Prime Minister Boris Johnson says British and French officials are working "to unblock the flow of trade as fast as possible" after France barred U.K. trucks over concerns about a new variant of the coronavirus. There are kilometres-long lineups of trucks waiting to get out of Britain near the Port of Dover. France has banned trucks from entering for 48 hours while a new strain of COVID-19 that is spreading in southeast England is assessed.Dozens of countries have barred flights from the U.K. because of the new variant, which scientists believe is more easily transmitted. Southern England, wh

More than 300 schoolboys kidnapped last week in an attack on their school in northwest Nigeria have arrived in the capital of Katsina state to celebrate their release. The boys were abducted one week ago from the all-boys Government Science Secondary School in Kankara in Katsina state village. Nigeria's Boko Haram jihadist rebels claimed responsibility for the abduction, saying they attacked the school because it believes Western education is un-Islamic, factional leader Abubakar Shekau said in a video earlier this week. More than 800 students were at the school at the time of the attack. Hun

A North Carolina police officer and an armed suspect have been killed outside a fast food restaurant after a shootout that also left another officer wounded. The shooting happened late Wednesday night in Concord, which is just northeast of Charlotte. Authorities identified the slain officer as Officer Jason Shuping, who joined the force last year. Police Chief Gary J. Gacek says two officers encountered a carjacking suspect at a Sonic Drive-in and were shot. He says another two officers then arrived and fatally shot the suspect. The fatal shooting marks the second time since last week that a

President-elect Joe Biden says his Electoral College victory of the same magnitude as President Donald Trump's in 2016 is a signal that the current president should finally accept his own defeat in this year's election. Biden noted during a speech Monday in Wilmington, Delaware, that Trump called his 2016 tally of 306 electoral votes a "landslide." Biden says if that constituted a clear victory then, he wanted to "respectfully suggest" that Trump now accept Biden's victory this year. Trump has refused to concede defeat in the presidential vote, making repeated and unfounded allegations of wid

US President Donald Trump's campaign is joining an improbable case before the Supreme Court, challenging election results in Pennsylvania and other states that he lost. Trump is apparently trying to look past the justices' rejection of a last-gasp bid to reverse Pennsylvania's certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory. The suit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, demands the 62 total Electoral College votes in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin be invalidated.

Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother on Tuesday became the first Briton/person in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine shot outside of a clinical trial.The United Kingdom has become the first Western nation to begin vaccinating its citizens with a coronavirus shot outside of clinical trials, a landmark moment amid the pandemic, CNN reported.Those who are vaccinated will be issued with a "vaccination passport" containing details such as date of vaccination and date of the first inoculation to remind people when to receive the second jab.The vaccine has to be administered twice

The US Department of Justice is refusing to comment on media reports that its lawyers are seeking a plea deal of sorts with Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou. The Wall Street Journal reports Justice Department lawyers have approached Huawei's chief financial officer about the possibility of a so-called deferred prosecution agreement. The newspaper says in exchange for admitting wrongdoing, Meng would be allowed to leave Canada and Vancouver, where she has been awaiting possible extradition to the US for the last two years. Meng was arrested in Vancouver two years ago at the behest of US off

New data shows Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is showing signs of producing lasting immunity. The American biotech firm says it will have as many as 125 million doses available by the end of March. Health Canada is expected to approve Moderna's candidate shortly, and Ottawa has signed an agreement with the drugmaker to buy at least 20 million doses. Currently only two million doses are supposed to arrive in the first three months of 2021, but the company says it should have 15 to 25 million doses available for non-U. S. deliveries before the end of March.

British police say four people have died following an explosion in a silo that holds treated biosolids at a waste water treatment plant near the southwest England city of Bristol. Chief Inspector Mark Runacres of Avon and Somerset Police said three employees of Wessex Water and one contractor died in the incident, which is not being treated as terror-related. He said a fifth person was injured during the explosion at Avonmouth. His condition is not thought to be life-threatening. The explosion took place in a silo holding organic matter from sewage before it "is recycled to land as an organic