World News Roundup: AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine approved; warships in Taiwan Strait and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Britain first to approve AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine

Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca as it battles a major winter surge driven by a new, highly contagious variant of the virus. AstraZeneca said the authorization was for a two-dose regime, and that the vaccine had been approved for use for emergency supply. Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine.

Migrants stranded in open air in Bosnia after relocation fails

Hundreds of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East were left stranded in the open air on Wednesday when an attempt to relocate them to another site in Bosnia after fire wrecked their temporary camp failed, police and migrants said. Fire destroyed Camp Lipa, near the town of Bihac in western Bosnia, last week. The migrants were supposed to be transferred to the town of Bradina, about 320 km away in central Bosnia.

U.S. warships transit Taiwan Strait for second time this month

Two U.S. warships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, the second such mission this month and coming almost two weeks after a Chinese aircraft carrier group used the same waterway. China, which claims democratically run Taiwan as its own territory, has been angered by stepped-up U.S. support for the island, including arms sales and sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait, further souring Beijing-Washington relations.

French truckers brace for disruption as Britain restores hard border with Europe

Red tape, new "smart borders" that don't talk to one another and ill-prepared traders threaten border chaos, French truckers warned a day before Britain restores a hard frontier with Europe. After clinching a narrow trade deal a week ago, Britain will complete its transition out of Europe's single market at 2300 GMT on Thursday. While the trade agreement maintains zero-tariff and zero-quota access between Britain and its biggest trading partner, there will be new customs formalities and paperwork.

In old Bangkok, a goddess resists a wave of gentrification

Inside the shrine of Chao Mae Thap Thim in Bangkok, a figurine of the sea goddess Mazu sits in the centre of a gold-framed altar of deities in a room festooned with lanterns and Chinese scriptures. Outside, a tall, newly erected metal fence stands between the goddess and a vast construction site, where a dozen trucks and excavators are waiting to move in and demolish the historic shrine once at the heart of the Thai capital's Chinese migrant community.

Pandemic made my last year in office the hardest, says emotional Merkel

Angela Merkel said in her last New Year's address to the nation as German chancellor that 2020 was by far the most difficult of her 15-year leadership, yet the start of vaccinations against COVID-19 made 2021 a year of hope. In a rare show of emotion, Merkel, who steered Germany and the European Union through the 2008 financial crisis, the Greek debt crisis a year later and the migrant crisis five years ago, condemned a protest movement opposed to lockdowns and said she would get vaccinated when the shot is widely available.

Landslide hits residential area in Norway, 10 hurt, 11 people missing

Ten people were injured, one of them critically, and 11 were classified as missing after a landslide in southern Norway swept away more than a dozen buildings in the early hours of Wednesday, police said. The landslide struck a residential area in the municipality of Gjerdrum, about 30 km (19 miles) north of the capital Oslo. Police said more than 900 people had been evacuated from the area.

Egyptian prosecution wants accusations against police excluded from Regeni case

Egypt's public prosecution told investigators on Wednesday to exclude Italian prosecutors' accusations against four Egyptian policemen from case documents on the 2016 killing of an Italian student in Cairo. The public prosecution's comments appeared intended to signal the officers are no longer considered suspects in Egypt and that Cairo does not want Italy to prosecute them.

Reuters cameraman detained in Ethiopia has seen no evidence against him, lawyer says

Reuters cameraman Kumerra Gemechu has been held in solitary confinement for nearly a week without charge or being given any evidence of wrongdoing, his lawyer said. His lawyer Melkamu Ogo said on Wednesday that police informed him that their lines of enquiry included accusations of disseminating false information, communicating with groups fighting the government, and disturbing the public's peace and security. However, he said he has seen no evidence.

Twenty-two killed in attack on Aden airport after new Yemen cabinet lands

At least 22 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on Aden airport on Wednesday, moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed Saudi-backed cabinet for government-held parts of Yemen. Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik said all members of the cabinet were "fine". But the attack underlined the difficulties facing a government intended by Saudi Arabia to unite two of its allies in the war against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.