Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Exclusive: Biden team weighs deportation relief for more than 1 million Hondurans, Guatemalans

The incoming Biden administration is considering a plan to shield more than a million immigrants from Honduras and Guatemala from deportation after the countries were battered by hurricanes in November, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's transition team is weighing whether to grant them Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The program allows people already in the United States at the time of the designation to stay and work legally if their home countries have been affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts or other events that prevent their safe return. The designations last six to 18 months and can be renewed. UK PM Johnson says on Brexit: still problems, we'll thrive without a deal

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that there were still problems in Brexit trade talks and that Britain would thrive without a deal. "The position is unchanged: there are problems," Johnson told reporters when asked if there would be a trade deal. "Its vital that everybody understands that the UK has got to be able to control its own laws completely and also that we've got to be able to control our own fisheries." WHO says no need for major alarm over new coronavirus strain

The World Health Organization cautioned against major alarm over a new, highly infectious variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in Britain, saying this was a normal part of a pandemic's evolution. WHO officials even put a positive light on the discovery of the new strains that prompted a slew of alarmed countries to impose travel restrictions on Britain and South Africa, saying new tools to track the virus were working. U.S. charges Libyan in 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270

The United States on Monday unsealed criminal charges against a third alleged conspirator in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, mostly Americans. The suspect, Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir Al-Marimi, a former senior Libyan intelligence official, was charged with two criminal counts related to the bombing. He is in Libyan custody, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said, adding that U.S. officials are hopeful that Libya will allow Masud to be tried in the United States. Canada's most populous province announces partial shutdown to fight coronavirus

Ontario, Canada's most populous province, on Monday announced a partial shutdown of some businesses starting Dec. 26 and banned most indoor gatherings as it struggles to control a second wave of COVID-19. Essential retailers, such as those selling food, will have to impose capacity limits while many other stores will only be allowed curbside pick-ups. Indoor dining is to be banned. Britain and France may reach deal on reopening border on Tuesday: BBC

Britain and France may reach an agreement over reopening their border by Tuesday lunchtime, the BBC reported. The transport of freight across the English Channel has been disrupted after France suspended travel links with Britain to try to curb a new faster spreading strain of the coronavirus. Inside J&J's Latam COVID vaccine trial, a rush to recruit is followed by disappointment

Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson abruptly called for an end to enrollment in its coronavirus vaccine trial and told scientists from six Latin American countries to wrap up their work within 48 hours, two researchers told Reuters. The halt was due to J&J's decision, announced later on that same day on Dec. 9, to cap the number of participants at about 40,000 people globally, down from a previous plan for 60,000. UK coronavirus variant may be more able to infect children: scientists

A new variant of the coronavirus spreading rapidly in Britain carries mutations that could mean children are as susceptible to becoming infected with it as adults - unlike previous strains, scientists said on Monday. Briefing reporters on the latest findings, scientists from the government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) who are tracking the variant said it had swiftly become the dominant strain in the south of Britain, and could soon do the same across the country. Britain faces isolation as world tightens borders to keep out new coronavirus strain

Countries across the globe shut their borders to Britain on Monday due to fears about a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of food shortages days before Britain is set to leave the European Union. India, Pakistan, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, Jordan and Hong Kong suspended travel for Britons after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a mutated variant of the virus had been identified in the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman closed their borders completely. Lack of controls among causes of Genoa bridge disaster, technical report says

The collapse of a motorway bridge in Genoa in which 43 people died in 2018 was caused by a combination of factors, including insufficient maintenance, a report by technical advisers appointed by the judge in charge of the investigation said on Monday. The 467 page report, seen by Reuters, said the main critical issues with the collapsed section of the bridge were design deficiencies in some details and execution flaws.