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world news Diamars 8 December 2020

Boris Johnson to head to Brussels for crucial Brexit talks

(AP) — British Prime deadline. customs union through Dec.
Minister Boris Johnson Irish Foreign Minister Simon 31. Reaching a trade deal by
will head to Brussels to Coveney said Barnier’s mes- then would ensure there are
see whether a last minute sage was “very downbeat.” no tariffs and trade quotas on
trade deal can be ham- “I would say he is very goods exported or imported
mered out despite big gloomy, and obviously very by the two sides, although
differences on key issues, cautious about the ability to there would still be new costs
leaders of the U.K. and the make progress today,” Co- and red tape.
EU said Monday. veney told Irish broadcaster At his early morning meet-
RTE. ing with EU ambassadors,
Johnson and European Com- One official from an EU Barnier faced some anxious
mission President Ursula von nation said “the difficulties member states that feared
der Leyen said after a lengthy persist” over the legal over- too much might have been
phone call that “significant sight of any trade deal and yielded already to London. If
differences” remained on standards of fair play that talks continue after Monday, negotiations. bad faith that could imperil
three key issues and “the the U.K. needs to meet to be they will be closing in on an In a further complication, Northern Ireland’s peace set-
conditions for finalising an able to export in the EU. On two-day EU summit start- Johnson’s government plans tlement.
agreement are not there.” fisheries too, a lot of work ing Thursday, where German Monday to revive legisla- On Wednesday the U.K.
“We asked our chief nego- remains, said the official, Chancellor Angela Merkel tion that breaches the legally plans to introduce a Taxation
tiators and their teams to who spoke on condition of and French President Em- binding Brexit withdrawal Bill that contains more mea-
prepare an overview of the anonymity because the talks manuel Macron will be ma- agreement it struck with the sures along the same lines
remaining differences to be were ongoing. jor players. EU last year. and would further irritate the
discussed in a physical meet- Penny Mordaunt, a junior Germany wants a deal partly The U.K. government ac- EU.
ing in Brussels in the com- minister for Brexit planning, because its massive car indus- knowledges that the Internal But the British government
ing days,” they said in a joint told lawmakers in the House try has always found a wel- Market Bill breaks interna- offered the bloc an olive
statement. of Commons that the “level come export market in Brit- tional law, and the legislation branch on the issue, saying it
Despite the continuing im- playing field” — competition ain. France — seen by Brit- has been condemned by the would remove the lawbreak-
passe, plans for a top-level rules that Britain must agree ain as the “bad cop” in trade EU, U.S. President-elect Joe ing clauses if a joint U.K.-EU
meeting will be seen as a to to gain access to the EU negotiations — has taken the Biden and scores of British committee on Northern Ire-
good sign. market — was the most dif- lead in demanding that U.K. lawmakers, including many land found solutions in the
The two leaders spoke for ficult unresolved issue. companies must closely align from Johnson’s own Conser- coming days. It said talks in
the second time in 48 hours “We are at a critical moment,” themselves with EU rules vative Party. the committee, which con-
as their trade teams remained she said. and environmental and social tinued Monday, had been
locked in stalled negotiations Britain’s pound currency fell standards if they still want to The House of Lords, Par- constructive.
in Brussels. more than 1% against the export to the lucrative market liament’s upper chamber, EU member states have to
Gaps remain on fishing dollar to under $1.33 amid of 450 million people. removed the law-breaking unanimously support any
rights, fair-competition rules the uncertainty. The politically charged issue clauses from the legislation post-Brexit trade deal and
and the governance of fu- Johnson’s spokesman, Ja- of fisheries also continues to last month, but Johnson’s the agreement still needs to
ture disputes, with just other mie Davies, declined to offer play an outsized role. The government will try to rein- be voted on by the European
three weeks until the two odds on a deal being struck. EU has demanded wide- sert them on Monday. parliament, procedures that
sides’ current economic re- “I’m not going to put a per- spread access to U.K. fishing Britain says the bill, which would push any deal right up
lationship unravels at the end centage on it,” he said. “We grounds that historically have gives the government power to the end-of-year deadline.
of the year. are prepared to negotiate for been open to foreign trawl- to override parts of the with- Both sides would suffer eco-
EU chief negotiator Mi- as long as we have time avail- ers. Britain insists it must drawal agreement relating to nomically from a failure to
chel Barnier had no news able if we think an agreement control its own waters, dol- trade with Northern Ireland, secure a trade deal, but most
of a breakthrough when be is still possible.” ing out quotas annually. is needed as an “insurance economists think the British
briefed ambassadors of the 27 While the U.K. left the EU While both Britain and the policy” to protect the flow economy would take a greater
member states early Monday politically on Jan. 31, it re- EU say they want a trade of goods within the U.K. in hit, at least in the short term,
on the chances of a deal with mains within the bloc’s tar- deal, trust and goodwill are the event of a no-deal Brexit. because the U.K. does almost
London before the Dec. 31 iff-free single market and strained after months of testy The EU sees it as an act of half its trade with the bloc.

Retirees protest against Belarus’ hardline leader

(AP) — Several hundred ander Lukashenko, Be- The demonstrators gathered doned off by security forces people.
retirees took to the streets larus’ authoritarian leader on one of the central squares and several of the rallygoers The largest and the most
of the Belarusian capital who won his sixth term in of Minsk, chanting “Go were detained, according to sustained wave of protests
Monday to demand the office in a widely disputed away!” and “Lukashenko, the Viasna human rights cen- posed a major challenge to
ouster of President Alex- election. retire!” The square was cor- ter. Lukashenko, who has run the
Mass protests erupted in Be- country with an iron fist for
larus, an ex-Soviet nation of 26 years, relentlessly stifling
9.5 million, after official re- dissent.
sults from the Aug. 9 presi-
dential election gave Lukash- Authorities have cracked
enko a landslide victory over down hard on the largely
his popular opponent, Sviat- peaceful demonstrations.
lana Tsikhanouskaya. She and Police used stun grenades,
her supporters refused to rec- tear gas and truncheons to
ognize the result, saying the disperse the rallies. Thou-
vote was riddled with fraud. sands have been detained and
scores brutally beaten.
Thousands of people have
since regularly rallied in A total of four people are re-
Minsk and other cities, de- ported to have died since the
manding Lukashenko’s res- protests began in August as
ignation and a new vote. the result of the crackdown
Some of the Sunday demon- on demonstrators and oppo-
strations drew up to 200,000 sition supporters.