For the first time ever, an annual Latin American Summit has endorsed Spain’s position on Gibraltar. Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation in Latin America confirmed that the 32 countries attending have supported Spain’s call to the United Kingdom to start bilateral sovereignty talks over the Rock.
Concerned about how the UK’s departure from the European Union over the next two years will impact their communities, leaders from the British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean have agreed to form a group to focus on the whole question of Brexit, reports the region's media.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney says he will step down in June 2019. It means he will serve one additional year beyond the five-year term he committed to when he took the post, but will still be two years short of the usual eight years governors serve.
The UK economy grew by 0.5% in the three months after the Brexit vote, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. The figure for July to September was down from the 0.7% growth recorded in the second quarter of 2016 - the months before Britain voted to leave the European Union.
The UK on Friday was successful in its bid for election to the UN Human Rights Council for the term January 2017 – December 2019. This follows an eleven month campaign, resulting in a high number of votes from countries around the world.
Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra thanked countries attending the XXV IberoAmerian summit in Colombia for their support to Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands and the compliance of UN resolutions calling for dialogue with the UK. A brief release from the Argentine ministry said “we are grateful for the support we have received from the IberoAmerican space on the Malvinas question”.
Russia has withdrawn a request to refuel its warships in Ceuta, after Spain became the subject of international criticism, from the NATO secretary general among others. Spain had recently signed statements accusing Russia of war crimes in Syria, where it’s believed the ships are headed.
Gibraltar will be included in whatever deal the United Kingdom negotiates to leave the European Union, Britain’s ambassador to Spain has said. Simon Manley made the comment during a wide-ranging interview with the right-wing Spanish newspaper ABC, during which he also made clear “there is no turning back” from Brexit.
Large banks are getting ready to relocate out of the UK early next year over fears around Brexit, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) has warned. Writing in The Observer its boss Anthony Browne also says smaller banks could move operations overseas by 2017.
Prime Minister Theresa May told EU leaders that Britain would not just rubber-stamp agreements made between the other member states when they meet as 27. In her first European Council, she said that as long as the UK was a full member of the EU, it wanted a seat at the table for discussions over the bloc’s future.