Features - Page 207

The clock is ticking on the UK’s final day in the EU, as 47 years as a member state comes to an end at 23:00 GMT on Friday.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has been elected to lead the health select committee of MPs which will scrutinise the government's health policies and the performance of the NHS.

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.75 per cent after Mark Carney’s final interest rate meeting as governor.

The European Parliament approved the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement with a majority of 621 votes to 49 in Brussels on Wednesday evening.

Rebecca Long-Bailey will be on the final ballot to become Labour leader after an endorsement from the Fire Brigades Union was enough to see her become the third candidate to gain the required support.

Former Labour prime ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair have endorsed their fellow Scot, Ian Murray, in his bid to become Labour's new deputy leader.

US president Donald Trump has publicised his peace plan for the Middle East, proposing an independent Palestinian state and the retention of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.

The European Parliament is expected to see Brexit clear its final hurdle on Wednesday as it votes on approving the Withdrawal Agreement.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said that there will be some customs checks on goods moving between Northern Ireland and Great Britain after Brexit as an “indispensable” part of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Tuesday evening saw several senior royals, faith leaders and politicians attend Westminster for the UK commemoration of International Holocaust Memorial Day, 75 years on from the liberation of Auschwitz.

Labour leadership candidate Sir Keir Starmer will make the case for a “new political consensus” in East London on Monday, having said ahead of his speech that the “monopoly of power” in Westminster must end.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has told the BBC that the EU will have greater leverage in negotiations over a future trade deal with the UK, ahead of a meeting with chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier in Dublin.

Prosecutors in Angola have accused Africa’s richest woman Isabel dos Santos of a range of offences including fraud, embezzlement and money laundering, urging her to return to the country to potentially face possible criminal proceedings.

Chancellor Sajid Javid has told business leaders in Davos that the UK will only seek to diverge from EU rules after Brexit where it is "in the interests of British business" to do so.