BREXIT DONE: UK LEAVES EU AS BORIS JOHNSON HAILS NEW DAWNThe UK has officially left the European Union after 47 years of membership -and more than three years after it voted to do so in a referendum.The historic moment, which happened at 23:00 GMT, was marked by bothcelebrations and anti-Brexit protests.Candlelit vigils were held in Scotland, which voted to stay in the EU, whileBrexiteers partied in London's Parliament Square.Boris Johnson has vowed to bring the country together and "take us forward".In a message released on social media an hour before the UK's departure, theprime minister said: "For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope,a moment they thought would never come."And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss."And then of course there is a third group - perhaps the biggest - who hadstarted to worry that the whole political wrangle would never come to anend."I understand all those feelings and our job as the government - my job - isto bring this country together now and take us forward."He said that "for all its strengths and for all its admirable qualities, theEU has evolved over 50 years in a direction that no longer suits thiscountry"."The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but abeginning," he said, and "a moment of real national renewal and change".Hundreds gathered in Parliament Square to celebrate Brexit, singingpatriotic songs and cheering speeches from leading Brexiteers, includingNigel Farage.Other symbolic moments on a day of mixed emotions included:.The Union flag being removed from the European Union institutions inBrussels.The Cabinet meeting in Sunderland, the first city to declare in favour ofBrexit when the 2016 results were announced.A light show illuminating 10 Downing Street and Union flags lining The Mall.A 50p coin to mark the occasion entering circulationTRUMP IMPEACHMENT: FAILED WITNESSES VOTE PAVES WAY FOR ACQUITTALUS President Donald Trump is set to be acquitted in his impeachment trialafter senators voted against calling witnesses or admitting new evidence.Democrats hoped four swing Republicans would vote for witnesses, which wouldhave extended the trial without in all likelihood changing its outcome.In the end, only two of the four Republicans voted with Democrats.The trial now moves forward to a vote on whether to acquit President Trump,which he is all but certain to win.Senior members of President Trump's Republican Party pushed from the outsetfor a speedy trial with no witnesses or new evidence. Above all, they wantedto avoid senators hearing from former National Security Adviser John Bolton.According to reporting by the New York Times, Mr Bolton writes in hisforthcoming book that the president directly instructed him to withholdmilitary aid from Ukraine in exchange for dirt on a Democratic politicalrival, Joe Biden.Testimony from Mr Bolton about his involvement in the Ukraine affairthreatened to significantly undermine the case made by the president'slawyers during his trial.The final vote on whether or not to acquit Mr Trump will be held on 5February.CORONAVIRUS | DEATH TOLL RISES TO 259, NEARLY 12,000 CONFIRMED INFECTIONS INCHINAThe death toll from China's new coronavirus outbreak has risen to 259 andthe tally of confirmed infections has surged to nearly 12,000, thegovernment said on February 1.The National Health Commission said in its daily update that 46 more peoplehad succumbed to the respiratory disease.All but one of the new deaths came in hardest-hit Hubei province, theepicentre of an outbreak that has spread around the world.The virus emerged in December in Hubei's provincial capital Wuhan, and hasbeen traced to a meat market that sold wild game.The number of infections in China also rose, by 2,102, bringing thenationwide total to 11,791.That's despite unprecedented quarantine measures imposed last week onmillions of people in Hubei and aggressive preventive steps elsewhere in thecountry.The number of new deaths and newly confirmed cases have both spiralledhigher on a daily basis since China sounded the nationwide alarm a week ago.The epidemic has spread far and wide as huge numbers of Chinese travelledwithin and outside the country for the Lunar New Year holiday that startedlast week.It has since ballooned into a global health emergency with cases in morethan two dozen countries.The top Communist Party official in Wuhan expressed "remorse" on January 31,saying local authorities acted too slowly in containing the virus.Meanwhile, US has declared a public health emergency over the spread of thecoronavirus and said it would deny entry to any foreign nationals who havevisited China in the past two weeks.US citizens returning from Hubei province, where the outbreak started, willbe quarantined for 14 days.BREXIT A HISTORIC WARNING SIGN FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION: MACRONBrexit is a "historic warning sign" for the European Union, French PresidentEmmanuel Macron said hours before Britain's departure from the EU, addingthat it meant "we need more Europe"."This departure is a shock. It's a historic warning sign which must...beheard by all of Europe and make us reflect," Mr. Macron said in a shorttelevised address.The French leader said he believed Brexit had been made possible because EUmembers had a tendency to "make Europe a scapegoat for our own problems."President Macron, who was elected on a promise to transform the EU, alsoargued that Britain's decision to leave was enabled by the fact that "we didnot change Europe enough".Faced with competition from China and the U.S., "we need more Europe", hewent on, reiterating the themes of his historic Sorbonne speech of September2017. Calling Friday a "sad day" he attacked the "lies, exaggerations,simplifications and cheques promised that never arrived" of the BrexitReferendum Campaign of 2016."We must always remember where lies can lead our democracies," he saidsolemnly. Mr. Macron, who hosted the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnierearlier Friday for talks in Paris, also sounded a firm note on the upcomingnegotiations between London and Brussels on their future relationship.While saying he hoped for the "closest, most solid, most enduringpartnership possible" he warned: "It won't be the same as the relationshipwe have had for several decades. You cannot be both in and out."US TRAVEL BAN: TRUMP RESTRICTS IMMIGRATION FROM NIGERIA AND FIVE OTHERCOUNTRIESThe US has announced it is expanding its curbs on immigration to include sixmore countries, including Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.Citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar willnow be blocked from obtaining certain types of visas.People from those countries will still be able to visit the US as tourists.In 2018 the US issued twice as many immigration visas to Nigeria than to theother five nations combined.An official said the new measures were the result of failures by the sixcountries to meet US security and information-sharing standards."These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful but for a variety ofdifferent reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that welaid out," acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters onFriday.EUROZONE ECONOMY RECORDS WORST YEAR SINCE 2013The eurozone economy, which is made up of the 19 countries that use the eurocurrency, ended 2019 with a whimper and recorded its worst year of growthsince the height of the single currency bloc's debt crisis in 2013.In its first estimate for the quarter, statistics agency Eurostat said theeurozone grew by only 0.1 per cent from the previous three-month period, itslowest rate since the first quarter of 2013.The growth recorded was lower than the 0.2 per cent anticipated in themarkets and was largely due to the fact that two of the eurozone's biggesteconomies, France and Italy, both contracted. According to their respectivestatistics agencies, their economies shrank by 0.1 per cent and 0.3 percent.France has endured a series of strikes over the winter that have hurtbusiness while Italy's economy has struggled for years to grow at all.Eurostat did not provide further detail to illustrate why growth was so lowand many countries have still to report quarterly numbers.The figures highlight how the eurozone has lost steam amid worries over atrade war between the U.S. and China that is having knock-on effects aroundthe world.For 2019 as a whole, the eurozone grew by only 1.2 per cent, its lowest ratesince 2013, when it shrank by 0.2 per centas several countries, particularlyGreece, were mired in a recession that threatened the very future of theeuro.In a separate report, Eurostat found that the annual rate of inflationacross the eurozone rose to 1.4 per cent in January from 1.3 per centtheprevious month. However, the core rate, which strips out volatile items suchas food and energy, fell to 1.1% in January from 1.3 per cent.By whatever measure, inflation remains below the European Central Bank'sgoal of just below 2 per cent. The ECB is running a stimulus program tonudge up inflation and growth, but is also undergoing a thorough review ofhow it tries to do that, including whether it should change its inflationtarget.UN SECURITY COUNCIL URGES IMMEDIATE END TO FIGHTING IN YEMENThe UN Security Council called Thursday for an immediate end to a"significant" escalation in fighting in Yemen between Houthi Shiite rebelsand the Saudi-led military coalition supporting the government.Member nations on the UN's most powerful body "underlined theirdisappointment" at the return to violence in a statement, saying it"threatens to undermine progress made during the recent period ofde-escalation in Yemen."The council expressed hope "that a renewed de-escalation would create spacefor the Yemeni parties to move towards comprehensive and inclusive UN-lednegotiations urgently, on the security and political arrangements necessaryto end the conflict and move towards a peaceful transition."The council statement followed a briefing Tuesday by the UN special envoyfor Yemen, Martin Griffiths. He urged a halt to the recent "alarmingmilitary escalation" in fighting "before it is too late."Less than two weeks ago, Griffiths had reported to the council on a majorreduction in military operations and other initiatives. He expressed hopethen that this would lead to talks between the government and Iranian-backedHouthis on ending the five-year conflict in the Arab world's poorest nation.