Argus Geopolitical Intel

Happy New Year 2021 -  We hope you all have a peaceful, happy and safe 2021 From the Editor and Team at GeopoliticalMatters.com and the support teams at Argus News Group

UK can "go our own way but also have free trade" with the EU - Johnson By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist  www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com  MPs across the board have given the UK's post-Brexit trade deal with the EU approval in the parliamentary vote yesterday. The bill enshrining the agreement into UK law was backed by the commons by 521 to 73 votes meaning that the UK will sever its ties with the EU at 23.00 GMT on Thursday, four and a half years after the Brexit referendum. Labour MPs followed the party line in general and voted for the agreement after leader Sir Keir Starmer said a "thin deal was better than no deal" and the House of Lords also passed the bill, which will now receive Royal Assent. Prime Minister  Incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked MPs and peers for passing the bill, adding: "The destiny of this great country now resides firmly in our hands." The Trade deal agreement was finally hammered out with Brussels in a touc...

COVID VACCINE: Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine given approval by regulator for use in UK By Nadine Van Overstraten - World Health Correspondent www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com The Oxford-AstraZeneca covid vaccine has been given approval for use in the UK by regulators confirming the vaccine is both safe and effective. The wonder drug developed by scientists at Oxford University is scheduled to be rolled-out from 4 January and will lead to a massive increase in immunisations in the UK - all aimed at getting the country on its feet. The vaccine was developed in the first months of 2020, tested on the first volunteer in April and has since been through rigorous clinical trials involving thousands of people. The UK has ordered 100 million doses from the manufacturer AstraZeneca - enough to vaccinate 50 million people. The Oxford vaccine now joins the ranks of Pfizer-BioNTech, and the FDA approved Moderna with an effective prevention. The challenge is for this virus to be assigned to the...

COVID-19: England - Unprecedented infection levels overwhelming the NHS By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Unprecedented Covid infection levels in England are causing extreme concern as NHS England struggles to cope with rising patient numbers. Health officials in Wales and Scotland have also said they are at risk of becoming overwhelmed.  On Monday, 41,385 new Covid cases, an all-time high and 357 deaths were reported in the UK. That figure for new cases is the highest daily number reported by the UK government, and the first time the daily total has surpassed 40,000. NHS England has reported the number of people currently being treated for the virus in hospital is now 20,426 - higher than the previous quoted peak of about 19,000 last April. However, it is thought the infection rate was much higher during the first peak in April, but testing was too limited to detect the true number...   LogIn | Register About Iain Fraser Geopol...

BREXIT TRADE DEAL: What exactly was agreed and by whom - Analysis By Iain Fraser, Managing Editor - Gibraltar www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Both Britain and the European Union have confirmed their respective trade negotiators have finally come to an agreement on a post-Brexit trade deal after an accord was reached on Christmas Eve The Trade and Co-operation Agreement, to give it its proper title secured both camps interests after Brexit on January 1st. 2021 However the deal which encompasses issues including Security cooperation, Transport, Energy, Social Welfare and of course Trade necessitated compromises on both sides and initial analysis appears to leave the UK with a significantly weaker economic relationship with the EU, but in my opinion better than having to to trading under WTO rules.  The Full Report in PDF The UK and the EU published the 1,246-page full text of the agreement on Saturday. Point by Point Analysis delivered in jargon-free bulletpoints  By Iain Fraser - G...

  After what has been an anxious year, The Editor and Team at GEOPoliticalMatters.com whish each and every one of you Happy Christmas Holidays 

Crisis24 and WorldAware Release 2021 Global Forecast and Risk Maps Posted By PR Channel Team - Gibraltar www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Crisis24 and WorldAware, GardaWorld companies now acting as one, issue annual report that examines geopolitical, travel and health threats worldwide. Leading global risk management firm Crisis24, a GardaWorld company, released its annual Global Forecast report and Risk Maps that provide expert insight and analysis of various threats for 2021 for businesses and organizations seeking to protect their people and operations, no matter their location or circumstances. The comprehensive intelligence across risk categories is compiled by our intelligence experts based around the world. Drawing from more than 20,000 sources in over 25 different languages, the team monitors and analyses global developments and risks related to health, kidnapping, terrorism, environment, transportation and geopolitics. Crisis24’s analysis covers geographic regions including the Ame...

COVID-19 Geopolitical Chaos Highlights the Importance of Marketing Automation Solutions, 2020 Posted by PR Channel Team - Málaga City (Remote) www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way businesses run and how people communicate. Digital is king, and with the social distancing and lockdown rules in place, businesses must invest in digital solutions that enable remote working and automate business processes such as marketing and sales. Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report " COVID-19 Geopolitical Chaos Highlights the Importance of Marketing Automation Solutions, 2020 " 

New COVID-19 variants under the microscope as travel bans mount over UK mutation Posted By PR Channel Team - Gibraltar www.GEOPoliticalmatters.com The UN health agency chief said on Monday that scientists have been working to understand new COVID-19 variants that have been reported in South Africa and the United Kingdom.  According to news reports, more than 40 countries have now banned arrivals from the UK, because of mounting concerns over a new, more transmissible mutation of the new coronavirus, although health officials there stress that there is no evidence it is more deadly, or that it would not respond in the same way to the vaccines cleared for emergency use.   “The bottom line is that we need to suppress transmission of all SARS-CoV-2 viruses as quickly as we can”, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a regular press briefing. “The more we allow it to spread, the more opportunity it has to change”, he added.  In e...

First glimmer of hope in decades for Black Sea and Mediterranean fish stocks By PR Channel Team - Malaga City (Remote) www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com The number of fish stocks subject to overexploitation in the Mediterranean and Black Sea has fallen for the first time in decades, offering some hope that a dangerous decline can be turned around, according to a report published on Monday by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “The latest data suggest that a corner is finally being turned on overexploitation of the region's vital fish stocks”, the FAO said in a statement accompanying the report on the State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries (SoMFI 2020). Although 75 percent of fish stocks remained subject to overfishing in 2018, that figure has come down from 88 percent six years earlier, the report said. In the same period, the exploitation ratio had fallen from 2.9 to 2.4 times the maximum sustainable yield – suggesting that the stocks were still being overexploited...

Making Green Hydrogen a Cost-Competitive Climate Solution   Posted By PR Channel Team - Gibraltar www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com As global economies turn increasingly carbon neutral, IRENA drives hydrogen agenda and sees renewable hydrogen at least cost possible within decade Hydrogen produced with renewable electricity could compete on costs with fossil fuel alternatives by 2030, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) published today. A combination of falling costs for solar and wind power, improved performance as well as economies of scale for electrolysers could make it possible.  Green Hydrogen Cost Reduction: scaling up electrolysers to meet the 1.5 C climate goal   looks at drivers for innovation and presents strategies that governments can peruse to reduce the cost of electrolysers by 40% in the short term and by up to 80% in the long term.  Green hydrogen could play a critical role in decarbonisation strategies...

CYBER BREACH: UK marriage tax relief specialist Exposes Customers’ Personal Information By Bethany Carl - WebsitePlanet.com www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com A UK-based company specializing in recovering marriage tax allowance funds for UK clients has suffered a damaging data leak that could have led to the potential dissemination of all its clients’ personal information. It is important to note, however, that it is impossible for us to say whether the specific server vulnerability that led to the leak, actually led to sensitive information falling into the hands of nefarious users. As part of conducting routine server scans for potential vulnerabilities, the Website Planet team discovered that Marriage Tax Allowance Ltd misconfigured its WordPress content management system (CMS), thereby leaving the directory listing enabled for public view. This allowed anyone to browse the entire list of files stored on the website. More specifically, letters to customers, containing customer information,...

Cyber: UK marriage tax relief specialist Exposes Customers’ Personal Information In Data Leak  Posted By PRChannel Team  www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com   A UK-based company specializing in recovering marriage tax allowance funds for UK clients has suffered a damaging data leak that could have led to the potential dissemination of all its clients’ personal information. It is important to note, however, that it is impossible for us to say whether the specific server vulnerability that led to the leak, actually led to sensitive information falling into the hands of nefarious users.  As part of conducting routine server scans for potential vulnerabilities, the Website Planet team discovered that Marriage Tax Allowance Ltd misconfigured its WordPress content management system (CMS), thereby leaving the directory listing enabled for public view. This allowed anyone to browse the entire list of files stored on the website. More specifically, letters to customers, containi...

Politicising a pandemic is utterly reprehensible - Bachelet Posted by PRChannel Team - Malaga City (Remote) www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Some political leadership during the pandemic has been “reprehensible”, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday, while holding out hope of a better 2021 as US President-elect Joe Biden takes office.  In a wide-ranging press conference to mark Human Rights Day, Ms. Bachelet said it was astounding that some political leaders were continuing to play down of COVID-19 and dismissing simple prevention measures such as wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings.  ‘Knife in the heart’ of trust  “A few political figures are even still talking casually of ‘herd immunity’, as if the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives is a cost that can be easily borne for the sake of the greater good. Politicizing a pandemic in this way is beyond irresponsible – it is utterly reprehensible”, Ms. Bachelet said.  Worse still...

Priorities for a Post-Pandemic World -  Can the G20 deliver? (Virtual Event) Posted By PR Channel Team - Málaga (Remote) www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com The Observer Research Foundation (ORF) Geoeconomics Programme is delighted to host a day-long seminar titled, “Can the G20 deliver? Priorities for a Post-Pandemic World” on December 15, 2020, from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm Indian Standard Time.   The seminar seeks to explore the role of the G20 in the post-pandemic world and how it can be reconfigured, restructured, empowered to address global challenges. The seminar will also explore how India can lead the G20 in 2023, particularly on issues of international finance, business, trade, and monetary system.  This is first of many dialogues the ORF Geoeconomics Studies programme plans to host on the G20, globalisation, international financial architecture, and global business The speakers are expected to include policymakers from the government of India, Indian and foreign experts from...

Over 100 leading renewable energy players renew their call to action  Posted By PRChannel Team - City of London (Remote) www.GEOPoliticallMatters.com Leading Renewables Players Urge Governments to Align Recovery Measures with Paris Agreement With the Paris Agreement celebrating its fifth anniversary this week, all eyes are on the world’s governments to urgently scale-up climate action. Six months after calling for action  in response to COVID-19, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Coalition for Action  urges governments worldwide to step-up their efforts towards a green recovery. In a renewed call to action, over 100 leading renewable energy players, as members of the IRENA Coalition for Action, urge governments to correct course and reset their recovery priorities through six concrete actions. By placing a renewables-based energy transition at the heart of an economic recovery from COVID-19, governments can bring economic resilience and secure a climate-sa...

It isn’t over: WHO concerned at ‘growing perception’ COVID pandemic is passing  By Newsteam - City of London (Remote) www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded the alarm on Friday over the “growing perception” that the COVID-19 pandemic is over, despite exploding infection rates in some countries and enormous pressure growing on health services. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists at the regular Geneva briefing that progress on vaccines, in recent days, “gives us all a lift, and we can now start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.” He praised the United Kingdom’s emergency authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech rollout which is due to begin next week, describing it as “an important scientific step for the world”. “However, WHO is concerned that there is a growing perception that the pandemic is over”, he said, noting from the European experience of successful lockdowns followed by relaxation, that “as the...

COVID-19 recovery, focus of UN General Assembly special session - UN By NewsTeam - City of London (Remote) www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Nations united on Thursday for a special session of the UN General Assembly to survey the wreckage of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflect on the best response, and forge a path to better days ahead.  “Today marks an overdue and much needed moment of reckoning. None of us could have imagined, this time last year, what was to come”, said Assembly President Volkan Bozkir, speaking at the opening of the two-day gathering.  “The world is looking to the UN for leadership, to step up and take demonstrable action to address the greatest challenge our world is facing today. This crisis compels us to shake up how things are done, to be bold, and to restore confidence and trust in the United Nations.”   ‘Time to reset’  COVID-19 is first and foremost, a health crisis. Nearly 64 million cases have been recorded as of Thursday, including more than...

COVID-19 and the Balkans: Navigating conspiracy theories and geopolitics By NewsTeam - City of London (Remote) www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com The Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) host a discussion on the disruptive role of conspiracy theories amid COVID-19, geopolitical competition in the Western Balkans, and the implications for Euro-Atlantic integration. Join the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) on Thursday, December 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST / 17:30 hrs – 18:30 hrs CET for the launch of a new report, “The suspicious Virus: Conspiracies and COVID-19 in the Balkans.” The event features leading regional experts who conducted research in the Western Balkans six to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced geopolitical competition in the region, the disruptive role of conspiracy theories, and the implications for Euro-Atlantic integration. As ...

Sovereign Europe, dangerous world: Five agendas to protect Europe’s capacity to act By Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro - ECFR www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com At the end of April, the Netherlands Trade and Investment Office in Taipei changed its name to “Netherlands Office Taipei,” echoing moves made by Australia, Japan, Britain, and Poland over the last few years. But the Chinese response was different this time. As well as making diplomatic representations, Chinese government newspapers carried pieces attacking the Dutch government, called for boycotts of Dutch products, and halted the shipment of medical supplies to the Netherlands. This came at a time when the Netherlands had almost 40,000 confirmed cases of covid-19 and a higher death toll than the official numbers in China. EU member states are increasingly facing challenges that cut across borders – pandemics, financial crises, cyber attacks, climate change, refugee crises – and that can only be solved with collective action. But, t...