Rishi Sunak confirmed on Monday that he had reached a deal with the EU to address problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
But after dealing with the press, he was sent to the House of Commons to face two and a half hours of questions from MPs of all stripes about the substance of the deal.
So, what did they think? We look at the main groups grilling the PM.
The Northern Ireland MPs
The leader of the DUP, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, is not ready to either condemn or praise the protocol’s replacement yet.
He told MPs “significant progress has been secured across a number of areas”, but “key issues of concern” remained.
“My party will want to study the detail of what has been published today,” he added, saying it would be compared to the party’s seven tests for an acceptable agreement.
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But Sir Jeffrey told Mr Sunak that “sovereignty is crucial”, so going forward, the government needed to give Northern Ireland assurances there would be no EU laws making trade barriers between NI and the rest of the UK.
His DUP colleague, Jim Shannon, seemed more certain about his position. He said the deal was “about more than solar panels and sausages” – it was about Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
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Mr Shannon spoke out about any involvement of the European courts in laws impacting them, saying “the real power must lie with Westminster not Brussels”.
He added: “The prime minister can strike no deal ever without bringing the majority of unionists on board.
“And to push another deal through this House without unionist buy-in will offer no result other than another failed deal.”
Another DUP MP, Sammy Wilson, described Mr Sunak’s statement to the Commons as “an 18 minute confession… about the damage the [Northern Ireland] Protocol his government signed has done to Northern Ireland”.
And he questioned the so-called Stormont brake – which is designed to allow the Assembly to put a pause on new EU laws and allow the UK government to veto them.
“We don’t have confidence in that,” said Mr Wilson, “and [it is] why we still fear our position in the United Kingdom is not going to be restored.”
But SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said his concerns about the brake were from a different perspective.
“There has been an awful lot of talk about the concerns of the DUP,” he said.
“But it is important to remember the majority of people in Northern Ireland opposed Brexit and want to see benefits of dual access to [the EU’s single Market] properly utilised.”
His point was echoed by Stephen Farry of the Alliance Party, who worried it could “add more instability” in Northern Ireland if that access is threatened.
The Tories
There were no outright condemnations of the framework from the Tory benches… as yet.
Neither Boris Johnson nor Liz Truss were in the House – though a source close to Mr Johnson told Sky News he “continues to study and reflect on the government’s proposals”.
Sir Edward Leigh came closest, warning that unless the deal got the NI Assembly up and running again “it is pretty futile – indeed it might be downright dangerous”.
He added: “I can assure him many of his colleagues on these benches are watching the DUP very carefully and we will go where they go.”
Theresa May – the first Conservative prime minister to try to negotiate a deal, who was ousted by her own MPs for failing to agree one they liked – congratulated Mr Sunak for the new offer, saying it would “make a huge difference”.
She said the Northern Ireland Protocol – negotiated by her immediate successor Boris Johnson – had been “the European Union’s preferred proposal of a border down the Irish Sea”.
She added: “The best move now is for everybody across this House to support this settlement, because that is what is in the best interests of all the people of Northern Ireland.”
Ex-Brexit secretary and cheerleader of the cause, David Davis, gave his wholehearted support to the framework too.
He offered his “unreserved congratulations” to Mr Sunak, called it a “spectacular success”, and praised the “extraordinary mechanism” of the Stormont brake.
“It was a brilliant piece of negotiation, insight and imagination,” he said.
Andrea Leadsom – another leading campaigner for Brexit – said had this deal been brought forward at any point over the last five years, “those of us who were Brexiteers, Unionists and Remainers would have jumped on it”.
But Sir Bill Cash said “the devil as ever lies in the detail”.
The opposition views
Offering his support for the deal, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons: “We will not snipe. We will not seek to play political games.
“And when the prime minister puts this deal forward for a vote, Labour will vote for it.”
He said the plan “will never be perfect – it is a compromise”, but he added: “I have always been clear that, if implemented correctly, it is an arrangement that can work in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.
“And that now it’s been agreed, we all have an obligation to make it work.”
However, Sir Keir did use the opportunity to attack Boris Johnson for having told the public there would be no checks in the Irish Sea under his previous deal, saying the claim was “nonsense”.
“[It was] a point-blank refusal to engage with unionists in Northern Ireland in good faith, never mind take their concerns seriously,” he added. “And it inevitably contributed to the collapse of power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
“And I did wonder after the prime minister listed all the problems if he had forgotten who had negotiated it.
“So, when presenting what this agreement means in practice, I urge the prime minister to be utterly unlike his predecessor.”
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‘We will not snipe’: Labour vows to back deal
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the SNP MPs were less than impressed with the deal, believing the best thing would be to return to the EU.
“Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster,” said the party’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn.
“And what this deal does not do is create parity across these nations.”
He said Northern Ireland businesses would continue to have access to the EU’s single market, while Scotland would not.
“I do not begrudge Northern Ireland businesses, but I do regret Scotland does not have the same opportunities,” he added.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his party needed to study the deal, but welcomed “the spirit of partnership and compromise between the UK government and the European Union” in coming to an agreement.
On 19 December, 80-year-old Palestinian grandmother Halima Abu Leil was shot in an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raid on her neighbourhood in Balata refugee camp in Nablus, West Bank.
Two days later, Halima’s children told Sky News their mother was shot six times by Israeli special forces on her way to buy groceries. She died soon after.
Warning this piece includes an image from CCTV of the moment Halima Abu Leil was shot.
“They could see she is an elderly lady but they shot her six times – in her leg, in her chest. When she was first shot in her legs, she knelt on the ground,” her daughter said.
Newly released grainy CCTV footage shows the moment she was shot and reveals that a van marked as an ambulance was used during the surprise IDF raid.
Halima Abu Leil’s family want the footage to be seen.
Sky News’ Data & Forensics unit has analysed the CCTV and geolocated the street where the video was filmed. It is the exact location Halima’s son told us she “fell to her knees” as she was shot.
Three men are also walking down the street. There is no visible contact between them and Halima. Based on our analysis of their silhouettes, the figure in the middle appears to be holding a weapon. They are likely to be neighbourhood militants.
The three men veer to the right, moving into a sunny area. One takes a seat on some stairs, while the other two stand. They join someone sitting there already.
A few yards away, Halima stops in the middle of the street to speak to another woman with a shopping trolley.
An ambulance pulls into vision, separating the two women, and drives slowly down the street. A white van pulls in behind the medical vehicle.
A few moments later, the passenger door of the white van opens and a faint cloud of smoke is visible, suggesting that a gunshot is fired.
This is the moment Halima falls to her knees.
The men, some of them armed, scatter to the right and left into alleyways along with other people in the street.
A detailed analysis of the footage suggests that visible clouds of smoke on the walls are the result of multiple shots. The footage and imagery we gathered from the site of the killing shows bullet holes in the building next to where Halima was standing.
The woman she was speaking to moments earlier takes cover in a doorway.
At the same time, figures who appear to be Israeli military forces exit the ambulance in the foreground. They are equipped with helmets, backpacks, rifles, and other gear.
Armed figures can also be seen leaving the white van in the background. They are seen aiming their weapons down the street.
Halima appears to get hit again and collapses to the floor. The men likely to be neighbourhood militants are not visibly present in the street when this happens.
At the time of our previous report, the IDF said they had conducted “counterterrorism activity” in Balata camp the morning Halima was killed.
We approached the IDF about the CCTV footage and the use of a medical vehicle to conduct their operation.
This was its response: “The IDF is committed to and operates in accordance with international law. The mentioned incident is under review. The review will examine the use of the vehicle shown in the video and the claims of harm to uninvolved individuals during the exchange of fire between the terrorists and our forces.”
The use of a marked medical vehicle for a security operation could be a contravention of the Geneva Convention and a war crime – as well as Halima’s killing.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese watched the CCTV video and told Sky News she was shocked but not surprised.
She says: “When I look at the footage, what emerges prima facie is that there were no precautions taken – within these operations whose legality is debatable – to avoid or spare civilian life. No principle of proportionality because there was wildfire directed at the identified target and ultimately no respect for the principle of distinction.
“So this was a murder in cold blood and could be a war crime as an extrajudicial killing.”
According to the United Nations Office of Human Rights in occupied Palestinian territory (OHCHR oPt), Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 813 mostly unarmed Palestinians, including 15 women and 177 children, since 7 October 2023.
In a statement to Sky News regarding Halima’s killing, the OHCHR oPT said: “Any deliberate killing by Israeli security forces of Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank who do not pose an imminent threat to life is unlawful under international human rights law and a war crime in the context of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory.
“This incident must be investigated independently, effectively, thoroughly, and transparently. If there is evidence of violations of the applicable law enforcement standards, those responsible must be held to account.”
Sophie Alexander, international affairs producer, and Michelle Inez Simon, visual investigations producer, contributed reporting.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has met Israel’s prime minister in an effort to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza before the president-elect takes office on 20 January.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed details of the meeting with Steve Witkoff on Saturday, adding that the head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency has been deployed to Qatar in order to “advance” talks.
It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Doha for the latest round of indirect discussions between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli official said some progress had been made, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach a deal in Gaza.
The mediators are making renewed efforts to halt fighting in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Mr Trump takes office.
A deal would also involve the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Families of Israeli hostages welcomed Mr Netanyahu’s decision to dispatch the officials, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters describing it as a “historic opportunity”.
Mr Witkoff arrived in Doha on Friday and met the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.
Egyptian and Qatari mediators received reassurances from Mr Witkoff that the US would continue to work towards a fair deal to end the war soon, Egyptian security sources said, though no further details were released.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Families of the roughly 100 hostages still held in Gaza are pressing Mr Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the area destroyed and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, with most of its population displaced.
Pope Francis has been honoured with America’s highest civilian award by President Joe Biden, who has described the pontiff as “a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world”.
It is the first time Mr Biden, 82, has given the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction during his four years in office.
In a statement, the White House said the award is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavours”.
Mr Biden had been scheduled to present the medal to Pope Francis, 88, in person on Saturday in Rome on what was to be the final overseas trip of his presidency. But the president cancelled his visit to monitor the California wildfires.
The White House said Mr Biden bestowed the award during a phone call in which they also discussed efforts to promote peace and alleviate suffering around the world.
The award can be presented with or without distinction.
Mr Biden presented the medal of freedom – without distinction – on 5 January to several people including fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, humanitarian and U2 singer Bono, fashion designer Ralph Lauren and actors Michael J Fox and Denzel Washington.
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Mr Biden himself is a recipient of the award with distinction, recognised when he was vice president by then president Barack Obama in a surprise ceremony eight years ago.
The citation for the pope’s honour said his “mission of serving the poor has never ceased”.
“A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children’s questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths,” it added.