Auld lang syne: New Year brings final UK-EU Brexit split

Like a separated couple still living together, Britain and the European Union spent 2020 wrangling and wondering whether they can still be friends.

On Thursday, the UK is finally moving out. At 11 p.m. London time — midnight in Brussels — Britain will economically and practically leave the the 27-nation bloc, 11 months after its formal political departure.

After more than four years of Brexit political drama, the day itself is something of an anticlimax. Lockdown measures to curb the coronavirus have curtailed mass gatherings to celebrate or mourn the moment, though Parliament's huge Big Ben bell will sound the hour as it prepares to ring in the New Year.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson — for whom Thursday represents the fulfilment of his promise to "Get Brexit Done" — said the day "marks a new beginning in our country's history and a new relationship with...