Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hinted on Monday that she might go to court to get a permission to hold new independence referendum if London tried to block it, news wires reported. Scots rejected independence in 2014 but Brexit and the Covid-19 crisis have bolstered support for secession, with most polls showing a majority now favour breaking up the UK.

The EU representatives will begin discussions on Monday on how to improve trans-Atlantic relations after the departure of US President Donald Trump, officials said. Member States ambassadors are due to consider five broad policy areas on which they see greater opportunities for cooperation with President-elect Joe Biden.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday there is only about a week left for the UK and the European Union to strike a post-Brexit trade deal, with fishing rights still being the major obstacle to an agreement.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin on Friday evening and discussed progress in UK-EU trade negotiations, the UK government said, at a time when differences remained with the EU on a Brexit trade deal.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers on Wednesday that despite the "genuine progress" on several important issues in post-Brexit trade talks with London, she "cannot tell you today if there will in the end there be a deal."

As if the Brexit trade negotiations were not tortuous enough, the coronavirus added a twist at a crucial stage on Thursday when top-level talks had to be suspended because an EU negotiator tested positive for COVID-19. It added uncertainty to the negotiations as a deadline looms ever closer and both sides are still divided on three key issues.

A premature troop withdrawal from Afghanistan may complicate peace talks between the government in Kabul and the Taliban, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday, commenting on US plans to pull out 2,000 troops from the country.

Britain and the European Union have less than 10 days to find a way to unlock trade talks, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Monday, after both sides called on the other to move their position on two of the most troublesome areas. British officials repeatedly say any deal must respect the country’s sovereignty, while the EU says the proximity of Britain to the Union means Brussels cannot hand it a trade deal similar to those it has agreed with countries such as Canada.

The EU in a statement on Friday threatened to add more sanctions against Belarus over the death of a 31-year-old man following his detention by the police in the capital Minsk.

A summit of EU leaders on 19 November is now viewed by Brussels as the final deadline for a draft Brexit deal, with negotiations on Britain’s future trade and security relationship with the Union set to go to the wire, news wires reported. The negotiators teams had hoped to be able to pass on a deal to MEPs for scrutiny by 18 November to allow time for parliamentary ratification but the talks remain difficult, according to sources on both sides.