The EU granted a request by the UK to extend the Brexit deadline by three months, moving the UK’s departure date to Friday, January 31, next year.
EU Council President Donald Tusk made the announcement on Monday after a meeting of ambassadors from the 27 other EU member states in Brussels.
Mr Tusk said the EU was offering a "flextension", meaning that the UK could leave before the deadline if a Brexit deal had been ratified.
The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will try to call a snap election on Monday afternoon in a bid to end the impasse.
However, the prime minister needs the backing of two-thirds of MPs' support for an early poll. He has said the election date should be December 12.
The UK's main opposition party, Labour, looks likely to abstain from the vote but two other opposition parties have indicated they could back the early election call.
The government is believed to be considering an option proposed by the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats to hold an election on December 9.
France's President Emmanuel Macron was initially reluctant to grant the UK another extension.
But French objections were dropped after UK opposition parties hinted they could support a December poll.
"The prospect of elections has strengthened significantly over the weekend," a source close to Mr Macron told Reuters.
The European Parliament's Brexit Coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, said he was relieved that "no one died in a ditch", referring to a speech by Mr Johnson last month in which he suggested he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than delay Brexit.
Mr Johnson said it is Parliament’s fault, not his, that Britain will not be leaving as intended on October 31.
His spokesman, James Slack, said Mr Johnson secured “a great new deal, he set out a timetable that would have allowed the UK to leave on October 31 with that deal - and Parliament blocked it".
Mr Slack said the prime minister has not yet seen the EU letter confirming a Brexit delay.
But the German government welcomed the EU’s agreement, with spokesman Steffen Seibert calling it a “good solution".
Speaking in Berlin, Mr Seibert said it was “very positive” that the other 27 EU countries had shown unity on the issue.
He said “the ball now lies with Great Britain. And it’s important to use the additional time productively".
In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan also welcomed the decision, tweeting on Monday that the decision was positive for the UK and takes the “immediate risk of a catastrophic no-deal” Brexit off the table.
Mr Khan said the extension should be used for a public vote.
“It’s time to give the British public the final say on Brexit,” he said.
The delay reduces the risk of a damaging no-deal Brexit but prolongs uncertainty over how and when the UK will leave the EU.
The UK had already started its no-deal plans ahead of the scheduled leave date at the end of the month.
A motorway operation in Kent on the south-east coast of England began on Monday morning and was designed to keep traffic moving in case of disruption at the port of Dover.
One side of the M20 was restricted to lorries heading across the English Channel as part of Operation Brock.
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The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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RACE CARD
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m
8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m
8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m
9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
