
The United States has supplanted Brazil as the European Union's top supplier of soybeans since a deal in July with President Donald Trump to avert a trade war, according to EU data seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Prime Minister Theresa May appealed directly to fellow European Union leaders on Wednesday to drop “unacceptable” Brexit demands that she said could rip Britain apart, urging the bloc to respond in kind to her “serious and workable” plan.

Apple has paid the Irish government €14.3bn (£12.7bn), money that the European Commission ruled the tech giant owed due to illegal tax breaks. Ireland's Finance ministry said the payment was a significant milestone, although Dublin insists Apple was not given any special tax treatment. In 2016 the Commission ruled the below 1% effective tax rate the firm paid in Ireland amounted to illegal state aid.

Mini factory in Oxford will shut down for a month after Brexit at the end of March to minimize disruption in case of a no-deal outcome. Owner BMW said its summer maintenance shutdown had been brought forward to 1 April to reduce any possible short-term parts-supply disruption.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that a no-deal Brexit on World Trade Organization terms would entail substantial costs for the UK economy. IMF said that all likely Brexit scenarios would entail costs, but a disorderly departure could lead to a significantly worse outcome.

Calls for a second referendum on Brexit are mounting as Britain approaches the last six months before leaving the EU - but the sands of time could be running out for diehard Remainers. London Mayor Sadiq Khan became the latest big name to call for a vote, joining former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major and celebrities like football star Gary Lineker.

Some 44% of Welsh voters want a say on the outcome of the talks, polling for the People's Vote campaign found. Welsh voters backed quitting the European Union by 53% to 47%, but now 51% would vote to remain compared to 49%, the YouGov study for the group found. The usual margin of error for polling is three per cent.

A no-deal exit from the European Union would deliver a “hammer blow” to the British economy, the head of the CBI has warned. The business body’s director general Carolyn Fairbairn said the country should get behind Prime Minister Theresa May’s Chequers proposals as a blueprint for a Brexit deal.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has delivered a “chilling” warning to Theresa May’s cabinet that a no-deal Brexit could lead to economic chaos, including a property crash that could see house prices fall by a third.

British Prime Minister Theresa May seems to have overcome an internal escalation from her own Conservatives to have her removed, but her supporters are confident she is safe in the leadership, for now. Ms May is under pressure over the so-called Chequers proposal, which her opponents say binds the United Kingdom too tightly to European Union rules and regulations following Brexit.