clouds of smoke and ash. According to some reports, the recent activity could mark the beginning of a new cycle of increased paroxysms at the volcano in the coming days and weeks, not ideal news for beleaguered local residents as the end of 2020 comes so agonizingly close.

USA - Once a child figures out that you have been lying about Santa Claus for years, how can you expect that child to believe you about anything else? Many regard the tradition of pretending that Santa Claus is real to be relatively harmless, but the reality of the matter is that millions upon millions of Americans have deep psychological scars from being deceived throughout childhood only to find out later in life that everything that they believed about Santa was completely fake.

UK - "We have taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters," the UK government says. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says it is a "good, fair and balanced deal". "Today is a day of relief, but tinged by some sadness," EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier says. Negotiating teams talked through the night to finalise the details of the agreement. The two sides have one week to get any deal formally approved in London and Brussels. The UK left the EU at the end of January, but remains under its trading rules until 31 December.