UK stock markets have jumped in their first trading session after the Christmas break. It was investors’ first chance to react to the Brexit trade deal with the EU, since markets closed early on Christmas Eve, hours before the outcome emerged. The FTSE 100 and 250 indexes were both up more than 2.1% by lunchtime.

But banking shares tumbled across Europe as worries persisted about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy. Banks accounted for four of the five biggest fallers on the FTSE 100, with worst-hit Lloyds suffering a near-4% drop. One analyst, Shanti Keleman from Brown Shipley, put the falling UK bank shares down to “no agreement on financial services equivalency in the Brexit deal”. However, Simon French of Panmure Gordon pointed out that trading was thin even by the usual standards of this time of year. “The usual market narratives are even shakier than normal,” he added.(BBC)…[+]

Australia’s immigration minister has said that backpackers and other foreign visitors caught flouting public health restrictions could be deported. Alex Hawke said he was shocked by scenes from Sydney’s Bronte Beach on Christmas Day. Videos of the gathering shared on social media showed hordes of young revellers singing and dancing in breach of coronavirus regulations. Some eyewitnesses said many of those present were British. Sydney is battling a new outbreak after months of no local cases. The virus’s re-appearance a week before Christmas sparked a swift re-introduction of restrictions in the city, including clampdowns on holiday gatherings and a lockdown of the worst-affected region, the Northern Beaches.(BBC)…[+]

A prominent Saudi female activist, who campaigned for women’s right to drive, has been sentenced to more than five years in prison. Loujain al-Hathloul, 31, has already been in a maximum security prison for two and a half years. She and other activists were detained in 2018 on charges including contacts with organisations hostile to Saudi Arabia.

International human rights groups have repeatedly called for her release. But on Monday, the country’s Specialised Criminal Court, which was set up to try terrorism cases, convicted her of various charges including trying to harm national security and advance a foreign agenda. It sentenced her to five years and eight months in prison. Two years and ten months of the sentence are said to have been suspended. She and her family have denied all charges. They have also said that she has been tortured in jail – accusations the court dismissed.(BBC)…[+]

Almost five years of studying the deep Atlantic in unprecedented detail has revealed 12 species new to science. The sea mosses, molluscs and corals had eluded discovery because the sea floor is so unexplored, scientists say. Researchers warn that the newly discovered animals could already be under threat from climate change. Carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean is making it more acidic, causing coral skeletons in particular to corrode.The scientists involved stressed it was “not too late to protect these special species” and the important habitats they occupied.(BBC)…[+]

Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states have unanimously approved the EU-UK post-Brexit trade deal, paving the way for it to take effect. The deal is likely to become law on 1 January, as the UK Parliament is expected to approve it on Wednesday. Under EU rules it can take effect provisionally, though the European Parliament will vote on it in January.

The deal sets the framework for trade once the UK leaves the EU single market and customs union in four days’ time.

The deal, which ended nine months of negotiations, will be approved by all 27 EU governments in writing at 15:00 (14:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the German EU presidency said. They have had three days to analyse the details of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement, since its publication. But most of the 1,246-page document had already been seen by member states in previous weeks. The deal ends nearly 50 years of UK membership of the bloc, covering a vast array of policies besides those governing common trade rules.(BBC)…[+]