World

STANLEY, Falkland Islands —Waddling up the beach in single file, their heads held high with an almost self-important demeanor, king penguins are a major draw in the Falkland Islands' tourism industry.

Their fluffy brown chicks are nearly fearless of humans, meaning tourists at Volunteer Point, a peninsula on East Falkland Island, might get almost close enough to touch one. 

"We're the furthest location north in the world that you can see king penguins", said Tony Heathman, a former sheep farmer who has spent the last 16 years taking tour groups to Volunteer Point, where a thousand pairs of the islands' signature species go to breed.

"We get lots and lots of people who... love to come here and get as close to the king penguins as they possibly can," the 70-year-old told AFP. 

Kings are just one of five penguin species in the Falklands, alongside the wacky-looking rockhoppers which have yellow tassels sprouting from the side of their heads, gentoos, macaronis and the burrowing magellanics. 

The Falklands have incredibly rich biodiversity, including more than 25 species of whales and dolphins, but it is the guaranteed ability to get up close with penguins that makes it a particularly enticing destination. 

Tourism is a growing industry in the Falklands despite their remote location in the South Atlantic some 480 kilometres off Argentina and occasional political and economic hostility from Buenos Aires.

In 2018, there was a 6.3 per cent increase in tourist arrivals and a 29.4 per cent surge in tourist expenditure to almost £8.8 million ($11.3 million). 

"One of the key attractions for us was the king penguins at Volunteer Point, so we saw plenty of those," said Flavia Tang, 29, from London, who came for a week with her partner. 

Volunteer Point is one of the islands' most popular destinations, accessible from the capital Stanley by a three-hour ride in a four-wheel drive vehicle, including 11 miles of bumpy, boggy, off-road track.

The peninsula is also home to gentoos and magellanic penguins — known locally as jackasses because of their braying-like call — as well as oystercatchers, South American terns and ruddy-headed geese.

Like a Hitchcock film 

Another of the Falklands' stunning locations for wildlife watching is Kidney Island, where rockhoppers use their claws and beaks to help them get to the top of cliffs where they will mate.

In order to see the birds, visitors must trek a half hour through tall, three-meter (10-foot) tussac grass while avoiding ground bird nests.

But a bird called the sooty shearwater is what makes the island truly unique.

"Kidney Island is home to 140,000 breeding pairs of sooty shearwaters that are just rafting off the coast here ready to come in," Denise Blake, the Falklands government's environmental officer, told AFP during a visit to the outlying island. 

"So as night falls you really see them swooping in over the heads a bit like the Hitchcock movie where all the birds start circling in: It's incredible for that." 

While many nature-lovers head to places such as Antarctica and South Georgia, an island in the South Atlantic, Sally Ellis, the manager at International Tours and Travel, feels the Falklands are a better option.

"Antarctica and South Georgia are nothing compared to the variety and accessibility of wildlife in the Falkland Islands and it costs about a quarter", she said, adding that there was nearly a "guarantee" to see whatever wildlife is desired.

Beyond birds the endangered sei whale is found off the coast of the Falklands while the distinctive black and white Commerson's dolphins swim near Yorke Bay and Gypsy Cove. 

'Leap of faith' 

In addition to nature watching, adventure tourism is also growing on the islands, where enterprising locals are branching into the industry.

Tom and Jane Chater recently launched a business offering helicopter trips and tours. 

The married couple is hoping to attract some of the 60,000 people a year who arrive in the Falklands from cruise ships by offering the chance to explore the islands from their four-seater Robinson R-44 helicopter. 

"It's been a very busy and exciting time for us," said Tom Chater, 43. 

"It's something we thought about for a long time," added 46-year-old Jane. "It's a leap of faith but we're keen to see how it works out."

LONDON — Britain's political leaders tested their election pitches on Wednesday after parliament backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson's bid for a pre-Christmas poll aimed at breaking the lengthy Brexit deadlock.

Lawmakers late Tuesday put aside their disputes and overwhelmingly supported Johnson's call for a snap general election on December 12.

The decision came two days before Britain was due to leave the European Union after 46 years and a few hours after Brussels granted London more time to secure parliamentary backing.

Parliament now has up to January 31 to lend their support to Johnson's divorce deal so that Britain can move past its biggest political crises since World War II.

But European Council chief Donald Tusk has warned the bloc's other 27 members may not grant Britain more time — similar words to those issued before the last extension in April.

Party leaders wasted no time in rolling out their messages even before the launch of their parties' official manifestos.

Johnson immediately rallied his parliament members after the vote with a promise to "get Brexit done" while conceding he was in for a hard fight.

The Conservative leader heads a minority government, which has hindered his ability to push through legislation in parliament. He is now hoping to turn that into a majority.

"It'll be a tough election and we are going to do the best we can," he said.

'Let the people decide' 

Britain's first December vote in nearly 100 years and third general election in four years finds the main opposition Labour Party splintered by bitter infighting.

Pro-EU supporters from big cities have been at loggerheads with Brexit-backing groups such as trade unions as well as party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

But the veteran socialist is an energetic campaigner who nearly managed to secure an upset victory in the last general election in 2017.

Corbyn calls the vote "a once-in-a-generation chance to transform our country" and is promising "the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change".

His Deputy and Finance spokesman John McDonnell hailed his boss's abilities on the stump.

"I think we'll have a majority government by Christmas, so I can't think of a better Christmas present," he told BBC radio on Wednesday.

Labour's Brexit promise is to seize power and then strike a more European-friendly agreement with Brussels that preserves many of the existing trade ties.

It would then let voters choose between that deal and the option of simply staying in the EU.

"We're saying — democracy, let the people decide," McDonnell said.

New hopefuls 

The two other main players are adopting much firmer Brexit stances.

The fast-rising Liberal Democrats are going into the vote on a simple promise of stopping the EU-UK divorce by any means.

The party used a similar message to finish a surprising second in the European Parliament elections in May.

A poll of polls compiled by Britain Elects put them in third place with 18 percent of the vote. The Conservatives led second-place Labour by 35 to 25 per cent.

A similar outcome could turn the Liberal Democrats into powerbrokers who decide the makeup and direction of the new government.

But party leader Jo Swinson said her polling showed the party was "within a small swing" of winning "hundreds of seats".

"I can't be clearer. Neither Boris Johnson nor Corbyn is fit to be prime minister," Swinson told BBC radio.

"Our country deserves a better choice, and I am standing as candidate to be prime minister."

The Brexit Party of anti-European populist Nigel Farage stands on the opposite end of the political spectrum and holds fourth place on 11 percent.

Farage was one of the Brexit campaign's figureheads who won the May European poll within months of forming his new group.

But his party's impact has been muted by Johnson's own firm pro-Brexit message. Farage is now denouncing Johnson's agreement with Brussels as a sellout of Brexit interests.

WASHINGTON — A decorated Iraq War veteran rocked the White House on Tuesday with devastating testimony on Donald Trump’s alleged extortion of Ukraine as Democrats laid out plans for the public phase of the impeachment inquiry threatening his presidency.

The Democratic-led House is investigating Trump over his bid to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on election rival Joe Biden — and accusations he conditioned nearly $400 million in military aid on the political favour.

National Security Council Ukraine expert Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman said in written testimony for his closed-door deposition he witnessed Trump and a senior diplomat pressuring Ukraine for that help.

In explosive prepared testimony, Vindman recounted listening to Trump pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on the now infamous July 25 phone call that sparked the impeachment probe.

His opening statement, released late Monday, offers some of the strongest evidence yet for accusations that Trump abused his office and broke election law to gain Kiev’s support for his reelection.

Decorated war veteran

Vindman arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday in full military dress uniform, as Trump blasted him on Twitter as a “Never Trumper” — his label for Republicans who fundamentally oppose the president.

“How many more Never Trumpers will be allowed to testify about a perfectly appropriate phone call,” he asked.

“Was he on the same call that I was? Can’t be possible!” 

Republicans mobilised to undercut Vindman’s credibility, questioning his loyalty by noting he moved to the US from the Soviet Union at the age of three and suggesting he is part of an effort by the US national security bureaucracy to undermine Trump.

“Donald Trump is innocent. The deep state is guilty,” said Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz, one of the president’s most strident defenders in Congress.

First White 

House witness 

The first White House official to testify and a Purple Heart recipient after being wounded in Iraq, Vindman has proved a much more difficult witness for Republicans to dismiss, however, than previous civilian government figures. 

The veteran, who ignored White House orders to defy a congressional subpoena to testify, said alarm bells rang during a July 10 meeting with Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and a Kiev official.

Vindland said Sondland pressured the official to open corruption investigations into a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine helped Democrats against Trump in the 2016 election. 

He also pushed for a probe into Biden over links between the Democrat’s son and a Ukraine energy company, Burisma.

“Following this meeting, there was a scheduled debriefing during which Ambassdor Sondland emphasised the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens and Burisma,” Vindman said.

“I stated to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security,” he added.

Vindland confirmed the public record of the Trump-Zelensky call, in which Trump responded to Zelensky’s request for military aid by asking for “a favour though” before pressing for the investigations of the 2016 story and the Bidens. 

“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a US citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the US government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman said.

“I realised that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma, it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play.”

Next steps for impeachment inquiry

After interviewing 10 witnesses behind closed doors over the past five weeks, Democrats have drawn up rules for the next stage of the impeachment inquiry that will include public hearings.

“The evidence we have already collected paints the picture of a president who abused his power by using multiple levers of government to press a foreign country to interfere in the 2020 election,” senior House Democrats said in a statement.

For the second stage, the House Intelligence Committee will take testimony in open session, with Republicans having a chance to counter with their own witnesses.

In the third stage, the compiled evidence will be sent to the House Judiciary Committee for review, where the White House will have the opportunity to challenge it and present its own evidence.

Then, if the evidence is strong enough, the committee will draw up articles impeachment to be voted on by the whole House, where Democrats have a strong majority.

The White House dismissed the process Tuesday as a “sham”, claiming that the Democrats were refusing its basic due process rights. The House vote could take place before or shortly after the New Year. 

If impeachment passes, Trump will go on trial for removal in the Senate. The House is expected to vote on the rules on Thursday.

NEW DELHI — New Delhi rolled out free bus travel for women on Tuesday in what the Indian capital's chief minister called an "historic step" for safety and female employment.

Female participation in the Indian workforce is among the lowest in the world, while violence against women in the world's second-most populous country is rife.

On Tuesday, women were given pink tickets entitling them to free travel, with a message from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the back that said he hoped the move would empower them and their families.

Before, bus fares cost between 5 rupees (around 7 US cents) and 25 rupees for vehicles with air conditioning, according to government data.

The safety of women in the Indian capital has been under the spotlight since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a female student on a bus that sparked major protests.

But Kejriwal said that from Tuesday, there would be 13,000 "marshalls" on buses to ensure safety for the 850,000 women who take the bus regularly in the chaotic megacity of 20 million people.

Sonia Rathore, 24, who works as an assistant at a firm in central Delhi said she was set to save around 2,000 rupees ($30) per month. 

"Those women who don't earn more than 10,000 rupees or 15,000 rupees, this move will be very helpful for them," she told AFP on a bus in central Delhi.

"For me, I don't end up spending a lot on buses because I only use it occasionally. But for those who go to work regularly, this will make a positive difference," said Urmila Devi, a housewife.

WASHINGTON — Dropping water supply, growing urban populations and the impact of climate change on water availability and accessibility, particularly in arid areas, is making the quest for non-conventional water resources an ever challenging, yet , existential, task. Nonetheless, advancing technologies are offering new means to produce reliable and sustainable water amounts that are gaining traction around the globe nowadays, such as direct potable reuse (DPR).

DPR, first applied in the early 1960s in Montebello Forebay, Los Angeles County, California, can represent a feasible and viable source of drinking water, especially in areas suffering from water scarcity.

 DPR, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), represents the introduction of treated wastewater (with or without retention in an engineered storage) into a drinking water supply without prior discharge to an environmental buffer. 

The treated wastewater may be blended with raw water from a river, lake, reservoir or aquifer immediately before a drinking-water treatment plant; blended with treated water downstream of a conventional drinking-water treatment plant; or introduced directly into a drinking-water distribution system.

‘DPR is being 

done safely’

Water experts and researchers believe that direct potable reuse can be a sustainable and reliable source for drinking water if done appropriately, indicating that it is already being applied.

 “What I can tell you both from my past experience as a regulator and also my experience now leading the research foundation [is that] direct potable reuse can be done safely, and is being done safely now,” said Peter Grevatt, the chief executive officer of the Water Research Foundation that researches in the technology, operation and management of water, wastewater, reuse and stormwater collection, treatment and supply systems.

“The proper controls need to be in place,” Grevatt said, indicating that water operators planning to apply the direct potable reuse technology need to make sure they have the right engineering steps assembled in their treatment plants to make sure that there is no chance of having any kind of error happening.

 “What we have seen as we travelled around the world is that there is really no country that is doing more than the US is doing right now on potable reuse. There are other countries that are doing lots of work in agriculture reuse, industrial reuse, irrigation of golf courses or parks… but when it comes to treating water effluent to put it into a drinking water supply, the US is the lead, and within the US, California is doing more work than anyone else,” Grevatt told a group of journalists participating in a tour on water, organised by the State Department’s Foreign Press Centre.

 Grevatt highlighted that while in addition to California, Texas and Florida are leading the way in applying direct potable reuse technologies to generate drinking water, water scarcity is an ever increasing crisis in many countries.

“These challenges around water availability are going to move across the globe… this problem is going to get larger over time, and so we are excited to be involved now, right at the beginning, in laying the ground work to make sure this is done safely and can be done safely over time… our role at the research foundation is to lay the scientific ground work to prove that this can be managed properly,” Grevatt noted.

 Potable reuse can produce large volumes of drinking-water from wastewater available from established collection systems in both coastal and inland locations. In addition, it can reduce negative impacts of microbial hazards and in some cases nutrients from wastewater discharges on marine and freshwater environments, according to the WHO.

The number of potable reuse schemes is increasing, the report says, indicating that the the majority of potable reuse schemes have been developed in the 21st century and it is expected that potable reuse will increase as populations and pressure on finite water resources continue to grow.

‘Understanding what technology can do for us’

Grevatt underscored the importance of “understanding technology; understanding its limits and understanding what it can do for us”.

 “The space stations are currently operating with direct potable reuse systems and that is how the astronauts have their water on the space station; they are treating wastewater, so [this is] just another example [that] this can be and is being done safely now… and sustainably,” Grevatt said.

It is not cheap, the water expert said, however, he believes that when operating in a place like California or other really arid areas, the other choices for water supplies can also be quite expensive.

Meanwhile, Executive of the WateReuse Association Patricia Sinicropi highlighted that water reuse is becoming really essential to local economies.

“The technology has gotten to the point where it is so advanced it is helping to bring down the costs, but it is also producing quality water in a predictable and reliable way,” Sinicropi said.

She pointed out one of the projects where recycled effluent has created a whole sustained local industry in South Carolina, Helton Head, where there is a huge golfing industry. She noted that all the golf courses are irrigated with recycled effluent, thus sustaining a $600-million local industry each year.

“It is in a part of the country where if there is no water, there are no businesses, there are no jobs; the community starts to fail and disappear. So, this is really becoming an essential part of how communities can maintain their growth into the future,” Sinicropi underscored.

LONDON — Britain looked set on Tuesday for a pre-Christmas election after the main opposition Labour Party backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson's push for an early vote to try to overcome the lengthening political deadlock caused by Brexit.

Conservative leader Johnson — overseeing a minority government — is trying to lead Britain out of the deep crisis engulfing its EU departure that was meant to take place this Thursday.

But unable to get parliamentary support for his divorce deal with Brussels, he was forced to abandon his "do-or-die" pledge to leave the bloc on schedule and has begrudgingly accepted another extension until the end of January.

Britain's inability to break its half-century bond with the EU has halted costly "no-deal" exit preparations and reportedly seen freshly minted 50-pence commemorative Brexit coins melted down.

General elections have been held twice in the last four years — in 2015 and 2017. The next is not scheduled to happen until 2022.

But Johnson has been trying to secure an early vote to try to win a majority to allow him to push through legislation to enact Brexit.

His third attempt to get parliament to agree to disband early and hold a general election on December 12 ended in failure on Monday after he fell well short of the required support of two-thirds of MPs.

But he was making a fresh bid for the same date on Tuesday using a different parliamentary procedure that would only require a simple majority.

He consulted his cabinet ministers to plot strategy in advance of another gruelling session of the lower House of Commons that could stretch into the night.

Johnson's new attempt amends existing laws requiring a two-thirds majority by proposing a simple bill with an election date.

"This house cannot any longer keep this country hostage," Johnson told lawmakers after they defeated Monday's election attempt.

Johnson's election push received a big boost when the leader  of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, indicated his support.

Veteran socialist Corbyn has been torn between rival camps within his own party and is facing poor polling numbers that show the Conservatives in a strong lead.

He has argued he cannot back an election until Johnson promises not to take Britain out of the EU without a new trade deal when the post-Brexit transition period ends in December 2020.

Britain would be following EU rules until that time.

But he said the latest delay to Brexit agreed by EU leaders on Monday meant "for the next there months, our condition of taking no-deal off the table has now been met".

"We will now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change our country has ever seen," he added.

The sides must now settle on an election date.

Johnson insists on December 12. A rival plan proposed by the pro-European Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party (SNP) proposes December 9.

The second option is also preferred by Labour.

Some in the party say the later date reduces the number of more liberal students voting because it comes after they finish their semesters and return home for the winter break.

Labour's trade spokesman Barry Gardiner told BBC radio "the first thing" for Johnson to do to get his party's backing was "to ensure that students are not going to be disenfranchised by an election on December 12".

Corbyn did not specify a date in his statement.

"It will be a December election," a Labour source told AFP.

The last election to be held in December was in 1923, when Labour's Ramsay McDonald lost to the Conservatives led by Stanley Baldwin.

The debate appears to be one of principle.

The SNP's parliamentary leader Ian Blackford urged Labour to not "be the handmaidens to the prime minister's Brexit" and to fight for the earlier date.

Johnson is mainly concerned about amendments that could be attached to his bill.

One proposed option would extend voting rights to EU citizens — a group that strongly opposed Brexit.

Another would lower the voting age from 18 to 16.

WASHINGTON — The impeachment showdown in Washington took an urgent new tone on Monday as a key witness defied a US House subpoena to testify, leading Democrats to accuse President Donald Trump of obstructing Congress's work.

The White House seeks to block the appearance by ex-deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman, who last week took the rare step of filing a lawsuit urging a court to decide on the "irreconcilable commands" of both the executive and legislative branches of government.

Democrats are keen to hear from Kupperman as he reportedly was on the July 25 telephone call between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart in which the US leader pushed Kiev investigate his political opponents.

That request by Trump, and accusations he conditioned nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine on the political favor, form the basis of the impeachment inquiry that began five weeks ago and now threatens his presidency.

"He was a no-show," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said of Kupperman, telling reporters that he and the other Democrats overseeing the probe rejected the lawsuit filed on Friday and were considering holding him in contempt.

"A private citizen cannot sue the Congress to try to avoid coming in when they're served with a lawful subpoena," Schiff said.

Schiff said he hoped Kupperman would do as nine previous witnesses, many of them career public servants, had done and testify despite White House orders not to.

White House opposition to Kupperman's appearance makes it clear "that they believe that his testimony would be incriminating of the president", Schiff added.

"Any acts of obstruction like this, any effort to prevent the Congress... from learning more about the president's misconduct will merely build a public case for obstruction of Congress by this president."

Kupperman served as deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton, who was reportedly deeply alarmed by what he saw occuring with Ukraine, and whom Democrats have indicated they want to hear from as part of the investigation.

Several other officials have already come forward, including Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine; Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union who has worked extensively on Ukraine issues; and Marie Yovanovitch, who was US ambassador to Kiev until the Trump administration removed her.

While Kupperman stayed away, Sondland returned to Capitol Hill Monday for a second closed-door session.

Sondland had testified that Trump ordered US diplomats in May to involve his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in talks between Washington and the new administration of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

MARSEILLE — Aid agencies on Monday appealed to EU leaders for a more coordinated response to receiving migrants, as rescue boats sought safe havens for more than 200 people saved from the Mediterranean.

Doctors without Borders (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee, which runs rescue patrols in the Mediterranean, called for a permanent system to replace the current "one-off" and "ad hoc" solutions.

"Today, 104 survivors are once again left in limbo on the deck of a rescue ship with no solution for their disembarkation in sight," said Louise Guillaumat, deputy director of SOS Mediterranee's operations.

Rescue boat the Ocean Viking rescued 104 people from a rubber boat in distress off the Libyan coast in October 18, said the statement. They included two pregnant women and 41 children — most of them unaccompanied.

Every patient treated in the MSF clinic had either suffered or witnessed violence or sexual violence at some point in their journey, said MSF head of mission, Michael Fark.

"Women have told our medical team they fled their home countries because of forced marriage, female genital mutilation or sexual violence," he added.

The Ocean Viking was charted by SOS Mediterranee in partnership with MSF.

The Ocean Viking, which has been sitting off the Libyan coast for 10 days, has already contacted Italy and Malta asking for a safe haven. 

And as well as the Ocean Viking's passengers, German rescue boat the Sea Eye is looking for a safe port for its passengers. It saved 90 migrants who got into difficulty in the Mediterranean on Saturday.

The agencies' statement referred to plans discussed earlier in October by some EU states to run a pilot project for six months to develop a disembarkation system respecting international law.

"The situation currently faced by the Ocean Viking shows how fragile the announced EU disembarkation pilot project is," said Guillaumat.

"This situation has lasted for too long."

Contacted by AFP, the European Commission said it was not actively involved in the situation at this point.

A preliminary agreement reached in late September between France, Germany, Italy and Malta to avoid rescue vessels being stranded at sea was not yet operational, said the Commission.

It said 13 EU member states had taken part in the last technical meeting on the subject.

Contradictory reports emerged from the last EU meeting on the subject as to how many countries were prepared to cooperate in this area.

According the UN refugee agency the UNHCR, migrants passing through Libya to get to Europe suffer appalling conditions in a country that has descended into chaos since the 2011 fall of Muammar Qadhafi.

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged MPs on Monday to back an early election to resolve the political deadlock over Brexit, after the European Union agreed to postpone Britain's departure date for up to three months.

Johnson had promised repeatedly to leave the EU on October 31 but was forced to ask Brussels to postpone after MPs refused to back his divorce agreement.

Ambassadors from the other 27 EU member states agreed to the request on Monday but proposed that Britain could leave earlier if the deal passes parliament.

The delay is a major setback for Johnson, who said he would rather "die in a ditch" than prolong the tortuous Brexit process that began with the 2016 EU referendum.

He sought to regain the initiative by calling an election for early December — hoping that MPs might ratify his exit agreement before then.

"Nobody in this House relishes the idea of a general election, because nobody wants to put the public to this inconvenience," Johnson told the house of commons.

"But across this country there is a widespread view that this parliament has run its course."

Johnson, who leads a minority Conservative government, is expected to lose a vote on an election later Monday.

The proposal requires the support of two-thirds of 650 MPs but opposition parties do not want his Brexit deal.

They fear that if it does not pass, he might delay an election until February, risking a "no deal" exit that many fear would cause huge economic disruption.

If defeated, Johnson is expected to introduce a bill to legislate for an election, which would enshrine a date in law and require only a simple majority — and could pass.

The EU's approval of a third delay, which Johnson said in a letter to European Council leader Donald Tusk he had no option but to accept, comes three days before the latest Brexit deadline.

"The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK's request for a Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020," Tusk said earlier.

Johnson accepted the offer in a letter to Tusk and other EU leaders a few hours later — although he repeated his opposition to a delay.

He also called on EU members states "to make clear that a further extension after January 31 is not possible. This is plenty of time to ratify our deal".

According to a copy of the agreement seen by AFP, if Johnson convinces the British parliament to approve an amicable divorce accord in the coming weeks, Brexit could be on November 30 or December 31.

This is not impossible — British MPs last week backed Johnson's deal in principle but refused to accept his plan to rush through its ratification before October 31.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron vowed no let up in his drive to implement far-reaching pension reforms despite a looming winter of strikes by unions angered by the plan, in an interview broadcast on Monday.

Macron told RTL radio that there would be "no complacency or weakness" in pushing through the changes, even if it risked making him more unpopular.

"I want this reform to go to the end, I think it is necessary for the country so I will defend it," Macron told the radio station in the pre-recorded interview.

"Perhaps it will make me unpopular, and perhaps people will say 'it is unbearable, all of this for that'," he acknowledged. 

Key French unions have called a major strike on December 5 to protest the reforms that is expected to paralyse public transport and other sectors in the country.

Wildcat strikes last week caused major disruptions on France's national train operator SNCF while September 13 saw a strike by workers on the Paris metro that virtually brought the entire network to a halt.

Macron plans to implement a universal pension system that would do away with the more advantageous plans enjoyed by workers in a range of sectors, including state transport and utility companies.

During his 2017 presidential campaign, Macron had pledged not to touch the legal retirement age of 62 for most workers.

The reforms unveiled in July, which would harmonise the 42 different pension schemes currently in place, would still allow people to retire at 62, but on a reduced pension.

A full pension would only be available from 64.