A nationwide strike is under way in Gabon where workers are calling for recent changes to the constitution to be reversed. "We don't know exactly who is in charge of Gabon today. Let the president speak out and reassure the Gabonese people," said Louis Patrick Mombo, of trade union alliance Gabon Dynamique Unitaire. President Ali Bongo, 59, has been out of the country since October seeking medical treatment - first in Saudi Arabia, followed by Morocco. AFP news agency reports that he had suffered a stroke. In his absence, Gabon's Constitutional Court has amended part of the constitution to allow the vice-president, Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou, to hold a ministerial meetings and to unblock pending cases. But the trade union alliance wants the president of the Senate to act as interim president, which is what the constitution specified before it was amended.

Kenyan media are reporting the death of a footballer who they say was struck dead by lightning as his team celebrated scoring a goal. Twenty-year-old Allan Mbote reportedly died on the pitch on Sunday in Busia County, western Kenya, while six of his Red Sharks teammates were rushed to a local hospital needing treatment for their injuries. Local police chief Mary Kiarie is quoted by the Daily Nation newspaper as saying three of the players are recovering in hospital and three others have already been treated and discharged. Upcoming fixtures in the Nangina Ward Soccer tournament will go ahead as scheduled, the Daily Nation quotes its organisers as saying, with the final due on 24 December.

Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dr Denis Mukwege has said he fears conflict will break out after this month's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo if they are not free and fair, Reuters news agency reports. The gynaecologist, who with the help of colleagues has treated tens of thousands of victims of rape, reportedly made the warning as he collected his collected his Nobel award on Monday. "I am very worried that these elections will not be free, fair, credible and peaceful and that if there is massive fraud... supporters [of losing candidates] will not accept them," Dr Mukwege is quoted by Reuters as saying in his speech in Oslo. Reuters quotes Dr Mukwege as saying that worsening violence in eastern DR Congo, plus the election authorities' struggle to meet key deadlines for vote preparation, "suggests [to him] that oppression is being prepared, at the very minimum, and it could be that a war against its own people is being prepared". Dr Congo's Dr Mukwege and Iraqi Yazidi activist Nadia Murad were jointly awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize for their "efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war".

Officials in Libya have confirmed that an armed group has seized control of one of the country's largest oilfields. Local gunmen were reported to have stormed the facilities at El Sharara, in the southern region of Fezzan, on Saturday. The militiamen recently threatened to occupy the site if the authorities didn't provide more development funds for their impoverished area. The Libyan National Oil Corporation said the oilfield's seizure would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of barrels of production every day. It demanded that the occupation end immediately.

Sharo is a traditional cultural practice where young Fulani men in Nigeria compete to find a wife. Participants are flogged with wooden sticks and canes to test their endurance. But the practice has declined in recent years, with some Fulani men describing it as dangerous and forbidden in Islam. The BBC's Yusuf Yakasai travelled to Jigawa in northern Nigeria, where some Fulani clans are determined to keep the tradition alive.

Netflix is to launch its first African original series in 2019. Queen Sono is "a drama about a secret agent who fights crime while dealing with crises in her personal life," according to entertainment news site Variety. The star of the series, South African actor Pearl Thusi, says it's "going to change the game for every artist on this continent". Queen Sono is the brainchild of director Kagiso Lediga and executive producer Tamsin Andersson, who previously worked together on romantic comedy Catching Feelings. Netflix plans to invest more of its $8bn (£6.3bn) original production budget on African content. In September, the global video streaming service bought the rights to Lionheart - its first original Nigerian film.

The European Union has renewed sanctions against politicians it believes are implicated in human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An asset freeze and a ban on entering the EU will apply to 14 named individuals for another year. They include Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, President Joseph Kabila's preferred successor in presidential elections 13 days from now. Reports say that last week the Congolese foreign minister, Léonard She Okitundu, asked the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to suspend the sanctions against Mr Shadary before the elections. The African Union made a similar request last month.

Some 100 Somali MPs have backed a motion of no-confidence against President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo. They accuse him of undermining the constitution by signing a secret deal, they say, to unite Somalia with Ethiopia and Eritrea. The next stage is for the Speaker to set a date for the debate in parliament. Relations have thawed between leaders of the three East African nations who have held a series of talks since Ethiopia's reformist prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, was appointed in April. Since the election of Somalia's President Farmajo in 2017, there has been greater political stability. Previous administrations were rocked by disagreements between the president and the prime minister, leading to frequent political disputes that were often settled in parliament.

More than a 150 nations have signed a landmark international agreement on managing migration. The UN pact, which is not legally binding, was adopted at a meeting in Marrakesh in Morocco, but it has been shunned by some countries including the US, Australia and at least six EU nations. Its objectives include the integrated management of borders and giving migrants access to basic services. Critics fear it will increase migration but the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the pact was based on co-operation and regulating migration. He called it a source of "collective shame" that 60,000 migrants had died on perilous journeys since the year 2000. All 193 UN members, except the United States, finalised the pact in July.

AFP news agency says the Gabonese government has confirmed President Ali Bongo's recent bout of ill health was the result of a stroke. President Bongo, 59, has been out of the country since October seeking medical treatment - first in Saudi Arabia, followed by Morocco. AFP says he is now recovering in a private residence in the capital, Rabat. Until now, there had been no official confirmation of the nature of Mr Bongo's illness, just that he had been "seriously ill". "Nobody should rejoice over the death or illness of another", AFP quotes Gabon's Vice-President Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou as saying in a speech on Saturday. "Those who have never known a CVA [meaning cerebrovascular accident or stroke], pray to God that they never know one." Ali Bongo succeeded his father Omar Bongo as president in 2009, who governed the oil-rich nation for more than 40 years.

The first international treaty on managing migration is to be signed at a two-day gathering in Morocco. The UN's Global Compact for Migration sets out a number of objectives, including the integrated management of borders and ensuring that migrants have access to basic services. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is among the leaders expected to attend the meeting in Marrakesh. But a large number of countries, from Poland to Australia, have refused to take part. A BBC correspondent says political parties in many parts of the world are in no mood to sign up to multilateral solutions to problems that cross borders.

Journalist and poet Harriet Anena has won the 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, becoming the first Ugandan to receive the honour. She tweeted that she was "super happy" to have won the award for her book of poetry, A Nation in Labour. Her publisher calls it "a collection of social conscience poetry" taking in "the giant politician, the restless citizen, the clueless youth, those struggling to heal from life's scratches and the ones hunting for words to describe fiery flames of affection". Anena, who hails from Gulu in northern Uganda, shares this year's prize with Nigeria's Tanure Ojaide who wrote Songs of Myself. They each win a cash prize of $10,000 (£7,870).

South Africa has summoned the Rwandan envoy in Pretoria after a Rwandan pro-government news site reportedly called a key minister a "prostitute". Lindiwe Sisulu, the South African international relations minister, has also been criticised on Twitter by a senior Rwandan official. Her spokesman told the BBC the remarks were "unacceptable" and "must stop". Ms Sisulu recently met an exiled critic of the Rwandan leader, triggering a diplomatic row between the countries. She told a press conference last month that she had met Rwanda's former army chief, General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, in Johannesburg. She said she was "pleasantly surprised" to hear that Mr Nyamwasa, who has established an opposition party in South Africa, was willing to negotiate a reconciliation deal with his former government. Mr Nyamwasa has been living in exile in South Africa since 2010, after falling out with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame. Rwanda's Deputy Foreign Minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, criticised the meeting on his Twitter account, in remarks South Africa described as offensive. He said that if any South African official wanted to negotiate with a "convicted criminal" who was leading a "subversive movement", they were free to do so - but they should "never think" of involving Rwanda in the process. A headline on a Rwandan pro-government news website also referred to Ms Sisulu as Mr Nyamwasa's "prostitute", a South African government source told the BBC's Milton Nkosi in Johannesburg. The story was removed but the damage was done, our reporter adds. Ms Sisulu's spokesman, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, said that the Rwandan envoy in Pretoria had been told that the tone of comments was unacceptable. He said the South African High Commissioner in Kigali, George Twala, had also been recalled to Pretoria for consultations. "It is our commitment to normalise the relations, but we can be more focused without being insulted on social media and the use of undiplomatic language," Mr Mabaya said. Gun attack In 2014, South Africa expelled three Rwandan diplomats in connection with an attack on Mr Nyamwasa's home in Johannesburg. Rwanda retaliated by ordering out six South African envoys. Mr Nyamwasa has survived at least two assassination attempts in exile. Four men were found guilty in 2014 by a South African court over a gun attack that left him with stomach wounds. Mr Nyamwasa described the attack as politically motivated.

An amateur paleontologist has discovered a rare 66-million-year-old sea urchin on a beach in Denmark. Peter Bennicke stumbled across the ancient creature while on a fossil hunt at white cliffs of Stevns Klint on the Island of Møn, a UNESCO World Heritage site, according to the Danish TV2 public broadcaster. He knew straight away that he had found something unique - not only because of its large size, but also because it contained clues as to what had happened to it. 'Failed hunt' "I could see it was a pretty large sea urchin, so I took it home to look at it more closely. That's when I saw that it had been bitten," Mr Bennicke said. Judging by the teeth marks situated right on top of the fossil, the sea urchin survived an attack by a predator that came from above. One speculation is that the scars could have been caused by the jaws of the marine predator Mosasaurus. Mr Bennicke described it as his "best-ever find". "This happened 66 million years ago, and to think that I'm just standing here with it in my hand, visualising the drama that took place so far back," he said. The fossil has caught the attention of the Geomuseum Faxe, where it will be exhibited from February. Jesper Milàn, a curator at the museum, told TV ØST: "This is a very exciting find. Not only because of the unique backstory, but also because it provides important information about how the animals in the sea lived, and who devoured who." There's a good reason why finding a whole sea urchin fossils is rare, according to Mr Milàn - sea urchins move slowly and are normally eaten by predators, so only small shells are left behind.

Google's chief Sundar Pichai will be quizzed by US lawmakers later. He previously failed to appear at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing for top tech executives in September. An empty chair marked his absence. That hearing was attended by Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter's chief executive Jack Dorsey, who made their own mea culpas. Now it's Mr Pichai's turn, and he shouldn't expect an easy ride. Scheduled to begin at 10:00 local time (15:00 GMT) in Washington DC, the hearing is entitled Transparency and Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use and Filtering Practices. Here are seven things that could come up. 1. Project Dragonfly Google has been toying with creating a controversial search engine for China codenamed Project Dragonfly, as first reported by the Intercept in August and later confirmed by the tech firm's own privacy chief. Google has history in China, launching a search engine in the authoritative state in 2006, google.cn. It was compliant with the Chinese government's censorship requirements at the time but pulled the plug in 2010, citing increasing concerns about cyber-attacks on activists. The potential move back into the country comes at a tense time in relations between the US and China, to say the least. While a trade war between the nations has recently been put on pause for three months, the arrest of Huawei's chief finance officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada is keeping things frosty. The committee may question the timing of Google's push into China. 2. Political bias Claims, often unsubstantiated, about bias against conservative politicians have been raised several times on Twitter by President Trump, with the hashtag #Stopthebias. He's accused Google of failing to promote his State of the Union addresses and "controlling what we can and cannot see". 3. Data collection Eight of Google's services have more than one billion users each: YouTube, the Chrome browser, Gmail, Google Maps, Drive, the Android and Google Play stores and of course its search engine. The way it handles this immense amount of personal data should come under scrutiny.

Around the world attitudes towards the use of cannabis are shifting. Mexico's new government plans to legalise recreational cannabis use, as does the incoming government of Luxembourg. Meanwhile, New Zealand's leaders are considering a referendum on what their approach should be. As public opinion - and that of governments - changes, it seems increasingly likely that other countries will follow, raising questions about how they work together to manage the use and supply of cannabis. What has led one country after another to move towards a relaxation of their laws and, in many cases, outright legalisation? War on drugs It was only in 2012 that Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalise recreational cannabis use. In large part, the move was aimed at replacing links between organised crime and the cannabis trade with more accountable state regulation. Later the same year, voters in Washington State and Colorado became the first in the US to support legalisation of the drug for non-medical use. Under President Barack Obama, a critic of the US-led war on drugs, the US government stepped back from enforcing federal laws and effectively gave states a green light to explore alternatives. Eight more states and Washington DC have since supported the legalisation of recreational cannabis and penalties are softening elsewhere. The use of the drug for medical reasons is allowed in 33 of the 50 states. In many ways the jury is still out on the effects of legalisation on society and individuals' health, but there is no question that public opinion and government policy has softened. The tide has crept across the Americas, with Canada legalising the sale, possession and recreational use of cannabis nationwide in October. That Mexico will legalise marijuana seems a virtual certainty. The new government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has introduced a bill that would legalise its medical and recreational use, while the country's supreme court recently ruled an absolute ban on recreational use unconstitutional. Other countries are pushing ahead. Although the sale of cannabis remains illegal, possession of small amounts is no longer a crime in countries including Brazil, Jamaica and Portugal. In Spain it is legal to use cannabis in private, while the drug is sold openly in coffee shops in the Netherlands. Still more countries allow the use of medicinal cannabis. Around the world, there are many more countries where change is under way: In the UK, doctors have been allowed to prescribe cannabis products since November South Korea has legalised strictly-controlled medical use, despite prosecuting residents for recreational use overseas A death sentence given to a young man selling cannabis oil has stirred debate about legalisation in Malaysia South Africa's highest court legalised the use of cannabis by adults in private places Lesotho became the first African country to legalise the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes Lebanon is considering the legalisation of cannabis production for medical purposes, to help its economy Sick children In many countries, the move towards legalisation started with a softening of public attitudes. In the US and Canada, images of sick children being denied potentially life-changing medicines had a tremendous impact on public opinion - a concern that brought forward legalisation for medical purposes. A similar softening of attitudes has been seen in the UK.

The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, told me he was originally a fisherman and that was his main source of income but things changed when an illegal trawler destroyed his net. "I had a boat and a net on it, then a trawler cut our fishing nets and pulled them away. I was left with an empty boat," he recalled. He and a fellow fisherman tried to shout and call the trawler crew, but it was in vain. It angered them. "They passed over our nets and pulled them away. Our fishing equipment was destroyed." In the second half of the last decade what began as a defensive act against big trawlers, quickly morphed into a lucrative illegal business that raised global concern. As he and other fishermen lost their trade, they turned to piracy, hijacking ships and passengers for ransom. Dramatic cliff It also drew in former militiamen who fought with warlords during Somalia's long civil war. I wanted to know more about his days as a pirate but he became unsettled and ended the interview abruptly. What appeared to make him uneasy was a Spanish Special Forces soldier who had wandered over. Security around the beach was tight as a helicopter hovered in the sky. The helicopter was part of the European Union Naval Force (EUNavfor). It gave a clue as to what has changed in recent years that has dramatically reduced the threat from piracy. A decade ago, pirates operated freely and there were plenty of hideouts for them along the coastline, like Eyl, a small, scenic port town in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland. As I approached Eyl, I saw the town by the beach right in front of a high, dramatic golden-brown cliff. The cliff seemingly shelters the town from wind and dust blowing from the mainland. Dangerous sea passage Locals told me about the time years ago when pirates flooded the market with money, causing the cost of living to rise sharply. Armed, they also terrorised the local community, but they rarely killed anyone. They also held some of the sailors they captured hostage as they demanded huge ransoms, sometimes of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The possibility of huge riches seemed to have been the main driver of piracy off the Somali coast. But it was the lack of an effective central government since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, and the subsequent disbandment of the Somali navy, that enabled it to happen.

Never has the future of nuclear arms control seemed so uncertain. At risk is not just the collapse of existing treaties, but a whole manner of interaction between Russia and the United States that has been crucial to maintaining stability over decades. So what's the immediate problem? Last week at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Russia out. Moscow, he insisted, had been breaching an important Cold War-era disarmament agreement - the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. This 1987 agreement with the ex-Soviet Union removed a whole category of land-based nuclear missiles: those with ranges of between 500 and 5,500km (310-3,100 miles). Being small, highly mobile, and located relatively close to their potential targets, they were seen as highly destabilising. In the late 1970s Soviet Russia deployed the SS-20 missile to threaten targets in Western Europe, causing alarm in many Nato capitals. The US responded by deploying Cruise and Pershing weapons in a number of European countries. But after the agreement, all these weapons were removed and destroyed. The Trump administration says that a new Russian missile, designated the 9M729 and known to Nato as the SSC-8, breaches the INF Treaty. Mr Pompeo gave Russian President Vladimir Putin 60 days to return to compliance or the US would also cease to honour its terms. Russia insists that it is abiding by the agreement, and raises concerns about Washington's adherence to the deal. So who is right? The Americans say they have powerful evidence that, over several years, Russia has developed and now fielded a missile that falls within the range that is banned by the INF Treaty. This by the way is not a new idea raised by the Trump administration. President Barack Obama too was concerned about what the Russians were doing. The evidence has been put to Washington's Nato allies and they have all backed the US case. Many of them though are privately not happy to see the US itself withdraw from the treaty, preferring that more time be given to try to reach an accord with the Russians. Moscow has arguments of its own, asserting for example that US anti-ballistic missile interceptors deployed today in Romania, but soon to Poland as well, could potentially fall into the INF agreement's terms if their warheads were changed. So can the INF Treaty be saved? Or, to put it another way, does either country really want to maintain the treaty? On the face of it the answer is no. If indeed Russia is in breach of the agreement, as Nato insists, then it clearly believes that developing a weapon in this category has some strategic value. And there is no hint of Russia backing down. As far as the Americans and their allies are concerned, the ball is in Moscow's court; the INF Treaty's fate is in its hands. But there is a strong sentiment in both the Pentagon and White House that the agreement is out of date. US officials point to China's huge arsenal of intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which it has been able to develop unconstrained by any treaty. In this light, the US sees the INF deal as a brake on its own strategic capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. Perhaps the Europeans who are most alarmed (and most at risk) by the deployment of new Russian missiles can bring their weight to bear. But if both Washington and Moscow see good reasons for abandoning the treaty, then the other Nato countries are unlikely to pull a renewed INF agreement out of the hat. Should it be saved? During the Cold War years, arms control and disarmament agreements played a vital role, and not just in reducing the numbers of nuclear missiles and maintaining stability. They were the central element in the East-West dialogue. This was the domain where Washington and Moscow met across the table as equals. It continued after the Cold War with the new START treaty, signed during the Obama administration, setting limits on long-range strategic missiles. If the INF Treaty unravels, then many experts fear for the future of the new START agreement, which expires in February 2021, unless the two parties agree to extend it. Will they even want to, given the state of their relations? This is the paradox of arms control. Such agreements maybe don't matter so much in times of peace and stability; but when tensions mount they really do. Shifting global power The likely demise of the INF Treaty and the fate of the broader arms control edifice it represents is also a sign of the dramatic shift under way in world affairs. The US concern about China points to this. Maybe the era of bilateral arms control, involving just Washington and Moscow, is coming to an end. China is now a significant nuclear player. Some 10 other countries beyond the US and Russia have fielded intermediate-range nuclear missiles. The contrary view asserts that yes, the "bilateral era" is ending, but Russia and the US still have by far the largest strategic arsenals and that controlling these remains a good thing in itself. It also sets a benchmark for disarmament which should be extended to include other countries. But with relations between Russia and the West at a low ebb, with a US president asserting the credo of "America First" and with Russia pursuing its own assertive foreign policy, it is hard to see the INF Treaty or even new START surviving.

Students at Ghana's Accra Technical University (ACT) will, from January, be able to study "drone technology" and "3D printing" in a purpose-built laboratory, according to the Joy Online news site. It quotes the university's vice-chancellor as saying a Korean company, called A-Tech Group Korea Incorporation, was a potential backer. Land administration, risk assessment, forestry management, urban planning and coastal zone management all benefit from the use of drones, says ACT's Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Edmund Ameko.

Officials in Libya have confirmed that an armed group has seized control of one of the country's largest oilfields. Local gunmen were reported to have stormed the facilities at El Sharara, in the southern region of Fezzan, on Saturday. The militiamen recently threatened to occupy the site if the authorities didn't provide more development funds for their impoverished area. The Libyan National Oil Corporation said the oilfield's seizure would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of barrels of production every day. It demanded that the occupation end immediately.

Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dr Denis Mukwege has said he fears conflict will break out after this month's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo if they are not free and fair, Reuters news agency reports. The gynaecologist, who with the help of colleagues has treated tens of thousands of victims of rape, reportedly made the warning as he collected his collected his Nobel award on Monday. "I am very worried that these elections will not be free, fair, credible and peaceful and that if there is massive fraud... supporters [of losing candidates] will not accept them," Dr Mukwege is quoted by Reuters as saying in his speech in Oslo. Reuters quotes Dr Mukwege as saying that worsening violence in eastern DR Congo, plus the election authorities' struggle to meet key deadlines for vote preparation, "suggests [to him] that oppression is being prepared, at the very minimum, and it could be that a war against its own people is being prepared". Dr Congo's Dr Mukwege and Iraqi Yazidi activist Nadia Murad were jointly awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize for their "efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war".

Kenyan media are reporting the death of a footballer who they say was struck dead by lightning as his team celebrated scoring a goal. Twenty-year-old Allan Mbote reportedly died on the pitch on Sunday in Busia County, western Kenya, while six of his Red Sharks teammates were rushed to a local hospital needing treatment for their injuries. Local police chief Mary Kiarie is quoted by the Daily Nation newspaper as saying three of the players are recovering in hospital and three others have already been treated and discharged. Upcoming fixtures in the Nangina Ward Soccer tournament will go ahead as scheduled, the Daily Nation quotes its organisers as saying, with the final due on 24 December.

A nationwide strike is under way in Gabon where workers are calling for recent changes to the constitution to be reversed. "We don't know exactly who is in charge of Gabon today. Let the president speak out and reassure the Gabonese people," said Louis Patrick Mombo, of trade union alliance Gabon Dynamique Unitaire. President Ali Bongo, 59, has been out of the country since October seeking medical treatment - first in Saudi Arabia, followed by Morocco. AFP news agency reports that he had suffered a stroke. In his absence, Gabon's Constitutional Court has amended part of the constitution to allow the vice-president, Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou, to hold a ministerial meetings and to unblock pending cases. But the trade union alliance wants the president of the Senate to act as interim president, which is what the constitution specified before it was amended.

An opposition candidate in Nigeria's upcoming elections has accused the government of freezing his bank account, claims that anti-corruption bodies deny. Peter Obi, the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleged over the weekend that all transactions on personal and business accounts belonging him, his wife and family were being blocked. The statement, issued on his behalf by a PDP spokesperson, claimed the freeze was the work of "agencies of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration". That claim has been dismissed as false by two anti-graft bodies, reports Nigeria's Premium Times, who denied any suggestion of involvement. They are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC). Mr Obi has not provided any evidence to confirm the allegation that the government has frozen his accounts.

Theresa May will meet European leaders and EU officials later for talks aimed at rescuing her Brexit deal. She will hold talks with Dutch PM Mark Rutte and Germany's Angela Merkel after postponing MPs' final vote on the deal. The UK PM has said she needs "further assurances" about the Northern Ireland border plan to get Commons backing. European Council President Donald Tusk insisted the EU would "not renegotiate" but said leaders would discuss how to help "facilitate UK ratification". Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said further talks with Brussels would focus on the Brexit "backstop" on the Irish border, which Mrs May earlier admitted had caused MPs "widespread and deep concern". The PM's abrupt U-turn - after days of repeated insistence that the vote would go ahead - prompted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to secure a three-hour emergency debate on Tuesday. "It cannot be right that the government can unilaterally alter the arrangements," said Mr Corbyn, who earlier accused Mrs May of "losing control of events". No date has been set for the Brexit deal to again be put before MPs, although Mrs May indicated the final deadline for the vote was 21 January. Leading Conservative Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said Mrs May lacked the "gumption" to put her "undeliverable" deal before MPs. He is trying to get enough Tory MPs to submit letters of no confidence in the PM to trigger a leadership contest. The Times reported that Crispin Blunt became the 26th MP to do so on Monday. "I want to encourage those who are thinking about it; get it done," Mr Blunt told the paper. Forty eight Conservative lawmakers must submit letters for any challenge to be initiated. In other Brexit developments: A Labour backbencher was expelled from the Commons after grabbing the ceremonial mace in protest Former prime minister David Cameron insisted he had no regrets about calling the referendum, saying he had "made a promise" to do so The Brexit secretary said policy "had not changed" despite a European court ruling the UK could cancel Brexit without permission from the other 27 EU members