Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Coronavirus, AstraZeneca

Britain and the EU have taken a step forward towards striking a post-Brexit trade and security deal after Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen agreed to “go the extra mile” and ordered the resumption of talks in Brussels. The prime minister played down expectations following the telephone conversation with the European commission president, telling the cabinet to prepare for a no-deal exit when the transition period ends in three weeks’ time. But in Brussels, EU embassies were briefed by the commission that “progress has been made” and that “the next days will be important”. - Guardian

Britain could be “back to normal” by summer as long as it avoids a third wave after Christmas, the British scientist behind a Covid vaccine has said. Professor Sarah Gilbert, the lead researcher on the Oxford vaccine, said “people’s behaviour in the coming weeks is going to have a big impact” on when facemasks and social distancing requirements can be dropped. She said that a spike in coronavirus cases in January would disrupt vaccination programmes. - Sunday Times

Britain’s biggest maker of pharmaceuticals has swooped on an American rival in a daring move on the eve of Brexit. Astra Zeneca, the FTSE 100 drug-maker playing a central role in the fight against Covid-19, has agreed to buy Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39bn (£28.9bn). The cash-and-shares deal will cement the Anglo-Swedish giant’s position in immunology and give it a dedicated rare disease business based in Boston, Massachusetts. - Sunday Times

Keith Williams is a man of many modes of transport. The corporate veteran spent 18 years at airline British Airways – the final five as chief executive and chairman – and will in the New Year publish his long-awaited review into the rail industry. Now he is the boss of Royal Mail – and drones are firmly on his radar. Williams wants to use the unmanned vehicles to fly letters to remote areas in the UK. 'If you take, say, the Scilly Isles – an expensive piece of water [to cross] – they might be ideally suited to a drone,' he says. - Mail on Sunday

More Leave voters than Remainers have swung from the Tories to Labour since the last election, according to a major polling project that suggests Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has made some early progress in bridging the Brexit divide. A large 7,000-strong poll, designed to examine the political changes that have taken place since Labour’s disastrous result, found that the party was showing signs of winning over some of those who backed the Tories last year. - Guardian

Giant American fashion and investment corporations are eyeing up bids for Topshop and its parent group Arcadia. [...] Around 30 to 40 potential buyers are believed to have shown initial interest and have received a limited information pack on the business from Arcadia's administrators, Deloitte. First-round bids are due in by the end of this week. - Mail on Sunday

A French satellite giant is muscling in on Britain’s broadband market by targeting half a million people in the remotest parts of the nation. Eutelsat has launched Konnect, a satellite broadband service for homes that will not benefit from industry efforts to carpet Britain in gigabit speed connectivity. The service was rolled-out in the UK last week ahead of expanding across Europe and parts of Africa using the same satellite infrastructure. - Sunday Telegraph

Mike Ashley is racing to complete a deal to buy Debenhams this weekend, sources have told The Mail on Sunday. The sportswear mogul is in talks to buy the £500million web business – to help him crack the high-end cosmetics market – but the Debenhams store chain has been vastly slimmed down. 'There's very little time left to rescue the business,' said one City source. 'But without at least 30 or 40 of the 124Nightcap stores, this might not look very much like a rescue at all.' - Mail on Sunday

Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Sarah Willingham is preparing to float a chain of city-centre bars with a team including celebrity chef Raymond Blanc, despite the malaise gripping leisure. Willingham, 46, has agreed a counterintuitive deal to buy London Cocktail Club through a stock market listing of her investment vehicle, Nightcap, on AIM in the coming weeks. She plans to raise £6m at a valuation of £14m. - Sunday Times