Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, December 21st, and this is your F.T. News briefing.

Several EU countries have banned travel from the UK as scientists identify a new strain of coronavirus that is 70% more transmissible.

In the US, Congress is closing in on a deal over a new round of stimulus that will protect the

Fed's ability to lend to cities and states.

In China, shopping sites are rushing to build their own global freight networks,

and our Brexit editor wonders whether the UK's stock market can ever get back its mojo.

I'm Brendan Greeley in for Mark Philippino and here's the news you need to start your day.

A highly infectious variant of the coronavirus has emerged in Southeast England.

According to the World Health Organization, the new strain, B-117, is spreading rapidly to the rest of the UK and has already been detected in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia.

Two aspects of B-117 give cause for concern.

One is the unprecedented number of mutations it carries. The other is the speed with which it supplanting other strains of the virus in Southeast England.

It's important to note, however, that so far there is no evidence that the mutations are affecting the course of the illness in infected patients or the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines in development.

News of the variant strain prompted a number of EU countries to halt travel from the UK over the weekend,

including Germany, France, and Ireland.

This was after Boris Johnson had scrapped his earlier plans to loosen restrictions over Christmas.

In the U.S.

lawmakers from both parties announced on Sunday night

that they had reached an agreement on a new round of economic stimulus.

estimated at $900 billion, it would be one of the largest economic relief bills in U.S. history,

second only to the 2.2 trillion

Cares Act in March of this year.

The package is expected to include means tested payments of up to $600 for

...