Northern Ireland

"We need much time, much more time and we continue to work in the next weeks," EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said. This was supposed to be the day leaders would unveil a draft trade deal.

On technical grounds, the U.K.'s Supreme Court rejected an attempt to overturn strict abortion limits in Northern Ireland. But the court also said that the law is incompatible with human rights.

The answer is complicated: The fate of Northern Ireland's own ban hinges not just on the opinions of its residents but on the broader political scene in the U.K.

Major questions are still up in the air after months of negotiations about U.K.'s withdrawal from the EU, most prominently how to handle the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Mary Lou McDonald represents a new generation and could appeal to a wider range of voters in Ireland — but critics warn she's still inextricably tied to many of her party's hard-line policies.

The 48-year-old takes over the party with no direct connection to Ireland's period of bloodshed known as the Troubles.

The biggest stumbling block had been whether the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and the independent Republic of Ireland would have a "hard border" post-Brexit. The sides agreed to keep an open border.

The U.K. is facing a deadline ahead of a Brexit trade summit next month to find a solution to the Irish border, which has been fluid since Northern Ireland made peace with the Irish Republic in 1998.

After dust cleared in the U.K. province's snap election, Irish nationalists drew nearly even with their pro-British counterparts. Now, big — and difficult — decisions await the divided government.