Here’s a quick summary of what has happened around the world over the last 24 hours, brought to you exclusively by British Herald.
Britain inches closer to its January 31st exit from the European Union as the parliament passed the legislation to pass its final stage to ratify its deal with Brussels. Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not expect the European Union to offer the country worse post-Brexit terms than which were offered to trading partners. Johnson, on a live Facebook broadcast, said that he believes that it will not happen; it will massively be to the interests of both sides of the Channel to have a zero-tariff, zero-quota Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his British counterpart Sajid Javid clashed over taxation in a brewing battle over how Europe taxes the world’s biggest technology firms. Javid said Britain would press ahead with a digital service tax in April even as Mnuchin, sitting feet away on the same stage, said such a move could generate “arbitrary” retaliation.
Britain is to begin enhanced passenger monitoring of those arriving on direct flights from Wuhan to tackle the increased coronavirus threat. Three weekly flights from the epicentre of the virus’ outbreak, Wuhan fly in to London’s Heathrow Airport and the passengers on board this flight will be checked for symptoms and given advice lest they fall ill.
Lots of local environment news today- Britain’s Prince Charles said that global warming and climate change are the greatest threats humanity has faced, calling on business leaders in Davos to act now to create a sustainable economic future. In a speech to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss ski resort, the British heir-to-the-throne said it was time for everyone in a leadership role to take action “at revolutionary levels and pace”. Next, protesters reinforced makeshift tree-houses in a woodland canopy outside London in anticipation of a fresh attempt by contractors to fell thousands of trees to make way for a planned high-speed rail link. The fight to preserve woods and wetlands in the Colne Valley has emerged as a flashpoint in a wider campaign against the HS2 railway project, which participants see as emblematic of growing global concern over vanishing ecosystems. People in Britain must plant more trees, consume lesser meat, cut food wastes and restore peatland to meet the country’s climate target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Last year, Britain became the first member of the Group of Seven industrialised countries to set a net-zero emission target. This move requires wholesale changes in ways how we eat, travel and consume electricity.
At least 89 victims of human trafficking were rescued and dozens of suspected traffickers arrested in a crackdown on organised crime groups in the Balkans, Interpol said. Operation Theseus saw 3,000 officers from eight nations including Albania, Moldova and Turkey dispatched to crime hotspots including border checkpoints, train and bus stations and entertainment districts, the global police agency said.
About 72 suspected traffickers and 167 migrant smugglers were arrested during the week-long operation last month. The trafficking victims – including seven children – were forced to sell sex, work and beg, Interpol said. “Organized crime groups prey on the vulnerable and help them cross borders illegally for hefty sums,” said Jurgen Stock, secretary general of INTERPOL, which led the crackdown. “For some, the relationship ends on arrival, but for others, it is only just the beginning of a bleak future of exploitation,” he said in a statement outlining the operation.
Unlike trafficking, which involves deception or control over another person for the purpose of exploitation, smuggling means entering another country illegally and is considered consensual. Southeast Europe has long been a transit point for people from Asia, Africa and the Middle East taking perilous journeys to the West. The region was traversed by more 1 million migrants who ended up in Europe in 2015, many escaping conflict in Syria.
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Stay tuned for our daily roundup tomorrow!