The UK is set for a 12 Dec. general election after MPs voted to back it following months of deadlock over Brexit. By a margin of 438 votes to 20, the Commons approved legislation paving the way for the first December election since 1923.
The bill is still to be approved by the Lords but could become law by the end of the week. If that happens, there will be a five-week campaign up to polling day.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the public must be "given a choice" over the future of Brexit and the country.
He hopes the election will give him a fresh mandate for his Brexit deal and break the current Parliamentary deadlock, which has led to the UK's exit being further delayed to 31 Jan.
The PM said it was time for the country to "come together to get Brexit done". He has readmitted 10 of the 21 Conservative MPs he threw out of the party rebelling over Brexit, allowing them to stand as Conservative candidates.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "This election is a once-in-a-generation chance to transform our country and take on the vested interests holding people back. We can now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change that our country has ever seen.”
Meanwhile, British intelligence agencies have heightened their monitoring of subjects of interest after the death of the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to safeguard against the possibility of revenge attacks in the UK.
The response covers about 3,000 people in the UK and abroad who are believed to have connections to Isis or who could be inspired by the group to launch terrorist attacks in Britain.
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