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EU considers Brexit delay as MPs mull election

While EU ambassadors meet in Brussels to discuss whether to offer the UK yet another extension to the Brexit process, all the talk in Westminster is about the possibility of the first December general election in nearly a century. Most EU states are thought to favour postponing Brexit until January, with an option for the UK to leave earlier if Parliament ratifies the deal agreed with Boris Johnson. Having been thwarted in an attempt to get that agreement approved in three days, the prime minister has offered MPs extra time to scrutinise the agreement, provided they agree to a 12 December election.

Should a three-month extension be granted, the government says there will be a Commons vote on an election on Monday. "Take no deal off the table, and we absolutely support an election," says Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. However, our political editor Laura Kuenssberg says some senior Labour figures believe the "smart thing would be to leave the PM in his purgatory, twisting". Mr Corbyn, along with the SNP and Lib Dems, says he will decide once he knows the length of the Brexit extension. There is a catch, however, in the prospect of what correspondents describe as a "curious stand-off": the EU might wait for Westminster's decision on an election before agreeing any extension.

Lorry death victims undergo post-mortem examinations

Post-mortem examinations are due to be carried out on some of the 39 people found dead in a lorry in Essex. Police believe the eight women and 31 men in the refrigerated unit were Chinese. With their nationality still to be confirmed, China's ambassador to the UK says he has sent a team to Essex to help police identify the victims. One of the UK's leading forensic pathologists suggests that will be a "very slow, organised process". Meanwhile, detectives have been granted extra time to hold lorry driver Mo Robinson, 25, on suspicion of murder.

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A million people's help urged on invasive species

Do you know an Asian hornet or an oak processionary moth caterpillar when you see one? If so, your country might just need you. Some 1.3 million volunteers should be recruited to tackle invasive non-native species, as the effects of climate change threaten the future of the UK's natural landscape, according to MPs. With between 36 and 48 such species expected to establish themselves within 20 years, Environmental Audit Committee chairwoman Mary Creagh says we need "an army of volunteers trained to spot and stop" them. The government says damage to ecosystems costs the economy more than £1.7bn a year and it is "committed" to addressing a problem.

The software that spies on your partner

By Joe Tidy, BBC cyber-security reporter

"My husband passed me his phone to show me a picture," says Amy. "In that split-second I saw an alert pop up on his screen. It read, 'Daily report on Amy's Mac is ready to view.' I felt this chill go through me and I stopped breathing for a minute."

Stalkerware - also known as spouseware - are powerful surveillance software programs typically sold openly online. On a device, all messages can be read, screen activity recorded, GPS locations tracked and cameras used to spy on what an individual is doing.

Read the full article

What the papers say

Several papers lead with Boris Johnson's "challenge" to opponents of a December general election to "end this nightmare" - as the Daily Telegraph puts it - of an impasse over Brexit. Labour is in chaos over how to respond, according to the Times, while the i says Mr Johnson's team is also split on the idea as it describes a "stand-off" between the two main parties. Read the full review.

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Lookahead

08:00 The London Eye will move backwards for an hour - the first time it has moved in reverse - to mark the end of British Summer Time.

13:30 Canadian writer Margaret Atwood receives her Companion of Honour award at an investiture ceremony in Windsor Castle.

On this day

1983 US marines and army rangers invade the Caribbean island of Grenada following a bloody coup by Cuban-trained military who executed Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and at least 13 of his associates.

From elsewhere

How people-smuggling gangs use refrigerated lorries to hide their human cargo from port officials' thermal cameras (Mail)

Why open-plan offices get a bad rap (Economist)

I went 10 days avoiding single-use plastic. It was impossible. (Mashable)

The era of the supercoach is defining this Rugby World Cup (Guardian)