EU delays Brexit departure until Oct 31

United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May gained some valuable Brexit breathing room this week when European Union leaders granted her request to move the goal posts and push the nation's planned exit from the bloc back to Oct 31.

Before the deferral, which got the green light at a five-hour summit on Wednesday, the clock was counting down to a planned exit on Friday, and British politicians were deadlocked on the kind of divorce deal they wanted - a close, soft Brexit or an arm's-length hard Brexit. The stalemate meant the UK was set to crash out without a deal, something the business community had said would be disastrous for the economy.

The delay gives May more time to get a withdrawal deal approved by the UK's bitterly divided Parliament.