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Brexit bill to block further delay

With Brexit almost certain to happen next month - but little changing in practice as we enter a transition period - the government is trying to make it illegal for Parliament to extend that situation beyond the end of 2020. Until then, the UK will broadly follow EU rules while negotiators attempt to thrash out a future trade deal. Currently, the parties are able to extend that transition by up to two years. But the government says it intends to rule that out by amending the Withdrawal Agreement Bill the Commons is set to vote on this week.

It is designed to underline to Leave voters who backed Boris Johnson's Conservatives for the first time that he is determined to deliver Brexit, says our political correspondent Iain Watson. "Government sources say having a hard deadline will also focus the minds of both sets of negotiators on achieving a deal," he adds. Critics argue this raises the chance of leaving the EU without a trade deal. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer describes the move as "reckless and irresponsible", saying the prime minister is "prepared to put people's jobs at risk".

Boeing to halt 737 Max production

It's nine months since a 737 Max airliner last left a runway, in the wake of two crashes that killed more than 300 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Yet Seattle-based Boeing continued production of its troubled jet as it redesigned its automated control system. However, with US regulators making clear the grounded planes will not be certified to fly again before the new year, the manufacturer says it will temporarily halt production in January. Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt says this will cause "chaos" for airlines, Boeing and about 600 companies in the supply chain.

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Rape convictions: Justice system near 'breaking point'

The year to March saw a record 58,657 allegations of rape, yet just 1,925 successful prosecutions. Now the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate says "under-resourced" police investigations are causing a "damning" number of cases to be lost. Cuts have also left the justice system "close to breaking point", the watchdog adds. It rejected claims prosecutors are unfairly selective about cases they pursue, pointing out a 23% reduction in the number referred by police. However, Sarah Green, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, questions the report, saying it seeks to "leave many questions at the police front door".

Out of university halls and into homelessness

By Alice Porter, BBC Victoria Derbyshire programme

More than 8,000 university students in the UK are estranged from their families, figures show. They often experience severe financial difficulties, loneliness and even homelessness during the holidays. Cereza, a student at Queen Mary University of London, describes her childhood as very difficult. Leaving for university, she says, was the "final thing that tore my family apart".

At the end of the academic year, she says she had to move her belongings alone, using a shopping trolley. "I just ended up couch surfing, just trying to survive, just trying to find the money to eat," she says, recalling how she stayed at eight different friends' houses during one summer holiday.

Read the full report

What the papers say

Some papers lead on what the Times calls a "tough new line" from Boris Johnson on EU trade talks, which are set to begin once the UK has left in the EU at the end of January. However, in ruling out an extension to the transition period - which currently keeps UK-EU arrangements broadly as they are throughout 2020 to give businesses time to adjust - the prime minister "raises fears of a cliff-edge next year", says the Financial Times. Read the full review.

Daily digest

Labour Thornberry warned of neutral Brexit stance danger

Fire brigade London service 'slow and wasteful'

Iran Threat has not gone away, warns Royal Navy head

Migrant camp Children 'say they want to die'

If you watch one thing today

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Little Women stars' real-life sisterhood

If you listen to one thing today

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Amazon: Is there any escape?

If you read one thing today

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The man who put Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin

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Lookahead

09:30 The Office for National Statistics releases unemployment figures covering the three months to October.

11:00 "Black cab rapist" John Worboys, who was jailed in 2009 for a string of sex assaults on 12 victims in London, is to be sentenced at the Old Bailey for four additional sex attacks in which he drugged his victims.

On this day

1983 Three police officers and three civilians are killed and 90 others injured in an IRA car bomb attack near Harrods department store in central London.

From elsewhere

Northern Ireland's post-election refocus (Politico)

Watch out, Whitehall. Dominic Cummings has some tough love in store for us (Guardian)

How big advertisement companies are taking away people's daylight (Independent)

What makes a home? For children all over the country... this question might be difficult to answer (Big Issue North)