Briefly

UNITED KINGDOM

Trade talks with EU resume as gaps remain

Negotiators from Britain and the European Union were expected to resume talks on a post-Brexit trade deal in London on Monday as "significant differences" remain between the two sides, a Downing Street statement said on Saturday. This came after a call between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen "for a stock take on the progress in the negotiations".

CUBA

Storm hits island after rampage of destruction

A strengthened Tropical Storm Eta made landfall in Cuba early on Sunday, after leaving dozens dead and more than 100 missing in Central America, which it hit last week as a major hurricane. Searchers in Guatemala were digging for people believed buried by a massive, rain-fueled landslide. Authorities said 15 people were confirmed dead and at least 109 were missing in Guatemala, many of them in the landslide in San Cristobal Verapaz. The storm was expected to approach the Florida Keys and south Florida late on Sunday or Monday.

JAPAN

Emperor's brother first in line to the throne

Japanese Emperor Naruhito's younger brother, Crown Prince Fumihito, was formally sworn in as first in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne in a traditional palace ritual on Sunday that has been postponed for seven months and scaled down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The ceremony for the 54-year-old crown prince, better known as Prince Akishino, concludes a series of imperial succession rituals that began in May last year when Naruhito ascended to the throne after their 86-year-old father Akihito abdicated.

FRANCE

Virus leaves 40,000 dead, infects 1.7m

France's number of COVID-19 cases stood at 1,748,705 and the number of deaths topped 40,000, the Public Health Agency said on Saturday. Coronavirus infections have surged sharply in the country in recent months particularly among young people, prompting the government to introduce a new nationwide lockdown on Oct 30 until early December. By Sunday the world was poised to see 50 million infections, Johns Hopkins University data showed. More than 1.2 million people have died of COVID-19 worldwide.

Xinhua - Agencies