Brexit talks with the European Union aimed at striking a last-minute divorce deal are getting serious, Britain said on Sunday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepared to update his cabinet on the state of negotiations. Johnson is due to brief cabinet members on progress in those talks by conference call at around 1145 GMT. Ireland has proved the toughest issue in the Brexit talks: specifically how to prevent the British province of Northern Ireland becoming a backdoor into the EU's markets without having border controls. A vote is expected to take place in a rare Saturday session of parliament on Oct. 19. The DUP position is unclear, after the party's deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the mooted eleventh-hour solution to the deadlock over Brexit could not work.

Source: The Star October 13, 2019 10:52 UTC