A dream trip for a US tourist became a nightmare abduction but ended with her rescue - CNN

That dream seemed to become a nightmare last week when the California woman and her tour guide were kidnapped at gunpoint in a Ugandan national park, taken by gunmen who later used their hostages' cell phones to issue ransom demands.

But the nightmare ended Sunday when Ugandan security forces rescued Endicott and her guide. They were freed unharmed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which borders the Queen Elizabeth National Park -- the scene of their abduction during a game-watching drive Tuesday evening.

Four other people taken at the same time were previously released, officials said.

Endicott is from Orange County and lives in Costa Mesa, working as an esthetician there, CNN affiliate KABC reported Thursday.

Endicott's friends told KABC that she had been enthusiastic about her trip to Uganda. One -- neighbor Pascale Douglas -- said that hearing the news that her friend had been abducted was like a "punch to the gut."

"She had mentioned when I met her one of her big dreams was to go see the gorillas," Douglas told KABC. "At the time she asked me if it was something I would consider doing also, but time went by and she ended up going on her trip."

Armed gang demanded a ransom

Ugandan police said Thursday that an armed gang had kidnapped Endicott and her guide, and made frequent demands for a ransom of $500,000 using their victims' cell phones. Police had said they would not offer the money.

Ugandan security forces eventually rescued Endicott and the guide, although officials released few details.

"Both were rescued from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are safely back in Kanungu district in Uganda," government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said Sunday.

Endicott arrived in the Ugandan capital of Kampala on Monday. Mike Walker, the manager of Wild Frontiers Uganda, told CNN that she was in the custody of personnel from the US Embassy.

Wild Frontiers is the tour company Endicott was with when she and her tour guide were kidnapped.

Opondo said the kidnappers fled the scene of the rescue when law enforcement officers and soldiers moved in.

A US defense official told CNN that the US military had provided support to Ugandan security forces. The support included intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets and liaison officers, the official said.

Uganda's Minister for Tourism Ephraim Kamuntu said in a televised address Sunday that authorities had been "under pressure" over the abduction. "We can now put the anxiety to rest," he added.

Kamuntu praised local communities near the park where Endicott was taken, saying: "The media and the communities surrounding the national park were co-operative and sympathetic. They helped the security operatives in rescuing the abducted tourist and driver."

"We also want to assure the family and friends of Ms Kimberly Sue (Endicott) that indeed as I told them the other day, the capacity of Uganda's security (and) their know-how of the experience has proved its worth. They have rescued them unharmed. They are safe in our hands," the minister said.

'A quiet and peaceful' handover

A ransom was paid to free Endicott and her guide, a source with knowledge of the exchange told CNN on Sunday. The handover was "quiet and peaceful," the source said.

Wild Frontiers said neither Endicott nor her tour guide were harmed. A spokesperson for the company said the identities of the alleged kidnappers have not been revealed.

President Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon that he was "pleased to report" the two have been released.

"God bless them and their families," Trump said on Twitter.

The State Department said it was aware of the rescue.

"We are aware of reports that a US citizen hostage was recovered on April 7 by Ugandan security officials," a State Department spokesperson told CNN. "Privacy considerations prevent us from commenting further at this time."

CNN's Brent Swails, Christina Maxouris, Hilary McGann, Samson Ntale, Bukola Adebayo, Robyn Kriel, Ryan Browne and Anna Cardovilis contributed to this report.

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2019-04-08 12:15:00Z
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A dream trip for a US tourist became a nightmare abduction but ended with her rescue - CNN

That dream seemed to become a nightmare last week when the California woman and her tour guide were kidnapped at gunpoint in a Ugandan national park, taken by gunmen who later used their hostages' cell phones to issue ransom demands.

But the nightmare ended Sunday when Ugandan security forces rescued Endicott and her guide. They were freed unharmed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which borders the Queen Elizabeth National Park -- the scene of their abduction during a game-watching drive Tuesday evening.

Four other people taken at the same time were previously released, officials said.

Endicott is from Orange County and lives in Costa Mesa, working as an esthetician there, CNN affiliate KABC reported Thursday.

Endicott's friends told KABC that she had been enthusiastic about her trip to Uganda. One -- neighbor Pascale Douglas -- said that hearing the news that her friend had been abducted was like a "punch to the gut."

"She had mentioned when I met her one of her big dreams was to go see the gorillas," Douglas told KABC. "At the time she asked me if it was something I would consider doing also, but time went by and she ended up going on her trip."

Armed gang demanded a ransom

Ugandan police said Thursday that an armed gang had kidnapped Endicott and her guide, and made frequent demands for a ransom of $500,000 using their victims' cell phones. Police had said they would not offer the money.

Ugandan security forces eventually rescued Endicott and the guide, although officials released few details.

"Both were rescued from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are safely back in Kanungu district in Uganda," government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said Sunday. "They are back at the lodge and she is expected to be in Kampala tomorrow."

Opondo said the kidnappers fled the scene of the rescue when law enforcement officers and soldiers moved in.

A US defense official told CNN that the US military had provided support to Ugandan security forces. The support included intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets and liaison officers, the official said.

Uganda's Minister for Tourism Ephraim Kamuntu said in a televised address Sunday that authorities had been "under pressure" over the abduction. "We can now put the anxiety to rest," he added.

Kamuntu praised local communities near the park where Endicott was taken, saying: "The media and the communities surrounding the national park were co-operative and sympathetic. They helped the security operatives in rescuing the abducted tourist and driver."

"We also want to assure the family and friends of Ms Kimberly Sue (Endicott) that indeed as I told them the other day, the capacity of Uganda's security (and) their know-how of the experience has proved its worth. They have rescued them unharmed. They are safe in our hands," the minister said.

'A quiet and peaceful' handover

A ransom was paid to free Endicott and her guide, a source with knowledge of the exchange told CNN on Sunday. The handover was "quiet and peaceful," the source said.

Wild Frontiers said neither Endicott nor her tour guide were harmed. A spokesperson for the company said the identities of the alleged kidnappers have not been revealed.

President Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon that he was "pleased to report" the two have been released.

"God bless them and their families," Trump said on Twitter.

The State Department said it was aware of the rescue.

"We are aware of reports that a US citizen hostage was recovered on April 7 by Ugandan security officials," a State Department spokesperson told CNN. "Privacy considerations prevent us from commenting further at this time."

CNN's Brent Swails, Christina Maxouris, Hilary McGann, Samson Ntale, Bukola Adebayo, Robyn Kriel, Ryan Browne and Anna Cardovilis contributed to this report.

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2019-04-08 10:33:00Z
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A dream trip for US tourist became a nightmare abduction but ended with her rescue - CNN

That dream seemed to become a nightmare last week when the California woman and her tour guide were kidnapped at gunpoint in a Ugandan national park, taken by gunmen who later used their hostages' cell phones to issue ransom demands.

But the nightmare ended Sunday when Ugandan security forces rescued Endicott and her guide. They were freed unharmed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which borders the Queen Elizabeth National Park -- the scene of their abduction during a game-watching drive Tuesday evening.

Four other people taken at the same time were previously released, officials said.

Endicott is from Orange County and lives in Costa Mesa, working as a esthetician there, CNN affiliate KABC reported Thursday.

Endicott's friends told KABC that she had been enthusiastic about her trip to Uganda. One -- neighbor Pascale Douglas -- said news that hearing her friend had been abducted was like a "punch to the gut."

"She had mentioned when I met her one of her big dreams was to go see the gorillas," Douglas told KABC. "At the time she asked me if it was something I would consider doing also, but time went by and she ended up going on her trip."

Armed gang demanded a ransom

Ugandan police said Thursday that an armed gang had kidnapped Endicott and her guide, and made frequent demands for a ransom of $500,000 using their victims' cell phones. Police had said they would not offer the money.

Ugandan security forces eventually rescued Endicott and her guide, although officials were vague on releasing details.

"Both were rescued from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are safely back in Kanungu district in Uganda," government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said Sunday. "They are back at the lodge and she is expected to be in Kampala tomorrow."

Opondo said the kidnappers fled the scene of the rescue when law enforcement officers and soldiers moved in, disappearing as they had done earlier when they took the hostages.

A US defense official told CNN that the US military had provided support to Ugandan security forces. The support included intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets and liaison officers, the official said.

Uganda's Minister for Tourism Ephraim Kamuntu said, in a televised address Sunday, that authorities had been "under pressure" over the abduction. "We can now put the anxiety to rest," he added.

Kamuntu praised local communities near the park where Endicott was taken, saying: "The media and the communities surrounding the national park were co-operative and sympathetic. They helped the security operatives in rescuing the abducted tourist and driver."

"We also want to assure the family and friends of Ms Kimberly Sue (Endicott) that indeed as I told them the other day, the capacity of Uganda's security (and) their know-how of the experience has proved its worth. They have rescued them unharmed. They are safe in our hands," the minister said.

'A quiet and peaceful' handover

A ransom was paid to free Endicott and her guide, a source with knowledge of the exchange told CNN on Sunday. The handover was "quiet and peaceful," the source said.

Wild Frontiers said neither Endicott nor her tour guide were harmed. A spokesperson for the company said the identities of the alleged kidnappers have not been revealed.

President Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon that he was "pleased to report" the two have been released.

"God bless them and their families," Trump said on Twitter.

The State Department said it was aware of the rescue.

"We are aware of reports that a US citizen hostage was recovered on April 7 by Ugandan security officials," a State Department spokesperson told CNN. "Privacy considerations prevent us from commenting further at this time."

CNN's Brent Swails, Christina Maxouris, Hilary McGann, Samson Ntale, Bukola Adebayo, Robyn Kriel, Ryan Browne and Anna Cardovilis contributed to this report.

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2019-04-08 09:31:00Z
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Beto O'Rourke calls Benjamin Netanyahu a 'racist,' says US-Israel relationship must 'transcend' him - AOL

Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke lambasted Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, labeling the Israeli prime minister a “racist” who neither represents the “true will of the Israeli people” nor the “best interests” of the relationship between the United States and Israel. 

The Democrat was in Iowa over the weekend to drum up support for his run for president when a voter asked him to comment on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, CNN reported. In his response, O’Rourke criticized Netanyahu as a racist leader who had obstructed peace in the region.

“This is somebody who, in a previous election, warned Arabs were coming to the polls. It’s racism,” O’Rourke said, referring to a warning about “droves of Arabs” that the Israeli leader had issued to his supporters in 2015.

“This is somebody who now no longer subscribes to a two-state solution and has vowed to annex the West Bank which will make peace, in the long term, impossible,” O’Rourke continued. “This is someone who has joined far-right parties who are inherently racist in their speech and the way that they want to treat their fellow human beings in that part of the world.” 

Netanyahu, who has been dogged by allegations of corruption and is up for reelection this week, vowed over the weekend to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank if voters return him to power. He has also sought to form a coalition with the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, whose views have been slammed as “reprehensible” by the American Jewish Committee and “hateful and extremist” by the Anti-Defamation League.

Speaking to reporters following his rally on Sunday, O’Rourke said the U.S.-Israel relationship needs to “transcend” Netanyahu’s leadership.

“The U.S.-Israel relationship is one of the most important relationships that we have on the planet, and that relationship, if it is successful, must transcend partisanship in the United States, and it must be able to transcend a prime minister who is racist,” O’Rourke said, referring to Netanyahu.

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UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 13: Rep.-elect Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, speaks to reporters after a news conference with democratic members-elect in the Capitol Visitor Center. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

**ADVANCE FOR MONDAY, OCT 31** El Paso City Representatives Steve Ortega, left and Beto O'Rourke pose with a backdrop of Downtown El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2005. The two and three other colleagues, all political newcomers under 35, were elected this year to the El Paso city council. The group of young up-and-comers say they took on their public roles to make El Paso the kind of city it should be, the kind it has long struggled to become. (AP Photo/El Paso Times, Victor Calzada)

US Rep. Beto O'Rourke (R), D-TX, speaks during a meeting with One Campaign volunteers including Jeseus Navarrete (L) on February 26, 2013 in O'Rouke's office in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGANWith the United States days away from billions of dollars in automatic spending cuts, anti-poverty campaigners fear that reductions in foreign aid could potentially lead to thousands of deaths. The world's largest economy faces $85 billion in cuts virtually across the board starting on March 1, 2013 unless the White House and Congress reach a last-minute deal ahead of the self-imposed deadline known as the sequester. While the showdown has caused concern in numerous circles, activists are pushing hard to avoid a 5.3 percent cut in US development assistance which they fear could set back programs to feed the poor and prevent disease. 'The sequester is an equal cut across the board, but equal cuts don't have equal impact,' said Tom Hart, US executive director of the One campaign, the anti-poverty group co-founded by U2 frontman Bono. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - MAY 23: Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, rides his bike after a democratic congressional baseball practice in Northeast. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

UNITED STATES - MAY 23: Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, is pictured at a democratic congressional baseball practice in Northeast. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

US Rep. Beto O'Rourke , D-TX, meets with One campaign volunteers on February 26, 2013 in O'Rouke's office in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. With the United States days away from billions of dollars in automatic spending cuts, anti-poverty campaigners fear that reductions in foreign aid could potentially lead to thousands of deaths. The world's largest economy faces $85 billion in cuts virtually across the board starting on March 1, 2013 unless the White House and Congress reach a last-minute deal ahead of the self-imposed deadline known as the sequester. While the showdown has caused concern in numerous circles, activists are pushing hard to avoid a 5.3 percent cut in US development assistance which they fear could set back programs to feed the poor and prevent disease. 'The sequester is an equal cut across the board, but equal cuts don't have equal impact,' said Tom Hart, US executive director of the One campaign, the anti-poverty group co-founded by U2 frontman Bono. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - JUNE 14: Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, walks down the House steps of the Capitol following the last votes of the week on Friday, June 14, 2013. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

U.S. citizen Edgar Falcon, second from right, and Maricruz Valtierra of Mexico, second from left, laugh while El Paso congressman Beto O'Rourke, right, and Judge Bill Moody, left, congratulate them after the couple was married at U.S.-Mexico border, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 in El Paso, Texas. Like many other couples made up of a US citizen and a foreigner, Falcon and Valtierra, who has been declared inadmissible after an immigration law violation, hope immigration reform will help them live together in the U.S. (AP Photo/Juan Carlos Llorca)

Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, stands with his family for a ceremonial photo with Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, left, in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol after the new 113th Congress convened on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, in Washington. The official oath of office for all members of the House was administered earlier in the House chamber. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas., surrounded by border region leaders, human rights experts, and residents, speaks to media on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013., during a news conference to explain what border communities are asking for in the context of immigration reform. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Congressman Beto O'Rourke, center, speaks at a new conference accompanied by Lillian D'Amico, left, mother of a deceased veteran, and Melinda Russel, a former Army chaplain, in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, June. 4, 2014. A survey of hundreds of West Texas veterans conducted by O'Rourke's office has found that on average they wait more than two months to see a Veterans Affairs mental health professional and even longer to see a physician. (AP Photo/Juan Carlos Llorca)

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 29: U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, asks a question of former Army Capt. Debra Gipson during a House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee hearing on 'Defined Expectations: Evaluating VA's Performance in the Service Member Transition Process' in the Cannon House Office Building, May 29, 2014, in Washington, DC. Ms. Gipson suffered a severe back injury while en route to Afghanistan. (Photo by Rod Lamkey/Getty Images)

Democratic candidate for the US Senate Beto ORourke addresses his last public event in Austin before election night at the Pan American Neighborhood Park on November 4, 2018 in Austin, Texas. - One of the most expensive and closely watched Senate races is in Texas, where incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz is facing Democratic Representative Beto O'Rourke. O'Rourke, 46, whose given names are Robert Francis but who goes by Beto, is mounting a suprisingly strong challenge to the 47-year-old Cruz in the reliably Republican 'Lone Star State.' O'Rourke, a three-term congressman and former member of a punk band, is drawing enthusiastic support from many urban dwellers in Texas while Cruz does better in conservative rural areas. Plucking the Senate seat from Cruz, who battled Donald Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, would be a major victory for the Democratic Party. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP) (Photo credit should read SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images)

Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, of El Paso, Texas, speaks at the University of Texas at Dallas Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017, in Richardson, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, walks during a protest march in downtown Dallas, Sunday, April 9, 2017. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, left, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, take part in a debate for the Texas U.S. Senate, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, in San Antonio. (Tom Reel/San Antonio Express-News via AP, Pool)

Texas Congressman Beto ORourke gives his concession speech during the election night party at Southwest University Park in downtown El Paso on November 6, 2018. - After a close race for senate, ORourke conceded to incumbent Ted Cruz in his home town. (Photo by Paul Ratje / AFP) (Photo credit should read PAUL RATJE/AFP/Getty Images)

Former Democratic Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke gestures during a live interview with Oprah Winfrey on a Times Square stage at "Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations from Times Square," Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in New York. O'Rourke dazzled Democrats in 2018 by nearly defeating Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in the country's largest red state. O'Rourke says he'll announce whether he'll run for president "before the end of the month." (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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“We must be able to transcend his current leadership to make sure that that alliance is strong, that we continue to push for and settle for nothing less than a two-state solution because that is the best opportunity for peace for the people of Israel and the people of Palestine,” O’Rourke added, per CNN. “It is the best opportunity for the full human rights of everyone who is living in that region.”

O’Rourke’s comments were in stark contrast to the close alliance that President Donald Trump has forged with Netanyahu. Last month, Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy when he announced his decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the disputed territory of the Golan Heights ― a move widely seen as boosting Netanyahu’s chances at the polls. 

• This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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2019-04-08 08:24:20Z
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UK faces Brexit reckoning with no-deal deadline just days away - CNBC

The U.K.'s political future looks as uncertain as ever this week with cross-party talks over Brexit still bearing no compromise ahead of crucial decisions that need to be made.

Meanwhile on the continent, all eyes are on EU leaders who will meet Wednesday and must decide whether to grant the U.K. more time to leave the bloc, or not.

Last week, Prime Minister Theresa May requested an extension to Brexit to June 30 but there are strong signals of dissent in Europe over granting the U.K. more time; France, in particular, is not keen. The U.K. is due to leave the EU on April 12 if the EU does not grant the country an extension to Brexit.

A majority of U.K. lawmakers have rejected her Brexit deal three times, while also rejecting a no-deal Brexit and failing to reach a consensus for any alternative options. May has now resorted to holding talks with her political rival, Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, to find a way out of the Brexit impasse.

Talks have so far yielded little agreement, however, and are expected to continue Monday.

As it stands, if the EU refuses to grant the U.K. an extension to June 30 (or counter-propose a longer extension) the U.K. could be faced with a stark choice on Friday April 12 — leave the EU without a deal in place or revoke the whole departure process (known as Article 50) entirely.

The political uncertainty and confusion in the U.K. has riled politicians and the public alike with frustration over the length of time that Brexit is taking. Britain was originally due to leave the bloc on March 29 but was granted more time as no deal had been ratified.

European Parliament elections in late May are a key focus for the EU and Brexit is a complicated and unwanted distraction. There is therefore no certainty over what decision EU leaders will take Wednesday.

EU Council President Donald Tusk has suggested a one-year extension to Brexit but French President Emmanuel Macron has said there should be tough conditions imposed on the U.K. if it's given any further time.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Saturday that he considered it highly unlikely that EU leaders would veto a proposal to grant Britain more time, however, and that any country that did "wouldn't be forgiven for it."

Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, said the bank expects the EU to "reluctantly grant the U.K. a further Brexit delay" just because the alternative — "a hard Brexit with even more political chaos in a country that will remain a close neighbour, is just too bad."

"Most of the cautious comments by EU27 decision makers point that way. Still, deciding unanimously at the 10 April emergency summit to give the U.K. even more time to sort itself out will not come easy for the EU27. It raises serious concerns and a grave tail risk," he said in a note Monday.

"The EU27 may ask why a new delay should finally help the U.K. to get its act together if the first delay has not done the trick."

May has been criticized by pro-Brexit members of her own Conservative Party and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on whose support she has relied upon in a minority government.

She has defended her decision to talk to Labour, however, tweeting a video Sunday in which she said she could not see Parliament accepting her Brexit deal after it was rejected three times and that "the choice that lies ahead of us is either leaving the European Union with a deal or not leaving at all."

Tweet:

Brexit has been the main focus point for sterling for months and the currency fell to a one-week low of $1.2987 on Friday as France and the Netherlands expressed doubt about May's plan to further delay Brexit. It had rebounded Monday to trade at $1.3064. London's FTSE 100 index trading lower Monday morning.

Simon Derrick, the chief currency strategist at BNY Mellon, likened sterling's state of limbo to the thought experiment called "Schrodinger's Cat" — the paradox of a cat being placed in a box with something that could kill it — but the observer not knowing whether it is alive or dead (and thus the cat is both alive and dead) before the box is opened.

Similarly, sterling's fate can't be known until the end of the week, Derrick told CNBC on Monday.

"(Sterling is like) Schrodinger's currency," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

"It's worth either $1.50 or $1.10 dependent on the outcome of Brexit but you don't know until that happens. Until you open the box you don't know and Brexit is the box."

Derrick noted that the $1.30 price has been the average price against the dollar since the 2016 referendum "and here we are stuck to it."

"It is entirely possible that by the end of the week we get to the point of finding out that we've actually opened the box," he added.

There's "a perfectly reasonable chance" that the prime minister goes to the European Council with no plan on Wednesday, Derrick said, and it was also "entirely possible that France, Spain and possibly Belgium go 'no plan, no extension' and that at the end of the week we're looking at making a choice," Derrick added.

"The choices are between a no-deal Brexit or revocation … It's by no means clear what the actual result would be … It's entirely possible that you could have a no deal Brexit, it's equally possible that it might be revoked," he said.

The Bank of England (BOE) forecast last November that a no-deal Brexit — in which there is no transition period allowing the U.K. to adjust to life outside the bloc — could cause the U.K.'s economy to shrink by 8% and warned that house prices could drop by a third.

Last week, BOE Governor Mark Carney again warned of the risks of a no-deal Brexit, telling Sky News that an "accidental disorderly" no-deal Brexit could happen. The latest growth data released March showed the U.K. grew 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter, from the previous quarter.

Economists say the economy is already being damaged by businesses holding back investment. "There are different parts of the economy which are affected but probably the one which is affected the most is the business investment," George Buckley, chief U.K. & European Economist at Nomura, told CNBC Monday.

"If you're a company thinking of investing and you're faced with this uncertainty why would you invest in the U.K. right now rather than wait it out and make sure you have more clarity over what situation you'll be facing."

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2019-04-08 07:18:48Z
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