World

Immigrants in the US await Joe Biden’s presidency with a mix of hope and wariness — he spells relief after four years of tough restrictions under Donald Trump, but he served as vice president under Barack Obama, whom many referred to as “the deporter in chief.” On the surface, Biden is making the right noises.  Gabriela Hernandez, a 22-year-old who came to the US from El Salvador at age five with her mother, says she is “not too big of a fan” of the next president — but she is “pretty optimistic that this administration is going to try to…

Brexit finally becomes a reality on Thursday as Britain leaves Europe’s customs union and single market, ending nearly half a century of often turbulent ties with its closest neighbours. The UK’s tortuous departure from the European Union takes full effect when Big Ben strikes 11:00 pm (2300 GMT) in central London, just as most of the European mainland ushers in 2021 at midnight. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it an “amazing moment”, which would make Britain “an open, generous, outward-looking, internationalist and free-trading” country. “We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the…