The French Pravda says Macron is angry at slow pace of vaccination - but his presidency is one of the most centralised in French modern history and he knows the administration v well, so he should probably blame himself https://t.co/odtA3L4TFd

— Anne-Sylvaine Chassany (@ChassNews) January 3, 2021

Experts and politicians slammed the German government on Saturday for failing to ensure a sufficient supply of vaccine doses ahead of the country's coronavirus vaccination drive.

As a member of the EU vaccine procurement scheme, Germany is reliant on regulators at the European level granting authorization of the vaccine to prevent COVID-19 infection.

But the EU has taken longer than countries like the UK, US and Canada to give the go-ahead.

So far, only the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine is permitted in EU member states, but the block as a whole only made an order for 300 million doses during the summer, in the belief that more vaccine alternatives would be available.

Frauke Zipp, a neurologist and member of the advisory Leopoldina Academy of Sciences, on Saturday slammed German lawmakers for their lack of foresight over vaccine procurement.

"I consider the current situation a gross failure," she told Die Welt newspaper. "Why didn't they order much more of the vaccine during the summer just to be safe?"

In the aftermath of the US Capitol storming, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has called for a wide-reaching pro-democracy initiative to be spearheaded by Washington and its European allies.https://t.co/DBmaknQ2pW

— DW News (@dwnews) January 9, 2021

Maas did not provide details on the idea. However, he pointed President-elect Joe Biden's call to create a network of democratic nations.

He warned that "the belief in cohesion, in democracy as the most humane form of government, and in the persuasive power of science and reason" can only be preserved together. In order to achieve this, there were "no better, closer, more natural partners in the 21st century than America and Europe," Maas told dpa.

But other officials said the cancellation was more a case of American snobbery being answered by European snubbery: Pompeo abandoned the trip because European officials balked at seeing him after last week's deadly riot by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

Earlier Tuesday, before news of Pompeo's cancellation, the European Commission said that no EU official would meet the secretary of state. A spokesman declined to elaborate further on the reasons or decision-making process.

Pompeo had also planned to see Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, but European officials said that meeting was called off. A day after the violent uprising at the Capitol, Asselborn had told Luxembourg Radio that Trump was a "political pyromaniac who must be brought before a court."

A protest in Brussels over the death of a man while in police custody turned violent Wednesday as demonstrators clashed with officers and Belgian King Philippe's car was even caught in the cross-fire.

Protesters threw projectiles, while the police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, which gathered outside a police station near Gare du Nord. According to De Standaard, 116 people were arrested and five police officers were injured during the protest.

The demonstration, which at its peak attracted some 400 people, according to police, was organized after a man identified as Ibrahima B., 23, died following his arrest on Saturday under circumstances that are still under investigation.

Police said they have opened an internal inquiry into the case.

Ibrahima's death has raised further scrutiny of Brussels police and complaints of police brutality following other high-profile cases in which young men, mostly of Middle Eastern or North African descent, have been killed while interacting with officers.

Angela Merkel's continuity candidate, the centrist conservative Armin Laschet, has beaten one of her longest-standing rivals in the contest to lead Germany's Christian Democratic Union.

In a digitally-held party congress, Laschet beat the conservative hardliner Friedrich Merz by 521 to 466 votes in a run-off vote, following a strong speech that emphasised social cohesion and held up recent scenes from Washington DC as a warning example of divisive leadership.

The third candidate on the ballot, the foreign policy specialist Norbert Röttgen, came last in the first round of votes.

Armin Laschet, Angela Merkel loyalist, is new CDU leader - DW

Now he is Merkel's second successor in the office of party chief. Whoever holds this position traditionally becomes the party's candidate for chancellor and, if the Christian Democrats can form a governing majority, has the first shot at the chancellery. But whether Laschet will also compete for that position has long been unclear.

"A state premier who successfully governs a population of 18 million can also be Germany's chancellor," emphasized Laschet a few days ago.

The candidate is due to be decided only after regional elections in two German states, a good two months from now. That decision will be made in coordination with Markus Söder, the head of the Christian Social Union (CSU). The head of the CDU's sister party in the state of Bavaria denies persistent rumors that he may want to be the conservative alliance's candidate for chancellor. But German bookmakers have Söder top of their list.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party is choosing a new leader this weekend in an online conference.

The person who wins will either run for chancellor later this year, or have a big say in who does. All we know for now - it won't be Merkel.

So, who's in the running? 🏃 pic.twitter.com/2G6icT9zcQ

— DW Politics (@dw_politics) January 15, 2021

Armin Laschet, Angela Merkel loyalist, is new CDU leader

Herzlichen Glückwunsch @ArminLaschet. Freue mich auf unsere Zusammenarbeit! Gemeinsam werden wir die Erfolgsgeschichte der Union fortschreiben.

— Markus Söder (@Markus_Soeder) January 16, 2021

With the agreement of almost all parties - the PSC being the major exception - Catalonia's parliamentary elections have been postponed for more than three months, due to the coronavirus situation. Catalan vice president Pere Aragonès this Friday afternoon signed the decree that replaces the original 14th February date with a new appointment with the polls on 30th May. "Maintaining the schedule as it had been planned was an unacceptable risk in terms of public health and an obstacle to getting voters to turn out as required for the elections," he said in an address. He also thanked the parties for their willingness and understanding to accept the new date.

In German exile, he got no headlines. Navalny is competing with Trump's exit now ..,

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon who fell foul of the Kremlin, said that the arrest of Alexei Navalny was an attempt by President Vladimir Putin, whom he cast as an 'ageing autocrat,' to show that he is still Russia's top dog [_link]

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 18, 2021

From the diaries ...

Khodorkovsky - The Interpreter - Henry Jackson Society (UK)

...Confusion over Pfizer/BioNTech vial volumes emerged in December, when U.S. hospital pharmacists realised that preparing the vaccine, by mixing it with saline solution [!], yielded enough liquid for at least six 0.30 ml doses.

They initially threw the extra dose away, since vials were labeled for five. ...

"I'm sick of all this stuff. I'm 19, Putin has been in power my entire life, and I don't see any hope for the country. There's poverty and state terrorism. And what they did to Navalny is outrageous and illegal."https://t.co/YHjXJbMOGf @FinancialTimes

— Henry Foy (@HenryJFoy) January 23, 2021

Brexit campaign group Leave.eu has moved its internet registration to the Republic of Ireland in order to be able to keep its .eu suffix after the UK quit the European Union.

Hospitals in #England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scrambled for hospital beds on Thursday as the surge in #covid19 cases risked overwhelming the system 🦠🏥

A leaked briefing suggested that #London's hospitals could be beyond capacity in less than two weeks.@CecGalluccio reports pic.twitter.com/99h96zUeHb

— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) January 7, 2021

Change is coming. To succeed outside the EU, we need to be fitter, leaner and more globally engaged,' said the former MEP, who has just been made a Conservative peer. [...] "We have won the right to make different decisions outside the EU," Mr Hannan wrote - attacking "Stone Age instincts" that instead back stronger state intervention, because of the pandemic.

The British government is aiming to resolve trade disruptions between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said amid reports of problems caused by post-Brexit regulations coming into force at the beginning of the year.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) sent a report to the minister warning that the "supply chain is collapsing and within a matter of a week may totally collapse," Northern Ireland's The News Letter reported on Saturday.

Several supermarket chains in Northern Ireland were forced to withdraw some produce from their shelves as the new regulations caused backlogs and delays.

An editor for The News Letter tweeted a picture of oranges at a supermarket warehouse in Belfast, saying that the fruit took too long to arrive from the mainland and eventually needed to be thrown out.

Can't they supply from that place located, you know, on the same island?

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson may have promised a "tariff-free" post-Brexit trade deal at the end of last year, but British businesses are increasingly sounding the alarm over the scale of potential new duties.

Throughout nearly five years of Brexit talks, economists and trade experts repeatedly warned that, even in the best-case scenario, an EU-U.K. accord would only prevent the imposition of tariffs on goods that were predominantly produced in the U.K. Many other goods passing through Britain or distributed from there could face import duties, they warned, but the subject gained only scant attention in mainstream political debate.

In the last couple of days, however, the message has sunk in and a growing number of companies have spoken out over the disturbance that new tariffs could cause for exporters.

Border officials have been confiscating sandwiches and other foodstuffs from drivers arriving in the Netherlands from the UK after Brexit, TV footage has revealed.

A Dutch TV clip showed a driver had his ham sandwiches taken away by border officials as he arrived - with one border guard joking: "Welcome to the Brexit, sir."

#FreeSchoolMeals On the left £30 of food. On the right what private company Chartwells have supplied having been awarded a government contract to supply for £30 free school meals.

Utterly shameful profiteering off some of the country's most disadvantaged kids! pic.twitter.com/XcmUm8qM1h

— MunchBunch (@Munchbunch87) January 11, 2021

This graphic from the BBC shows how long it can take vaccine programmes to really have an impact on containing disease outbreaks (and these are for highly effective vaccines that do protect against transmission). It's completely dishonest to present these as a magic silver bullet pic.twitter.com/xqsHfPvk7s

— Deepti Gurdasani (@dgurdasani1) January 13, 2021

Unsold fish are rotting on docks, seafood companies are hitting the wall, but Jacob Rees-Mogg says what matters is that fish are now `happier' because they're `British' pic.twitter.com/NGjWT4mXag

— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) January 14, 2021

Jacob Rees-Mogg - "The key is we've got our fish back. They are now British fish, & they're better & happier fish for it." 😬

Mr Speaker - Obviously there's overwhelming evidence for that. pic.twitter.com/pTrcEVdr0w

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) January 14, 2021

The fishes were unavailable for comment.

Coronavirus has sparked an exodus of immigrants from the UK and what is likely to be the largest fall in Britain's population since the second world war, according to a statistical analysis of official data.

A blog, published on Thursday by the government-funded Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE), estimated that up to 1.3m people born abroad left the UK between the third quarter of 2019 and the same period in 2020.

In London alone, almost 700,000 foreign-born residents have probably moved out, the authors of the blog calculated, leading to a potential 8 per cent drop in the capital's population last year.

Hauliers waiting for their paperwork to clear during Brexit custom checks face a £50 ($68) an hour fine. Truckers have been told that from 1 February, after the first two hours of waiting at the nine sites for the green light, they will be charged £50.

In December, Kent County Council was given new powers to clamp and fine lorries in certain areas. Those entering the county need Kent Access Permits and face £300 fines for not having them.

I wonder if, after the drivers get home after their first or second experience with this, they will just direct their attention elsewhere. Or just stay home.

Home Office engineers are working to restore data lost from the Police National Computer. Home Office Ministers are being kept updated on their progress. Read more here [_link]

— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) January 16, 2021

UK Accidentally Deletes 150k Arrests Records

UK Home Office Data Loss Incidents Surge by 120% | 2019-2020 |

Lord Sumption to a lady with stage 4 cancer:

'I didn't say your life was not valuable, I said it was less valuable.'

Let's really break this down and realise just how awful a statement it is and the repercussions it may have..https://t.co/fUNcK4TspF

— Dr Benjamin 'Ward Viking' Janaway 💙 (@drjanaway) January 17, 2021

Brexit is now saving lives pic.twitter.com/CPQi6bAQRv

— Effie Deans (@Effiedeans) January 17, 2021

Johnson government keeps Trumpian fires burning with review of workers' rights [_link]

— The Independent (@Independent) January 21, 2021

Move to EU to avoid Brexit costs, firms told  - Observer

British businesses that export to the continent are being encouraged by government trade advisers to set up separate companies inside the EU in order to get around extra charges, paperwork and taxes resulting from Brexit, the Observer can reveal.

In an extraordinary twist to the Brexit saga, UK small businesses are being told by advisers working for the Department for International Trade (DIT) that the best way to circumvent border issues and VAT problems that have been piling up since 1 January is to register new firms within the EU single market, from where they can distribute their goods far more freely.

Many items are now prohibited from travellers' baggage from Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). These are the most significant rules.

[...]

The ban on meat and dairy extends to items such as cakes  that contain fresh cream and confectionery "made with high levels of unprocessed dairy ingredients".

FDA Briefing Document, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, 17 Dec 2020

We are updating our phased distribution based in part on federal guidance. At the current pace of allocation, the state expects to fully enter Phase 1B by late January.

Read more about our updated phases and approximate timelines: https://t.co/hNTK1RxUDt pic.twitter.com/EzC6c8PAu7

— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) January 5, 2021

A Mob and the Breach of Democracy: The Violent End of the Trump Era

Hitler Virtually Eliminated.

CALIFORNIA. US Sen Dianne Feinstein (D) has filed FEC paperwork to seek reelection in 2024 to a six year term ... when she will be 91 years old. https://t.co/OQUWaDOCLB

— Politics1.com (@Politics1com) January 13, 2021

"CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated that Rep. Ted Lieu grabbed a crowbar before leaving his office. He grabbed a ProBar energy bar,".

PS5 pic.twitter.com/ouzkmkmFYd

— Lee J. Carter (@carterforva) January 15, 2021

The National Rifle Association says it has filed for bankruptcy and will seek to incorporate in Texas instead of New York. https://t.co/92Z855uRzi

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 15, 2021

Thoughts and prayers, etc...

I understand that the NRA being sued by the state of New-York might play a part in their decision to re-incorporate in supposedly friendlier Texas.

Air quality regulators have lifted the limits on the number of cremations that can be performed in Los Angeles county, citing a death rate that is more than double the pre-pandemic norm and an unmanageable backlog of dead bodies.

[...]

The 28 crematoriums in Los Angeles county have the capacity to perform more cremations, but most of their permits include a monthly cap on cremations due to environmental regulations, the regulator said. Environmentalists have for years called for limits on cremations, which studies have shown release toxic mercury emissions from dental fillings. Mogharabi said the "air toxics impacts" resulting from the executive order were expected to be "relatively small".

Politico

For higher-profile remarks, he'd obsessively rehearse portions until he committed them to memory. And at times through the various iterations of outlining remarks, Biden could grow downright ornery.

"I would never say this," Biden once snapped at an aide, aghast over the prepared remarks he was reviewing, according to a person in the room during a speech prep session last year. "Where did you get this from?'"

The aide explained that Biden had just said it in a public speech a couple of weeks earlier.

Congratulations, soon-to-be-president Harris!

-----
sapere aude

Tension brewed in early 2019, when Kamala was still a contender in the Democratic presidential primary. When asked if she had ever smoked pot during an interview with The Breakfast Club, Kamala said, "Half my family's from Jamaica. Are you kidding me?"

The joke fell flat with many--including her father. In a statement he sent to Jamaica Global Online, Donald wrote, "My dear departed grandmothers (whose extraordinary legacy I described in a recent essay on this website), as well as my deceased parents, must be turning in their grave right now to see their family's name, reputation and proud Jamaican identity being connected, in any way, jokingly or not with the fraudulent stereotype of a pot-smoking joy seeker and in the pursuit of identity politics. Speaking for myself and my immediate Jamaican family, we wish to categorically dissociate ourselves from this travesty."

An alleged Capitol rioter from Florida knew he was wanted from the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and returned to Washington, DC, to attend the inauguration on Wednesday, the Justice Department said in a new court filing.

Prosecutors in Washington say that when law enforcement tried to arrest Samuel Camargo at his home in Florida on Tuesday, he had left.

Investigators then found him in DC on Wednesday and arrested him there -- the same day as the presidential inauguration.

Beijing has ratified an extradition treaty with Turkey that Uighurs fear could pave the way for tens of thousands to be deported and imprisoned in internment camps that rights group say constitute a "cultural genocide".

The treaty, first signed during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Beijing in 2017, was ratified last weekend at the Chinese National People's Congress, with state media saying it would be used for counter-terrorism purposes.

Turkey is yet to ratify the treaty, and as such no extraditions are expected any time soon. However Uighurs are now calling on the Turkish government and lawmakers to stop the agreement from going through.

Two months ago:
Turkey's Erdogan urges French goods boycott amid Islam row

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Turks to boycott French goods amid a row over France's tougher stance on radical Islam.

In a televised speech, he urged world leaders to protect Muslims "if there is oppression against Muslims in France".

Sriwijaya Air is Indonesia's third largest airline, listed as a "Category 1" airline, the country's highest safety rating @flightradar24's ADS-B data from #SJ182 shows the aircraft losing "more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than 1 minute" less than 5 mins after departure

— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) January 9, 2021

Aging, corrupt UK monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who has clung to power in the reclusive island kingdom for 70 years, receives covid vaccine at opulent Buckingham Palace, which struggling British taxpayers are being forced to renovate at a massive cost of Ksh50 billion.

Some countries think this is too slow and are seeking supplies of Chinese and Russian vaccines, which have not been tested as extensively as the Western Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna jabs.

U.S. casino magnate Sheldon Adelson was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, a city that he fought for years to have recognized as Israel's capital https://t.co/wLtb9SGHqt pic.twitter.com/HEGJXsxaic

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 15, 2021

An updated version of the IT news report removed details, including production location and capacity and the timeframe for signing the agreement and launching the pilot vehicles.

The previous version said the companies planned to build the cars at Kia Motors' factory in Georgia, or invest jointly in a new factory in the United States to produce 100,000 vehicles around 2024. The full annual capacity of the proposed plant would be 400,000 vehicles.

Ahead of the Ugandan election, we're hearing reports that Internet service providers are being ordered to block social media and messaging apps.

We strongly condemn internet shutdowns - they are hugely harmful, violate basic human rights and the principles of the #OpenInternet.

— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) January 12, 2021

#BREAKING The unrest in Canada comes just days after the country's troubled southern neighbour and former fellow British colony, US, also defenestrated its far-white tyrannical ruler who fomented the violent Orange Rebellion and Jan 6 Day of Pigs putsch in which at least 5 died.

— gathara (@gathara) January 22, 2021

There are Police Officers who enforce the "Letter of the Law" and "The Spirit of the Law." Officer Lima displayed character and integrity in enforcing the law. We need more officer's like Matt Lima.

— @WELdrawnart (@ManGraphite) January 2, 2021

Thierry Breton: Capitol Hill -- the 9/11 moment of social media

The fact that a CEO can pull the plug on POTUS's loudspeaker without any checks and balances is perplexing. It is not only confirmation of the power of these platforms, but it also displays deep weaknesses in the way our society is organized in the digital space.

Kaiser said Wednesday that 74 employees who were working Dec. 25 and 15 patients "related to Dec. 25" have tested positive. https://t.co/Ga63Pm6I5r

— SFGATE (@SFGate) January 13, 2021

The coronavirus pandemic is projected to lower Americans' life expectancy at birth by over a year, according to a study out of University of Southern California and Princeton University. Life expectancy for Black and Latino populations is expected to reduce 30% to 40% more than white populations.

Wuhan marks its anniversary with triumph and denial - BBC

On 23 January last year, the Chinese authorities severed transport links out of Wuhan and confined the city's population to their homes.

The tough lockdown coincided with the annual spring festival celebrations and came too late to prevent the global spread of the disease - five million people had already left the city ahead of the holiday.

Doctors' warnings had gone unheeded and, in an outpouring of anger on the Chinese internet, the authorities stood accused of covering up the initial outbreak in the interests of political stability.

One year on, there's little sign of that anger in Wuhan today. In fact it's the humdrum normality that is striking - the traffic jams, the bustling markets and busy restaurants.

In Bordeaux, Laurent Chu was the first Covid patient in Europe

It is, officially, the first Covid patient in Europe.

The Bordeaux native of Chinese origin Laurent Chu, 49, sales advisor in the wine world, was hospitalized on January 23, 2020 at the Bordeaux University Hospital, while returning from Wuhan, the focus of the epidemic in China, in the part of his work.

His Covid was officially declared the next day, January 24.

A year later, he tells how he "trembled" from his isolation room, seeing "the panic of the world".

"I didn't infect anyone," he insists.

I was the first patient, yes, but I did not infect anyone, "he said in an interview with the daily Sud Ouest on Friday.

Transferred to the Bordeaux University Hospital, in the infectious diseases department of infectious disease specialist Denis Malvy, Laurent Chu found himself 25 days in an isolation room, in intensive care, once the Covid was confirmed.

"We did not know the disease at that time, explains Professor Denis Malvy at 20 Minutes, we did not have information on the level of contagiousness, so we treated the very first patients in negative pressure rooms.

This is why we placed him in a sheave, with maximum precautions, since we dressed as if it were an Ebola, whereas from February this type of patient was taken care of on an outpatient basis... "

"They didn't know how to treat me," recalls "patient zero".