The UK and the European Union are said to be on the cusp of striking a narrow trade agreement, moving away from a chaotic finale to the Brexit split.
There was no official confirmation of a deal but a news conference is expected in London on Thursday.
Sources in London and Brussels have said that an agreement was close as the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a late-night conference call with his Cabinet of senior ministers, and negotiators in Brussels pored over legal trade texts.
If the deal includes zero-tariff and zero-quota, it would safeguard nearly US$1 trillion in annual trade, and support the peace process in Northern Ireland.
This is a priority for the US President-elect Joe Biden, who had warned Johnson that he must uphold the 1998 Good Friday agreement.
The UK formally left the bloc on January 31 but has since been in a transition period under which rules on trade, travel and business remained unchanged.
Slovak doctors will meet on Monday to assess Prime Minister Robert Fico's health and discuss the possibility of transporting him from Banska Bystrica to the capital Bratislava.
Donald Trump's lawyer accused star witness Michael Cohen of lying at the former US president's trial about a phone conversation he claimed to have had with Trump about a hush money payment to an adult star shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Israel's tanks pushed into the heart of Jabalia in northern Gaza on Thursday, facing anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs from militants concentrated there, while in the south, its forces pounded Rafah without advancing.
The United States anchored a temporary floating pier to a beach in Gaza on Thursday to boost aid deliveries, but it was still unclear how it would be distributed given the challenges that have beset the United Nations and relief groups for months.