European Union governments approved on Tuesday a trade deal regulating relations between the 27-nation bloc and Britain, paving the way for its provisional application from Jan 1, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.
The deal, which preserves Britain’s zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the EU’s single market of 450 million consumers, was reached on Dec 24, 4-1/2 years after Britons voted by a slim margin in a referendum to leave the bloc.
-I am pleased that all EU 27 have given approval. By joining forces, we have succeeded in preventing a chaotic turn of the year- Maas, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said on Twitter.
The approval is a formality after a deal between London and the EU last week. It is needed for the provisional application of the trade agreement from next year, before it is ratified by the European Parliament by the end of February.
The provisional trade deal is to be signed by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the chairman of EU leaders Charles Michel on Wednesday.

Maas: I am pleased that all EU 27 have given approval

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas addresses the media during a joint news conference with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after a meeting in Berlin, Germany, December 17, 2020.

EU governments approve Brexit trade deal - German EU presidency

Argentina began to vaccinate its citizens against the coronavirus on Tuesday using 300,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine delivered last week, the government said.Latin America’s third largest economy has been hard hit by COVID-19, logging nearly 1.6 million cases of the disease and 42,868 deaths. Fears of a second wave are growing.
Officials said front-line health workers would be the first to be vaccinated, followed members of the security forces, teachers, the elderly and other high-risk groups.
Argentina became the third country to approve the Sputnik V vaccine, after Russia and Belarus. Critics both in Argentina and abroad have questioned the vaccine’s efficacy, side effects and the transparency of its trial results. Russia says those criticisms are unfounded.
-You have to be afraid of the disease, not the vaccine- Argentine Health Minister Ginés González García told reporters on Tuesday.
Reuters reported on Monday that the vaccine sent to Argentina - Russia’s first major international shipment - consisted only of the first dose of the two-shot vaccine, which is easier to make than the second dose.
Russian and Argentine officials did not immediately comment on when the second dose might arrive.
President Vladimir Putin has referred to a single-component option as a “light-vaccine”, which he said would provide less protection than the two components, but “will still reach 85%” effectiveness.
Argentina has also approved the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Argentine Health Minister Ginés González García: You have to be afraid of the disease, not the vaccine

Doctor Emilio Macia, 52, gestures after receiving an injection with the Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Dr. Pedro Fiorito hospital in Avellaneda, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 29, 2020.

Argentina begins COVID vaccination drive with Russia's Sputnik V

A Jordanian journalist arrested last week over an article alleging officials had been secretly vaccinated against the novel coronavirus was freed on bail on Tuesday, a judiciary source said. 
-The State Security Court responded favourably to a request for bail for the journalist Jamal Haddad, editor of the news website Al-Wakaai- the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The country's journalists' union had submitted a request for his release on Sunday, the source added.
Prosecutors ordered Haddad's arrest on Thursday over a report that government officials may have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in secret, according to the same source. 
The journalist was accused of "endangering the security of the country, provoking sedition and disturbing public order".
Al-Wakaai published an article on December 22 titled, "What about the people? Did the Pfizer (vaccine) arrive in secret, and have senior officials in the Jordanian government been vaccinated?"
Jordan has recorded 291,393 cases of Covid-19 infection and 3,801 deaths.
The government announced in mid-December it had approved emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and said Monday doses would arrive in the kingdom at the end of January or the start of February.

The journalist was accused of "endangering the security of the country, provoking sedition and disturbing public order"

Jordan journalist held over vaccine report freed on bail

Pierre Cardin, who died Tuesday aged 98, was a man of many paradoxes -- a designer who sought flamboyant yet simple styles, an aesthete with a head for business, and a futurist now associated with retro.
He rose to the pantheon of France's post-war fashion giants only to shake it all up by leading what was in the 1950s a revolutionary concept -- designing "ready-to-wear" collections for the high street.
A savvy businessman, he expanded his empire globally, moving into once closed markets and selling hundreds of licences to make himself the undisputed king of designer merchandising -- and being slammed by the fashion elite for selling out.
Cardin's 1960s "Space Age" collection is among his most legendary, and his designs such as the men's collarless "cylinder" suit inspired the early look of the Beatles.

Cardin entered the Parisian fashion world in the aftermath of World War II, training with the likes of Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaparelli.
In the 1950s, as he began to branch out on his own, he soon established a name as an innovator with the now legendary bubble dress in 1954.
His 1964 "Space Age" collection remains a landmark in the fashion history with its cut-out dresses, knitted catsuits, tight leather pants, close-fitting helmets and batwing jumpers.
Throughout the 1960s, as one of the most influential creative forces, he turned out collection after collection featuring an array of original ideas, and with his penchant for geometric shapes and motifs he frequently ignored the female form altogether.
It was this disregard for femininity which led him to be credited with creating the "unisex" look.
Although he was gay, he had a four-year affair with the French film star Jeanne Moreau. She wanted to have a child with him but could not after suffering from uterine cancer.

Cardin was born into poverty on July 2, 1922, near Venice in northern Italy. His family emigrated to France when he was a child, and he grew up in the dour French industrial town of Saint Etienne.
At the age of 17 he was apprenticed to a tailor in Vichy where he soon specialised in women's suits.
In 1944, after the liberation of France, he cycled all the way to Paris where he studied architecture before starting to work in fashion houses.
He began designing costumes and met the poet, artist and director Jean Cocteau, for whom he designed the mesmerising sets and outfits for the classic film "Beauty and the Beast" in 1947.

In his heyday, Cardin boasted of having some 1,000 licences and franchises, from fashion and food to cigarettes and furniture, which generated hundreds of millions in annual sales and made him a household name around the world.
He headed a global empire with a strong presence in Japan. He also signed production deals with the Cold War-era Soviet Union in 1978, then became the first French designer in 1979 to cement links with China. 
He was also the first designer to hold a fashion show in Red Square in Moscow in 1991, drawing a crowd of 200,000.
-I cover the entire world, except perhaps North Korea, and I could go there too if I chose- he told AFP in a 2010 interview.
Cardin's empire also included hotels, factories and boutiques. Among his many acquisitions was the upscale Paris restaurant Maxim's, which he turned into an international chain.

But the much used and franchised Cardin brand later showed signs of wear. 
In 2011, he put his fashion label up for sale saying he hoped it would fetch up to a billion euros. It failed to sell.
And Cardin's purchase of a castle in Provence that once belonged to the Marquis de Sade, and dozens of houses around it, angered locals who complained the buildings were left empty and wrecking the life and economy of the village.
Still, Cardin remained intensely proud of his achievements. 
In 2014, inaugurating a small Paris museum for his work, he said he had built up quite a "legacy for a couturier who came from nothing".&nbsp;

Designer who sought flamboyant yet simple styles, an aesthete with a head for business, and a futurist now associated with retro

In 1979, Cardin became the first French designer to cement links with China

Pierre Cardin, fashion's savvy futurist

EU countries on Sunday embarked on a vaccination campaign to defeat the "nightmare" of Covid-19, with the first to be immunised expressing emotion after their jab and leaders hailing a milestone in the fight against the pandemic.
The vaccine is a glimmer of hope for a continent yearning for a return to normal from a pandemic that has killed 1.76 million people worldwide since emerging in China late last year and caused at least 80 million confirmed cases, according to an AFP tally.
But polls have shown many Europeans are unwilling to take the vaccine, which could impede its effectiveness in beating the virus, while it will take months for large chunks of the population to be immunised.
-It is with deep pride and a deep sense of responsibility that I got the vaccine today. A small gesture but a fundamental gesture for all of us- said Claudia Alivernini, 29, an Italian nurse who was the first in her country to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech jab Sunday morning.
In Greece, the first in line was nurse Efstathia Kampissiouli who flashed a V-sign while being vaccinated and later told Ert TV it was "a great honour for me but also for those working on the front line."
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the campaign start as a "touching moment of unity and a European success story", adding the process will "help to get our normal lives back gradually."
Countries are however showing different strategies, with Italy focusing on health workers, France the elderly and in the Czech Republic, Greece and Slovakia political leaders at the front of the queue.

<h2>Things 'might actually get worse'</h2>

But the introduction of the vaccine worldwide is far from the end of the crisis. In a bleak assessment, top US government scientist Anthony Fauci warned Sunday that "as we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse".
Israel on Sunday began a nationwide two-week lockdown -- its third since the pandemic started -- after a sharp rebound in the infection rate.
A new strain of the virus that emerged in Britain has already reached several other European countries as well as Japan, Canada and Jordan and intensified fears of more Covid-19 havoc to come.
The new strain -- which experts believe is more contagious -- prompted more than 50 countries to impose travel restrictions on the UK.
Echoing concerns from officials across the continent, Health Minister Olivier Veran said France has not ruled out imposing a third nationwide lockdown if coronavirus cases continue to rise after the holiday season.
He said it would become clear in the next months if the vaccine might not just stop people falling sick but also prevent the virus from being passed on.
-This would allow us to leave this nightmare quicker- he said.

Some EU countries began vaccinating on Saturday, a day before the official start, with a 101-year-old woman in a care home becoming the first person in Germany to be inoculated and Hungary and Slovakia also handing out their first shots.
Araceli Rosario Hidalgo Sanchez, a 96-year-old living in a care home in central Spain became the first person in the country to be vaccinated on Sunday, in an event broadcast by national television. She said smilingly she felt "nothing" from the shot.
France began its campaign in care homes for the elderly in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, a low-income area hard hit by Covid-19, with a 78-year-old woman named Mauricette the first to receive the jab to applause from staff.
-We have a new weapon against the virus -- the vaccine- tweeted President Emmanuel Macron.
But a poll published in the Journal du Dimanche saying 56 percent of French people do not plan to take the jab.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven described the vaccine as a "ray of light in the darkness". One of the first Swedes to get the vaccine, Stig Larsson, 89, said he "did not hesitate" about being inoculated.&nbsp;

Britain, China, Russia, Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Serbia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia have already begun their vaccination campaigns.
Vaccines other than the Pfizer-BioNTech jab are also in the pipeline, and the United States, where over a million people have already been vaccinated, last week began jabs with the vaccine developed by US biotech firm Moderna.
Meanwhile the University of Oxford and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca have applied to the UK authorities for permission to roll out their Covid-19 vaccine, which chief executive Pascal Soriot described as a "winning formula".

Pandemic has killed 1.76 million people worldwide since emerging in China

Vaccination Day against Coronavirus COVID-19 at the "Pio Albergo Trivulzio" nursing home in Milan, Italy, 27 December 2020. The EU is launching a coordinated vaccine rollout to fight Covid-19, as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been delivered to all 27 member states

EU begins vaccinations to end Covid 'nightmare'

According to the latest information, in the devastating earthquake that hit Croatia today, five people died, dozens were injured, and dogs are searching the ruins.
As a reminder, the Petrinja area was hit by a strong earthquake in the afternoon! The magnitude was 6.2 on the Richter scale. It was felt throughout the region. A series of earthquakes followed. Among the dead is a young girl. Dozens were injured.
A father and son died in Majske Poljane, Glina Deputy Mayor Branka Bakšić Mitić reported.She said an older man who lived with a woman had also died earlier. She survived, they pulled her out of the ruins.
As reported by Index.hr, according to the latest information, five people were killed and among them are a young man, grandfather, father and son. Unfortunately, a 12-year-old girl in Petrinja, a 20-year-old young man, a man and a father and son in Majske Poljane near Glina were killed, Glina Deputy Mayor Branka Bakšić Mitić confirmed for Index.

Petrinja was hit by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in the afternoon

Five people died in the earthquake: A father and a son were killed in Glina

A strong earthquake that hit neighboring Croatia today was also felt in the Bosnian Krajina. According to the first information, it did not cause material damage in the area of Bihać and its surroundings.
- Earthquake was felt fierce here and people are a little upset. So far we have no reported damages. There is some on the building of the Health Center, but I think it was caused by the wind that blew the day before and that it is not the consequence of the earthquake - the mayor of Bihać Šuhret Fazlić told us.
A devastating earthquake, with epicenter near Petrinja, hit Croatia today, and was felt in the region as well.

Earthquake was felt fierce here and people are a little upset, Fazlić told us

Fazlić for "Avaz": No damage has been reported so far

The devastating earthquake that hit Croatia today leaves no one indifferent. Pictures from Petrinja and other Croatian cities affected by the earthquake are terrible.
We contacted Miroslav Ćiro Blažević, a celebrated football expert, former selector of the B&amp;H national team, who lives in Zagreb.
He is very shaken by what happened today.
- It's hard to see all this. I'm fine, family is fine, but this is really a disaster. Thank you for caring for us, we will endure. I can't talk anymore, Blažević said almost through tears.
Let us remind you, a strong earthquake hit Croatia, the epicenter of the earthquake of magnitude 6.2 was near Petrinja, but it was strongly felt throughout Croatia. One child was killed in Petrinja, and half of the city was destroyed.
At least 20 people were injured in Sisak, two of them seriously.

Former selector of B&H national team is very shaken

Blažević: He spoke almost through tears

Ćiro Blažević from Zagreb for "Avaz": Thank you for taking care of us, we will endure

Shocking scenes in front of Zagreb's Sveti duh Hospital were recorded today.
After a devastating earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale with the epicenter 47 kilometers southeast of Zagreb, or three kilometers from Petrinja, patients and medical staff came out in front of the hospital.

Senior citizens are in beds, some using oxygen to breathe better, and young mothers and patients holding babies in their arms while in hospital pajamas sit in front of a medical facility, wrapped in blankets.
The doctors are there with them and are helping to get through these terrible moments.
No one remained immune to today's tragedy.

Everyone is sending support and words of empathy to Croatia, especially Petrinja.
We remind you that a devastating earthquake destroyed many buildings in Petrinja. A 12-year-old girl was killed.
The exact number of injured is still unknown.
This earthquake was felt in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in Serbia.

Senior citizens in bed, some use oxygen to breathe better

Shocking scenes in front of the hospital in Zagreb: In pajamas, patients are holding babies in their arms, wrapped only in blankets

A terrible earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale hit Petrinja, which is about 50 kilometers away from Zagreb, and the famous actor and presenter Tarik Filipović, who has been living and working in Zagreb for many years, told "Avaz" that this earthquake was much worse than the one in March.
- We had a feeling that everything would fall apart, it lasted for a long time. In an instant you cry stop, and you feel like it will never stop. Just imagine the strength when you felt it in Sarajevo. It is terrible and great psychological shock. A 12-year-old girl who died, that is the biggest tragedy. Everything else will improve, but human life cannot be compensated - said Filipović.
During the conversation, he revealed to us that even smaller earthquakes are felt and that there will be more, which, unfortunately, he knows from experience.

It was much worse than when there was that earthquake in March

Filipović: We had a feeling that everything would fall apart

Tarik Filipović from Zagreb for "Avaz": Human life cannot be compensated

The team of the 24sata portal came across a witness who was reviving a girl in Petrinja for a full 40 minutes, she allegedly died in his arms ...
- This fell on her, this part of the house, I was reviving her for more than 40 minutes. There was no emergency, someone will answer to me for that child, trust me. I knew her, trust me someone will answer. After 40 minutes, an ambulance arrived. The girl turned 13 five days ago - he said in tears.
We remind you that the area of Petrinja was hit by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake shortly after noon.
- I put a rosary around her neck. I was looking for my daughter, and luckily I found her. An ambulance came and left, I held her pulse. This is a difficult day, a very difficult day - said the man who introduced himself as Dinko Radučević.

This is a difficult day, very difficult day - said the man who introduced himself as Dinko Radučević

The witness (right) says he knew the girl

Confession of a witness who was reviving a girl: She passed away, I put a rosary around her neck

In a conversation for "Dnevni Avaz", seismologist Ivan Brlek commented on today's earthquake that hit the region, and whose epicenter was in Petrinja, Croatia.
He said that the citizens have no reason to fear that an even stronger earthquake could happen in the coming moments.
After yesterday's strong earthquake, even stronger happened today. This is quite common because the soil calms down. It often happens that within a month, the area affected by the earthquake continues to shake - says Brlek.
The biggest problem is that the citizens are in a panic, according to this seismologist.
- Everyone expects an even stronger earthquake. According to all research, an even stronger earthquake should not be expected in our area. On the other hand, earthquakes are independent events, if they happened in Croatia, it does not necessarily mean that a stronger earthquake will happen in B&amp;H as well - said Brlek.
He adds that no one can predict a future earthquake.

Prof. dr. Hazim Hrvatović, an expert in regional geology, earthquakes and seismic research, told "Avaz" that what is happening in Croatia is already in an active seismic zone.
- Especially this area of Zagreb, Petrinja, but also towards Našice and Banja Luka. But what was felt in our country was felt because the earthquake was very strong, 6.2 magnitude. It was a very strong earthquake, which destroys weaker buildings and structures – said Hrvatović.
When asked what we can expect next, Hrvatović says:
- The next earthquake cannot be predicted. Science has failed to grasp this. It is only known that it can be in the area of Zagreb, Banja Luka, Herzegovina. It is known what magnitude can be expected. The rest is difficult - he says.
However, as Hrvatović says, earthquakes can be expected in the area of Banja Luka,Tuzla...
- This especially refers to the area of Herzegovina, Mostar, Nevesinje, Livno, Dubrovnik. That is the most seismically active part below, and especially the area of Banja Luka - he said.

Earthquakes are independent events, if they happened in Croatia, it does not necessarily mean that they will happen in B&H

B&H seismologists for "Avaz": Earthquakes can be expected in Banja Luka, Tuzla, Herzegovina...

A strong earthquake hit Croatia, the epicenter of the magnitude 6.2 earthquake was near Petrinja, but it was strongly felt throughout Croatia.
The first scenes from Petrinja are terrible, half of the city is destroyed. Screams are heard, there are injured and dead.
At least 20 people were injured in Sisak, two of them seriously.
One child was killed in Petrinja, confirmed Mayor Darinko Dumbović. It was a 12-year-old girl.
A large number of buildings were damaged, and rescuers are searching for survivors. For now, there is no more information about the injured and dead.

A large number of buildings were damaged, and rescuers are searching for survivors

The earthquake was strongly felt throughout Croatia

A young girl died, 20 people are in the hospital, rescue operations are undergoing

Although the terrible earthquake that hit neighboring Croatia was less felt in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the citizens of our homeland were still frightened.Those who found themselves in the shops witnessed the products being knocked off the shelves.
As our readers tell us, it was not pleasant at that moment.

Citizens posted a video on YouTube from Prijedor, and they also sent photos from Bosanska Gradiška to our inbox.

Although the terrible earthquake that hit neighboring Croatia was less felt in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the citizens of our homeland were still frightened

Earthquake in Prijedor and Bosanska Gradiška knocked down products in shops, citizens were panickly looking for a way out

Croatian President and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Zoran Milanović arrived in the earthquake-hit area.
The two of them visited this area yesterday also and promised the help of the state, both to Petrinja and Sisak, but also to Zagreb.
Plenković and Milanović talked to the citizens on the streets of Petrinja.
- I have information that one girl was killed. Everyone is there, and the army is there, emergency services are arriving, police, firefighters ... We will pick everything up. We will find alternative accommodation for people, it is not safe here - said Plenković.
Milanović announced state aid.
- This is a horror. It was a difficult year. This is like an injury over an insult. And one life is a lot. This city is impoverished, the buildings were built 150 years ago. It will take a lot of money to rebuild - said Milanović.

The Croatian state leadership has promised help to the affected area

Plenković and Milanović arrived in Petrinja: This city is impoverished, the buildings were built 150 years ago

A strong earthquake hit Croatia today, the epicenter of the magnitude 6.2 earthquake was near Petrinja, but it was also felt in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Photos of the Bihać Health Center were published on Facebook, showing the consequences of the earthquake. According to the first information, no one was injured, the damages are just being added up, the arrival of an assessment expert is awaited.
Employees and patients were evacuated for safety and possibly new earthquakes. The ambulance and COVID infirmary will be relocated.

The ambulance and COVID infirmary will be relocated

According to the first information, no one was injured

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Five people died in the earthquake: A father and a son were killed in Glina

Fazlić for "Avaz": No damage has been reported so far

Ćiro Blažević from Zagreb for "Avaz": Thank you for taking care of us, we will endure

Shocking scenes in front of the hospital in Zagreb: In pajamas, patients are holding babies in their arms, wrapped only in blankets

Tarik Filipović from Zagreb for "Avaz": Human life cannot be compensated

Confession of a witness who was reviving a girl: She passed away, I put a rosary around her neck

B&H seismologists for "Avaz": Earthquakes can be expected in Banja Luka, Tuzla, Herzegovina...

A young girl died, 20 people are in the hospital, rescue operations are undergoing

Earthquake in Prijedor and Bosanska Gradiška knocked down products in shops, citizens were panickly looking for a way out

Plenković and Milanović arrived in Petrinja: This city is impoverished, the buildings were built 150 years ago

Damaged Health Center Bihać, patients and employees evacuated

News

EU governments approve Brexit trade deal - German EU presidency

Argentina begins COVID vaccination drive with Russia's Sputnik V

Jordan journalist held over vaccine report freed on bail

Pierre Cardin, fashion's savvy futurist

EU begins vaccinations to end Covid 'nightmare'

Five people died in the earthquake: A father and a son were killed in Glina

Fazlić for "Avaz": No damage has been reported so far

Ćiro Blažević from Zagreb for "Avaz": Thank you for taking care of us, we will endure

Shocking scenes in front of the hospital in Zagreb: In pajamas, patients are holding babies in their arms, wrapped only in blankets

Tarik Filipović from Zagreb for "Avaz": Human life cannot be compensated

Confession of a witness who was reviving a girl: She passed away, I put a rosary around her neck

B&H seismologists for "Avaz": Earthquakes can be expected in Banja Luka, Tuzla, Herzegovina...

A young girl died, 20 people are in the hospital, rescue operations are undergoing

Earthquake in Prijedor and Bosanska Gradiška knocked down products in shops, citizens were panickly looking for a way out

Plenković and Milanović arrived in Petrinja: This city is impoverished, the buildings were built 150 years ago

Damaged Health Center Bihać, patients and employees evacuated