 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you major news developments from around the world. Our headlines. UK and European Union agree on Brexit deal. Donald Trump pardons Blackwater guards responsible for massacres in Iraq. US Congress prepares to hold override vote after President Trump vetoes defense bill. And Sudan and Ethiopia fail to reach agreement on demarcation as border talks conclude. The United Kingdom and the European Union have finalized the post-Brexit deal. The announcement was made on December 24th, that's today. Just a week before the UK set to exit the European Union, a Downing Street official was quoted as saying that the UK had gained control over its money, borders, law, trade, etc. However it remains to be seen what kind of chaos might happen after Brexit actually happens. The agreement document reportedly is around 2000 pages and has a broad scope over issues such as trade and transport. The deal was finalized after a phone call between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement now has to be ratified by both sides. The UK Parliament, in which the Conservative Party is a majority, is expected to approve the deal before December 31st. Furthermore, all 27 members of the European Union will also have to approve the deal before it is sent to the European Parliament. The UK has now been able to successfully avert a no-deal Brexit which would have forced the country to default to WTO training rules. In our next story, US President Donald Trump has pardoned four Blackwater guards convicted of murdering innocent Nakhiraki citizens. The guards had opened fire on the Iraqi civilians in Nisud Square in western Baghdad on September 16, 2007. 14 people were murdered that day including two children. Another 17 civilians were wounded. Blackwater was a private firm that was contracted by the US Army during its invasion of Iraq. The terms of the contract protected contractors from criminal or civil proceedings in the country. A case against the guards was initially dismissed by a Washington court in 2009 over admissibility issues of certain evidence. The higher court later reinstated the 32 charges against the guards and fresh proceedings began in 2014. Nicholas Slatin, who was a founder of the Initiality Massacre, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Paul Slow, Ivan Liberty and Dustin Hurd were convicted and charged of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and weapons charges. They were sentenced to 30 years. However, US Federal Judge Royce Lambert commuted the sentences of the three guards to essentially halved the duration in 2017. These Blackwater guards will now be set free. The decision is outraged as received widespread outrage and condemnation in Iraq and across the world. US lawyer Paul Dickinson, who had represented the six Iraqi families in the lawsuit, has denounced the decision as a miscarriage of justice. Iraq's foreign minister has urged the US to review the decision considering the seriousness of the crimes. Continuing with the United States, the President Donald Trump has vetoed a $740 billion defense authorization bill. The bipartisan bill will now head back to Congress for a second round of voting on December 28. A two-by-third majority will be required to override the presidential veto. Trump has stated that the bill does not include critical security measures, does not supposedly respect the military's history and contradicts the efforts of the administration to put America first in national security and foreign policy design. The president had previously issued veto threats over the renaming of bases that commemorated Confederate soldiers, as well as over an unrelated provision to remove liability protections for social media companies. In spite of Trump's opposition, the bill had strong bipartisan support in the Senate, where it was passed with a majority of 84 to 13, and House of Representatives where it was passed with a majority of 335 to 78. The bill has a sweeping mandate including key defense expenditure, geopolitical strategy, as well as the salaries of service members. Trump's veto will most likely be overturned by Congress, however this is the first time in 61 years that the bill has required a second vote to be passed. And finally, Sudan and Ethiopia have failed to reach an agreement regarding the demarcation of their shared border. The two countries had decided to hold talks in the aftermath of a cross-border clash between their forces in the Al-Fashkar region on December 15th. The meeting was held in Sudan's capital Khartoum on 22nd and 23rd. So many soldiers were repeatedly attacked in Al-Tayur in the Al-Fashkar region. While the areas recognized as being on the Sudanese side, Ethiopian farmers have settled there for decades. However, this settlement was never formally recognized by either side, which reportedly resulted in Ethiopian militias gaining de facto control over the area. Ethiopian authorities stated that the December 15th ambush was a precautionary measure after Sudanese militants had encroached on Ethiopian territory and vandalized farmer settlements. Ethiopia has previously never laid official territorial claim on the region. It has also refused to accept the border delineation drawn in 1903. Another meeting to discuss a formal demarcation of the border is reportedly going to be held in Addis Ababa. However, a date has not yet been announced. In the meantime, the Sudanese army has declared it will continue to operate to retake Sudanese territory as per the 1903 demarcation plan. That's all we have time for today. We'll be back on Monday with more news from around the world. Until then, keep watching People's Dispatch.