Finnish PM hopes for Brexit deal to avoid no-deal split

Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne said on Wednesday he still hoped for a last-minute Brexit deal so that the European Union and Britain do not descend into a most damaging, chaotic split. "The level playing field is a very important part of this coming agreement, if there is a new agreement coming," Rinne told a news conference.

"I hope that ... we can reach an agreement, we can find a situation when there is no hard Brexit coming because it harms European people's lives after Brexit and long after that." He also said finding a deal was "extremely difficult but still possible", and added that a "technical" or a very short delay to scheduled Brexit date of Oct. 31 was possible.