Day: December 11, 2020

(CNN)On South Georgia, a remote island in the South Atlantic, millions of penguins in some of the largest colonies on the planet live out their days amid a pristine environment shared with only a handful of humans. An ex-whaling outpost, today it sits in over one million square kilometers of marine protected area, allowing species to thrive despite its rugged, sometimes hostile climate.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/11/world/iceberg-a68a-south-georgia-penguins-c2e-spc-intl/index.html

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

Russia has rejected US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Moroccan “sovereignty” over Western Sahara — as part of a normalization deal between Morocco and the Israeli regime — as a violation of international law.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Friday called the US decision “unilateral” and said “there are relevant resolutions, there is the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.”

“This is a violation of international law,” Bogdanov said.

Trump tweeted on Thursday that “Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations.” The White House said in a statement that Trump sealed the agreement in a telephone conversation with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/11/640516/Russia-rejects-US-decision-on-Western-Sahara

Ontario is reporting 1,848 cases of COVID-19 and nearly 63,100 tests completed. 

Locally, there are 469 new cases in Toronto, 386 in Peel, 205 in York Region and 106 in Windsor-Essex County. 

There are 1,753 more resolved cases.

Ontario reports decrease in new COVID-19 cases with more tests

The US military has flown two B-52H bombers from Louisiana to the Middle East as tensions mount in the region following the assassination of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Thursday that the two Air Force “Stratofortresses” flew nonstop from Barksdale Air Force Base, across Europe and then the Persian Gulf on a short-notice mission.

Aircraft from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar flew with the US jets during portions of the one and a half day-long flight, a senior US military official told NBC News.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/10/640472/US-flies-two-B-52s-over-Persian-Gulf-amid-tensions-with-Iran

Chinese authorities have detained Haze Fan, a local member of staff at the Bloomberg News bureau in Beijing, saying they suspect her of endangering national security.

Fan contacted one of her editors around 11:30am local time on Monday, and shortly after, she was seen “being escorted from her apartment building by plain clothes security officials,” Bloomberg said. It has sought information on her whereabouts from the Chinese government and the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC.

https://www.rt.com/news/509355-china-detains-bloomberg-employee/

London (CNN)Europe is in meltdown again as daily Covid death tolls reach record highs and countries scramble to expand testing and rescue hospital systems that are buckling under the pressure.Health experts warn that despite hopeful news with a vaccine rollout starting in the UK, drastic action is still needed to save lives as coronavirus tears through nations attempting to regain some semblance of normality.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/11/europe/europe-covid-cases-restrictions-intl/index.html

Though a Food and Drug Administration panel already gave Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine the green light, President Trump called the agency a “big, old, slow turtle” of a bureaucracy, and accused its director of dawdling on the jab.

The FDA’s vaccine advisory panel voted 17-4 on Thursday to authorize pharma firm Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for use on people aged 16 and over. The FDA usually follows the advice of its panels, and will likely issue the emergency authorization on Saturday, according to a number of media reports. 

https://www.rt.com/usa/509379-trump-fda-vaccine-approval-turtle/