BREXIT: MPS BACK JOHNSON'S PLAN TO LEAVE EU BY JAN 31Prime Minister Boris Johnson won approval for his Brexit deal in parliamenton Friday, the first step towards fulfilling his election pledge to deliverBritain's departure from the European Union by January 31 after hislandslide victory.Lawmakers voted by 358 to 234 pass the second reading of the legislation,underlining Johnson's large majority in parliament that should ensure asmooth ratification of the divorce deal to implement Britain's biggestpolicy shift in more than 40 years.More than three years since Britain voted to exit the EU in a 2016referendum, the deep uncertainty over Brexit has now been replaced by thefirm deadline of the end of January. Only after that will the prime ministerface talks to secure a trade deal with the bloc and another target date ofthe end of next year.Getting "the Brexit vote wrapped up for Christmas" was the main aim forJohnson showing that, unlike his predecessor Theresa May, he now had freereign to drive Brexit forward despite continued criticism from oppositionlawmakers."This is the time when we move on and discard the old labels of 'leave' and'remain' ... now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation,one United Kingdom," Johnson told parliament before the vote.MALAYSIAN PM'S STATEMENT ON INDIAN CITIZENSHIP 'FACTUALLY INCORRECT': MEAThe External Affairs Ministry on Friday termed as "factually incorrect"remarks reportedly made by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's thatIndia is taking action to deprive some Muslims of their citizenship.The ministry also said Malaysia should refrain from commenting on theinternal developments of India, especially without a right understanding ofthe facts.After visiting the media centre at the Kuala Lumpur Summit on Friday, Mr.Mohamad had reportedly said,"I am sorry to see that India, which claims tobe a secular state, is now taking action to deprive some Muslims of theircitizenship.""If we do that here, you know what will happen. There will be chaos, therewill be instability and everyone will suffer," he said.Responding to Mr. Mohamad's reported remarks, the ministry in a statementsaid, "According to media reports, the Prime Minister of Malaysia has yetagain remarked on a matter that is entirely internal to India.""The Citizenship (Amendment) Act provides for citizenship throughnaturalization to be fast-tracked for non-citizens who are persecutedminorities from three countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan)," itsaid.The ministry said the Act does not impact in any manner on the status of anycitizen of India, or deprive any Indian of any faith of her or hiscitizenship."Therefore, the Prime Minister of Malaysia's comment is factuallyinaccurate. We call upon Malaysia to refrain from commenting on internaldevelopments in India, especially without a right understanding of thefacts," it said.WANT IMMEDIATE TRIAL: TRUMPUS President Donald Trump pressed his Republican allies Thursday to exertrigid control of his Senate trial and ensure a swift exoneration, a dayafter he was impeached in a historic rebuke by the House of Representatives.A bitter fight looms over the coming trial, expected to begin as early asthe second week of January, with Senate leaders already drawing battle linesover the evidence that will be allowed.But its fate was left in limbo late Thursday when the Senate's powerfulmajority leader, Mitch McConnell signalled the standoff with Democrats overtrial particulars would continue into the new year."We remain at an impasse on these logistics," McConnell said on the floor,as he announced the Senate had completed its business until January.Trump seized on the uncertainty to attack House Democrats for seeking todemand key witnesses or dictate how McConnell should run the process."I want an immediate trial!" he boomed on Twitter."I got Impeached last night without one Republican vote being cast with theDo Nothing Dems on their continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in Americanhistory," Trump tweeted."Now the Do Nothing Party want to Do Nothing with the Articles & not deliverthem to the Senate, but it's Senate's call!" Trump, the third president inUS history to be impeached, suggested that the Democrats would "lose bydefault" if they decided not to show up at a date determined by the Senate.TRUMP TO GIVE ANNUAL ADDRESS TO CONGRESS AMID IMPEACHMENT DRAMAThe top Democrat in the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi, has written to PresidentDonald Trump inviting him to give his State of the Union speech on 4February amid the partisan impeachment battle.The annual speech would come during or soon after his trial in the Senate,where he is likely to be acquitted.He was formally impeached by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.House Speaker Pelosi told Associated Press he would be "impeached forever,no matter what the Senate does".The impeachment vote two days ago in the Democrat-led House ofRepresentatives split almost totally along party lines.Democrats and Republicans have yet to agree on when the upcoming Senatetrial will take place.XI REVELS IN MACAU HANDOVER PARTY AS HONG KONG SIMMERSMacau on Friday celebrated 20 years since the former Portuguese colony wasreturned to China, with President Xi Jinping praising the pliant gamblinghub for its patriotism, a stark contrast to protest-ravaged Hong Kong.The day's festivities centred around the inauguration of a new leader for acity that Xi described as a "shining chapter" of its "one country, twosystems" model.Ho Iat-seng, a former member of China's top lawmaking body, won a one-horserace this summer to become Macau's new chief executive -- a position that ischosen by a 400-member committee stacked with Beijing loyalists.Throughout his three-day visit, Xi has seized on Macau's comparativepolitical calm, a theme he continued in Friday's landmark speech as hepresided over Ho's swearing-in ceremony."A sense of nation and patriotic spirit has deeply taken root in the heartsof young people," Xi told delegates.TURKISH PROTESTERS MARCH IN SUPPORT OF UIGHURS AFTER OZIL COMMENTSThousands of protesters marched in support of China's Uighurs in Istanbul onFriday and voiced solidarity with Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil after thefurore caused by his criticism of China's policies toward the Muslimminority.Last week, soccer star Ozil, a German Muslim of Turkish origin, postedmessages on social media calling minority Uighurs "warriors who resistpersecution" and criticised both China's crackdown and the silence ofMuslims in response.Members of Istanbul crowd held up banners reading "Stop the cruelty" andchanted "Murderer China, get out of East Turkestan" and "East Turkestan isnot alone", using the name that Uighur exiles use for Xinjiang.The United Nations and human rights groups estimate that between 1 millionand 2 million people, mostly ethnic Uighur Muslims, have been detained inharsh conditions in Xinjiang as part of what Beijing calls an anti-terrorismcampaign.China has repeatedly denied any mistreatment of Uighurs and its foreignministry said Ozil had been deceived by "fake news"."Mesut Ozil's honorable behaviour inspired us... Everybody should raisetheir voice against this tyrant like Mesut did," Adem Adil said, a protestermarching with the crowd.Turkey has in the past expressed concern about the situation in Xinjiang,including in February at the U.N. Human Rights Council, but has notcommented over the Ozil affair.At the Kuala Lumpur summit on Thursday, a question from the audience on thetreatment of Uighurs was ignored after it was put to a dais that includedErdogan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Malaysian Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad.Last Saturday, club Arsenal tried to distance itself from his comments,saying it always adhered to the principle of not being involved in politics.Ozil has received support from former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whodefended the player's right to express his opinion.TIME, EFFORT NEEDED TO ADDRESS CONCERNS OF MUSLIM COUNTRIES, SAYS PAKISTANON ABSENCE FROM MALAYSIA SUMMITPakistan did not participate in a recent summit of Muslim nations inMalaysia as time and efforts were needed to address the concerns of majorMuslim countries regarding possible division in the Ummah (community),Foreign Office (FO) said on Friday.Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan decided to skip the Kuala Lumpur Summitdue to pressure exerted by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.Mr. Khan was scheduled to share the stage with leaders from Iran, Turkey andQatar during the three-day summit beginning on Wednesday.Pakistan will continue to work for the unity and solidarity of the Ummah,which is indispensable for effectively addressing the challenges faced bythe Muslim world, according to a statement by the FO.The statement was issued after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan toldmedia that Pakistan was forced by Saudi Arabia to stay away from thegathering.Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported Mr. Erdogan saying that Saudis usedtheir financial power to pressurize Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan whohad committed to attend the summit.POLAND LOWER HOUSE APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL JUDGES LAWPoland has approved a controversial law which makes it easier to dismissjudges critical of the governing party's judicial reforms.The legislation passed by 233 votes to 205 in the lower house of parliamentin Warsaw on Friday.It came just hours after the European Commission urged Poland to reconsiderthe proposed changes.Demonstrators rallied in their thousands across Poland earlier this month toprotest against the law.On Wednesday, the country's Supreme Court warned that Poland could be forcedto leave the EU over its reforms.The law now goes to the Senate after passing on Friday. The upper chambercannot block the legislation, though it can delay it.Under the legislation, championed by the socially conservative Law andJustice (PiS) party government, judges can be punished for engaging in"political activity".Any judge that questions the legitimacy of other judges nominated by theNational Council of the Judiciary might be handed a fine, have theirsalaries cut, or in some cases be dismissed.ABE, ROUHANI DISCUSS IRAN NUCLEAR DEALJapan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday called on Iranian PresidentHassan Rouhani, urging him to stick to the commitments made under the 2015nuclear agreement, of which the US withdrew last year.During a meeting between Abe and Rouhani in Tokyo, the Japanese PrimeMinister expressed his wishes that Iran "play a constructive role" for themaintenance of peace in the Middle East.