UK Members of Parliament overwhelming voted to back a bill (498 votes to 114) which gives Prime Minister Theresa May the power to invoke Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty and formally start the legal process by which the UK would leave the European Union. The bill was necessary after the UK Supreme Court ruled the PM could not take the decision unilaterally and needed to consult parliament. The bill still needs to be voted on by the House of Lords before it becomes law but this is expected to happen in the coming weeks, with May wanting to start negotiations leaving the EU by March 31.

More than 150,000 people took to the street of the Romanian capital of Bucharest, and other cities, to protest against new laws which would decriminalize a number of government corruption offences including any offences worth less than 48,000 US dollars. Some protesters in the capital threw firecrackers and smoke bombs at police who responded with tear gas. The government decree announcing the new laws was passed last Tuesday although Romania's top judicial watchdog announced a court challenge on Wednesday against it. 

Chinese athletes attending the 8th Asian Winter Games in Sapporo later this month are to be found alternative accommodation by the organizers following a row involving a book stocked by the Japanese hotel chain they were scheduled to stay in. The row centers on how the book depicts Japan’s involvement in the 1937 Nanjing Massacre in which 300,000 Chinese were killed and the country’s role in the contentious issue of “comfort women” before and during World War Two. 

A Chinese language exam is likely to be introduced in Russian schools from 2018, according to a national-level education body in Russia. Russia's Basic State Exam is a series of obligatory examinations for ninth grade students and the Unified State Exam for 11th grade students necessary to qualify for university education and require a foreign language component. Currently students can choose between English, German, French or Spanish. Chinese would become a fifth option.

President Donald Trump has urged Senate Republicans to use the so-called “nuclear option” if the Democrats try and block the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch, his nomination to the US Supreme Court. The “nuclear option” would end the need for Supreme Court nominees to receive 60 votes or more to break a process called a “filibuster” which can block a vote taking place. The nuclear option would lead to a simple majority vote being required to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. The appointment of Gorsuch would give Republican appointed judges a majority on the Supreme Court.

Chinese researchers have announced that they have been able to produce tuberculosis-resistant ­cattle with no genetic side-effects. The study involved twenty calves of which 11 survived for more than three months. The results could have widespread significance as Bovine TB is a risk to cattle throughout much of Africa and Asia as well as parts of Europe. The results were published in Genome Biology. 

China has announced that it will rapidly increase the number of public “special football schools” from the current 13,381 to 20,000 by the end of the year. The announcement shows a marked acceleration as the Chinese government had previously said it had planned to hit the 20,000 number by 2020. The football schools are seen as a major part of China’s ambitions to become a major global football power by 2050 and President Xi’s desire for the country to someday host and win the World Cup. China’s national team currently ranks just 81st globally.

Singer Beyoncé announced that she is pregnant with twins. “We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. – The Carters” she wrote on her Instagram account accompanied by a picture of her holding her pregnant stomach. The super-star couple already have one daughter, Blue Ivy, aged five.