The Spectator

Can a royal who grew up third in line to the throne marry a rich American and move over there? Swedes have been here before: Princess Madeleine, sister to the Crown Princess, did this a few years ago. She now lives in Florida, and her example could be instructive to Prince Harry and Meghan. Like Harry, she first tried love at home, but it didn’t work out: her 2009 engagement to Jonas Bergström, a lawyer, was broken off after rumours of him cheating on her. The news rocked Sweden and when she moved to New York shortly after, it was seen to be quite understandable. And then she just stayed there.

The Iranian government has faced growing internal pressure following the downing of a civilian jet last week. The Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot down on Wednesday shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 passengers on board. The regime has since taken responsibility for the deaths, blaming 'human error' amid rising tensions with the US following the assassination of Qasim Soleimani. Some have suggested that the regime's tragic error could signal the beginning of the end for Iran's theocratic dictatorship as increasing numbers of Iranians take to the streets. Over the weekend, the British ambassador was arrested while attending a vigil for those who died on the Ukrainian flight, including four Brits.

The new president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen made a speech to the London School of Economics earlier today. During the speech, von der Leyen said: 'Without an extension of the transition period beyond 2020, you cannot expect to agree on every single aspect of our new partnership. We will have to prioritise.' You can listen to the speech and read the full transcript below: Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure to be back here at the London School of Economics – a place which brings back so many happy memories for me. The year I spent here taught me so much – both in and out of LSE. As anyone who knew me at the time will tell you, I spent more time in Soho bars and Camden record stores than I did reading books in Senate House Library.

With just 35 minutes of 1999 to go, and as most of the country was preparing to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium, Peter Snow was desperately trying to fill airtime. He was the BBC’s Millennium Bug correspondent on a marathon 28-hour live broadcast called '2000 Today', and every hour or two he would update viewers on which countries had fallen victim while standing in front of a large world map.  The only problem was that the bug did not appear to be striking…anywhere. At the time the bug was a major worry. The concern was that when the date rolled over to 2000, because computers may only store the date as two digits – '99' instead of '1999' – suddenly systems across the world could revert to thinking that it was 1900.

The House of Commons has voted to back Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Agreement Bill, setting the country on course to leaving the European Union at the end of January. The Bill was passed by the Commons by 358 votes to 234, a majority of 124 (substantially higher than the majority the government won at the election).

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons. My Government’s priority is to deliver the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on 31 January. My Ministers will bring forward legislation to ensure the United Kingdom’s exit on that date and to make the most of the opportunities that this brings for all the people of the United Kingdom. Thereafter, my Ministers will seek a future relationship with the European Union based on a free trade agreement that benefits the whole of the United Kingdom. They will also begin trade negotiations with other leading global economies. The integrity and prosperity of the United Kingdom is of the utmost importance to my Government.