Here are today's top stories:

- French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing the European Union to take a tougher stance on its trade agreements. Macron wants to halt talks with Mercosur and define a strategy to negotiate with Australia and New Zealand, the Financial Times reports (with subscription).

- U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May backed away from a Brussels showdown over Brexit after German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her that the EU would not start discussing a transition deal with Britain until she put more money on the table, the Financial Times reports (with subscription).

- U.S. President Donald Trump declared Obamacare 'dead' and is urging Democrats to help find a short-term fix, Europa Press reports.

- In Spain, the government reduced the 2018 GDP forecast by three tenths due to Catalonia. The budget the government sent to Brussels lowers next year's growth from 2.6% to 2.3%, El País reports.

- More than 130 fires in Galicia, 30 in Asturias and close to 500 in Portugal have killed four people in Spain and 38 people in Portugal. Seven fires remain active in Galicia, El Mundo reports

- Light and gravitational waves from a neutron star collision were captured for the first time by dozens of telescopes, El País reports.

BBVA - Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA published this content on 17 October 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 17 October 2017 11:15:02 UTC.

Original documenthttps://www.bbva.com/en/todays-news-347/

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