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December election call: MPs decide whether to back Johnson

MPs choose later whether to back Prime Minister Boris Johnson's call for a 12 December election. The motion requires the support of two-thirds of the House of Commons, which would be tricky without Labour backing.

An alternative Liberal Democrat-SNP plan involves bringing in a bill - requiring just a Commons majority - to enshrine in law a 9 December election. This would be under the condition that the Brexit deadline is extended to 31 January.

So are things likely to move in the next few days? We take a look.

Meanwhile, EU ambassadors meet today to decide how long a Brexit delay should last. They will consider a flexible extension (otherwise known as a "flextension") until 31 January - meaning it can be brought forward if Parliament agrees on a deal before then.

A draft text shows possible dates of 30 November, 31 December or 31 January. If the ambassadors don't set a date, the UK is set to leave the EU on Thursday. BBC Europe editor Katya Adler looks at views in Brussels.

And it's Monday, so why not refresh yourself on all the issues using our Brexit guide?

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: IS leader dead

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State (IS) group, killed himself by detonating a suicide vest during a US military operation in north-west Syria, US President Donald Trump has said. Baghdadi, announced the setting-up of a "caliphate" in areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014, under which multiple atrocities were carried out and thousands of people died.

Here we look at the life of Baghdadi. And we ask what his death means for IS in Syria.

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Essex lorry deaths: Man due in court

A 25-year-old man is due in court later over the deaths of 39 people whose bodies were found in a lorry trailer in Grays, Essex, last week. Maurice Robinson, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, will appear via videolink at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court. He is charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.

Meanwhile, DNA tests are being carried out in Vietnam to help identify the dead. Police are also looking into claims the lorry could have been part of a three-vehicle convoy carrying up to 100 people.

Three other people arrested in connection with the deaths have been released on bail.

Mystery of the skeleton hijacked by Nazis and Soviets

By Rob Cameron, in Prague

For decades, archaeologists have grappled with the identity of a 10th-Century skeleton discovered at Prague Castle, and the remains were exploited by both the Nazis and Soviets for ideological purposes. But attempts to pin a clear ethnic label on a 1,000-year-old corpse perhaps reveal more about us than him.

Read the full article

What the papers say

Several newspapers lead on the death of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Metro uses Donald Trump's comment that he "died like a dog" as its headline, while the Times says the operation is a "powerful retort" to critics of the US president's foreign policy. The Guardian says Mr Trump described the death in "vivid, indulgent" detail. Elsewhere, the i claims Boris Johnson is considering SNP-Lib Dem plans for a 9 December election, if his own call for one on 12 December fails. And the Daily Star reports that police officers are being allowed to leave training sessions containing "too much swearing".

Daily digest

EY investigation Gold, drug money and a major auditor's "cover-up"

Online bank crashes MPs demand action over rise in incidents

Katie Hill US congresswoman resigns after affair allegations

Argentina election Centre-left candidate wins presidency

If you see one thing today

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Molly Russell: Did her death change social media?

If you listen to one thing today

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Will my salmon swim home?

If you read one thing today

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The great black photographer you've never heard of

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Lookahead

Today The Chinese Communist Party's powerful Central Committee meets.

14:30 Home Secretary Priti Patel answers questions in the House of Commons.

On this day

1962 The USSR agrees to dismantle all its missiles based in Cuba, ending the immediate threat of nuclear war with the United States.

From elsewhere

Victim of brutal police raid breaks silence and demands reform (Sydney Morning Herald)

Can a restored Pompeii be saved from 'clambering' tourists? (New York Times)

The big picture: Rescue operation in flooded Surrey (Guardian)

Florida's rare ghost orchids are getting cut off from water (National Geographic)