Brexit
Belfast in turmoil as Brexit stokes tensions in Northern Ireland
The unrest started last week in the pro-UK unionist community, where tensions are high because of new post-Brexit rules some feel are dividing the region from...
The unrest emanates from the unionist community -- which believes in Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom -- and where some feel a new post-Brexit 'protocol' is an existential threat.
Under post-Brexit working terms, au pairs now must earn a minimum of £20,000 ($28,000) per year to obtain a work visa. That is significantly higher than the £5,000 per year typically given in the past.
New Year's Day newspapers reflected the historic but still deeply divisive change, which will have repercussions for generations to come.
This will provisionally allow tariff-free trade with Britain to continue after it leaves the EU single market at the New Year.
AFP has spoken to six people whose lives will be directly affected by Britain's departure from the EU, the single market, and the customs union.
To ratify the deal, Britain's parliament has been recalled to sit on 30 December. A vote in favour is virtually assured after the UK's main opposition Labour Party said its MPs would back it.
The country will now not tumble off a trade 'cliff-edge' come 1 January, avoiding a mountain of harmful tariffs and quotas.
The final 2,000-page agreement was held up by last-minutre wrangling over fishing as both sides haggled over the access EU fisherman will get to Britain's waters after the end of the year.
The two sides had hoped to unveil the accord on Wednesday, and the front pages of several British newspapers already proclaimed victory for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The European Parliament has demanded that it see the text of any accord by Sunday at the latest, and the UK government says it will not allow talks to go beyond 31 December.
That means that the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy charter will no longer apply to the data.
The trip will coincide with India's annual Republic Day celebrations on 26 January, will also come just weeks after the UK leaves the European Union single market on 31 December, and as it seeks new trade deals post-Brexit.
"I'm afraid we're still very far apart on some key things, but where there's life there's hope," Johnson told reporters, after agreeing with EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to push on with negotiations.
The EU's Michel Barnier and Britain's David Frost held talks late on Saturday and early on Sunday and will continue to negotiate in Brussels.
Traders say a Brexit without a trade deal would damage the economies of Europe and send shockwaves through financial markets.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen have given their negotiators until Sunday before a decision is made on whether to keep talking or give up.
Whatever happens, Britain will leave the EU single market and customs union, leading to the re-introduction of border checks for the first time in decades.
Business groups this week warned of difficulties from January 1 as a frustrating lack of clarity on a post-Brexit trade deal has left many companies unable to plan properly.