
A no-deal Brexit would be “a disaster” for Spain, the country’s UK tourism chief has warned. Javier Pinanes, director of Spain’s tourist office in London, acknowledged that travel disruption caused by the UK and the European Union failing to negotiate an agreement would be “a really big problem”.

UK government cabinet ministers raised concerns about potential compromises with the EU over Brexit at a No 10 meeting on Thursday. According to London media reports Liam Fox, Michael Gove and Dominic Raab expressed concern the whole of the UK could remain in the customs union for an open-ended period.

According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)’s latest barometer, international tourist arrivals grew 6% in the first six months of 2018 after a record year of growth in 2017. All world regions enjoyed robust growth in tourist arrivals in January-June 2018. The increase was fueled by strong demand from major source markets, supported by an upswing in the global economy. It comes after record year-round growth of 7% in 2017.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May will face the Commons for the first time since the EU rejected her Brexit plan, amid mounting pressure from some Tory MPs to change course. A week before a crucial meeting of EU leaders, the prime minister shows no sign of abandoning her proposals.

Britain would be welcomed into the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact “with open arms” by Japan, the country’s prime minister has said. Shinzo Abe also urged the use of “wisdom” during Brexit talks in order to avoid a no-deal withdrawal from the EU.

Downing Street has played down expectations of agreement on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU at a crunch summit next week, warning that “big issues” remain to be resolved. Theresa May’s official spokesman said further concessions were needed from the EU side, and warned that no withdrawal agreement could be sealed without a “precise” declaration about the post-Brexit relationship.

The name of the second suspect in the Salisbury case is actually Alexander Mishkin, the BBC understands. The Bellingcat investigative website says the man who travelled under the alias Alexander Petrov is in reality a military doctor working for Russian intelligence, the GRU.

Scottish National Party members of parliament would back a new Brexit referendum if it were put to them, party leader Nicola Sturgeon has said. Campaigners have been pressing for a fresh vote on whatever exit plans result from talks with EU leaders. Ms Sturgeon said SNP MPs would oppose anything short of staying in the single market and customs union.

Facebook is facing a potential £1.2bn fine for a data breach which allowed hackers to access the personal information of 50 million users. The Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC), the lead supervising authority for Facebook in the EU, officially opened its investigation this week after the social media giant admitted hackers could have accessed the accounts of millions of users through a “vulnerability” last Friday.

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for their discoveries in enzyme research. Americans Frances Arnold and George P Smith will share the prize with Briton Gregory Winter, who is based at Cambridge University.