
Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plans were rejected by parliament’s upper chamber on Monday, setting up a confrontation with pro-EU MPs later this week which will test her ability to lead a minority government.

Fears are deepening on the Irish border over a hard Brexit, researchers showed. Almost half of residents are against a technological solution to customs checks, according to a study of those living on both sides of the frontier by Queen’s University Belfast academics.

A UK government's compromise to avoid a Commons defeat on Brexit has been rejected as unacceptable by leading rebel Dominic Grieve. Prime Minister Theresa May had convinced most rebels - who want MPs to have the final say - to back her in a key vote on Tuesday night by giving them assurances. But the wording of the promised compromise has now been published.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has confirmed it will end a huge program to stimulate the Euro-zone economy in December. The ECB will stop its bond-buying scheme, worth €30bn a month, despite a recent slowdown in the bloc's recovery.

UK prime minsiter Theresa May has appealed to Tory rebels not to undermine her negotiating position with the EU by backing amendments to Brexit legislation made by the Lords. Addressing a meeting of the backbench 1922 committee on Monday ahead of a series of crunch Commons votes, the Prime Minister told MPs to consider the signal that would be sent to Brussels if the Government was defeated.

Terrorism has hit the UK’s economy harder than any other EU country in recent years, according to a study. Analysis found the UK lost an estimated 43.7 billion Euros (£38.3 billion) in GDP terms due to terrorist activity from 2004 to 2016, according to a report published by the Press Association.

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has given 11 of his 17 cabinet posts to women, a higher proportion than anywhere else in Europe. A self-styled feminist, Sánchez' choice was in marked contrast to the male-dominated executives of ex-PM Mariano Rajoy, ousted last week.

The UK said it continued to work with Gibraltar towards a Brexit deal that “fully recognizes the priorities of the Rock”. The Department for Exiting the European Union made the statement after the seventh meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar Governments, which took place in London at the Cabinet Office on Monday morning.

The European Union has proposed spending more on Italy and other member countries hit by the economic and migrant crises, but less on increasingly wealthy eastern states like Poland. The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, proposed the regional shift in the “cohesion” portion of the post-2020 multi-year budget as Italy faces political chaos.

Asian equities and the euro sank Wednesday as turmoil in Italy sparked a frantic dash for safety, while investors have also been spooked by fresh worries about the China-US trade row. Global markets have been sent into a tailspin as a political crisis unfolding in Rome has thrust the stability of the Euro zone and European Union back on to the agenda.