Election in Spain Gives Conservatives More Seats but No Mandate

"The conservative Popular Party of Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s caretaker prime minister, won the most votes in Spain’s repeat national elections on Sunday, as the Socialists held off a challenge from the Podemos Party to remain the largest left-wing formation.
The fragmented result, however, did not settle who will form the country’s next government. Instead, Mr. Rajoy and the leaders of Spain’s other parties face another tricky round of coalition negotiations. National elections in December were also inconclusive.
With 99.8 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Rajoy’s Popular Party had won 137 of 350 parliamentary seats, up from 123 seats in the December elections. The Socialists captured 85 seats, five fewer than in December.
Podemos won 71 seats, effectively unchanged from December, after forming an election alliance with United Left, another radical party, which won two seats six months ago.
Another emerging party, Ciudadanos, got 32 seats, down from 40 seats, according to the preliminary results.
No party came close to winning a parliamentary majority on Sunday. Still, the results put Mr. Rajoy back in the driver’s seat, either to try to form a right-wing coalition or to pressure the Socialists into a broader coalition that could help preserve the dominance of Spain’s establishment parties, which Podemos would like to uproot."
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NYT

Britain votes to leave the EU

A referendum - a vote in which everyone (or nearly everyone) of voting age can take part - was held on Thursday 23 June, to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union.

Leave won by 52% to 48%.

The referendum turnout was 71.8%, with more than 30 million people voting. It was the highest turnout in a UK-wide vote since the 1992 general election.

England voted strongly for Brexit, by 53.4% to 46.6%, as did Wales, with Leave getting 52.5% of the vote and Remain 47.5%.

Scotland and Northern Ireland both backed staying in the EU. Scotland backed Remain by 62% to 38%, while 55.8% in Northern Ireland voted Remain and 44.2% Leave.

For the UK to leave the EU it has to invoke an agreement called Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Cameron or his successor needs to decide when to invoke this - that will then set in motion the formal legal process of withdrawing from the EU, and give the UK two years to negotiate its withdrawal.

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David Cameron's resignation 

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will step down after the UK voted to Leave the European Union.

Speaking in Downing Street, he did not set out a precise timetable for his departure but said "we should aim to have a new prime minister in place by the start of the Conservative party conference in October".

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Ratings agencies downgrade UK credit rating after Brexit vote

The UK has lost its top AAA credit rating from ratings agency S&P following the country's Brexit vote.

S&P said the the referendum result could lead to "a deterioration of the UK's economic performance, including its large financial services sector".

Rival agency Fitch lowered its rating from AA+ to AA, forecasting an "abrupt slowdown" in growth in the short-term.