
Members of Parliament have rejected Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement on the day the UK was due to leave the EU. The government lost by 344 votes to 286, a margin of 58. It means the UK has missed an EU deadline to delay Brexit to 22 May and leave with a deal.

United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday he had a productive working dinner the previous night in Beijing, kicking off a day of talks aimed at resolving the bitter trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.

A record 2.9 million children from working families in the UK are living in poverty after housing costs have been paid, the latest figures show. This means 70% of all poor children were in working families last year, up from 67% on the previous year, official statistics show.

The EU free-trade deals that the UK government has managed to roll over are incomplete, say trade experts. The UK Trade Policy Observatory told Newsnight the deals cannot guarantee trade will continue for British companies in a no-deal Brexit.

MPs will be asked to vote again on Brexit on Friday but only on part of the deal negotiated with the EU. They will vote on the withdrawal agreement on the Irish backstop, divorce bill and citizens' rights. But it will not amount to a third meaningful vote on the deal, as it will not include a vote on the UK's future relationship with the EU.

The Argentine Peso slid to all-time lows against the dollar as concerns about inflation, weak growth and October's presidential election weighed. The currency has lost 14% so far this year and the weakness raises fears of a repeat of the currency crisis of 2018 when the Peso lost half its value against the dollar.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his economy minister tried to rescue their contentious pension reform bill on Wednesday, as deepening political chaos surrounding the government’s signature proposal slammed Brazilian markets.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche said this week it will stop producing medicines at its Rio de Janeiro unit in Brazil, a new blow to a country whose economy appears to be in its most sluggish decade in 120 years. Roche said the move will take place within the next five years because that factory is not financially sustainable.

Efforts to persuade MPs to back Theresa May's Brexit deal will continue on Thursday, a day after she promised to quit as PM if it was approved. Her pledge brought some on-side, such as ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

Boeing has issued changes to controversial control systems linked to two fatal crashes of its 737 Max planes in the last five months. But it's still not certain when the planes, that were grounded worldwide this month, will be allowed to fly. Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accidents.