Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices ticked up on Tuesday, with early European trading erasing earlier losses, as all eyes were on talks between OPEC and its allies who postponed a formal meeting to decide whether to increase output from next month.

Brent crude was up 31 cents at $48.19 a barrel by 0847 GMT. West Texas Intermediate was up 28 cents at $45.62.

Both contracts surged around 27% in November after COVID-19 vaccine developments raised hopes of an economic recovery that could revive fuel demand.

LONDON (Reuters) - Brexit trade talks are stuck on fishing, governance rules and dispute resolution because the European Union is asking too much of Britain, a senior member of the British government said on Tuesday.

Just 30 days before Britain leaves the EU’s orbit following a transition period since it formally quit the bloc, the sides are trying to agree a trade deal to avoid a turbulent rupture that could snarl almost $1 trillion in annual trade.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Police found a crossbow, machete, knives and Nazi symbols in early-morning raids on Tuesday after banning a far-right extremist group called “Wolf Brigade 44” which the government says wants a Nazi state.

Swastikas were among the Nazi symbols uncovered in searches of the homes of 11 members of the group in the states of Hesse, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and North Rhine-Westphalia in the early hours of Tuesday, the interior ministry said in a statement.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany aims to have the first vulnerable people and caregivers vaccinated against the coronavirus in January, the health minister said on Tuesday, as the European Union’s (EU) most populous country battles a second wave.

“But it remains true, and we have always said, that the cold winter months, in which we spend more time indoors, will be the harder part. That actually applies until the end of winter,” Jens Spahn told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

BRUSSELS, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) Monday launched a forum devoted to exchanging ideas on how to build a stronger and more resilient Schengen area, which saw itself breaking down during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The first months of the pandemic showed us what happens when Schengen stops functioning: Europe grinds to a halt," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the on-line forum, which gathered members of the European Parliament and the EU's home affairs ministers.

ZAGREB, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has tested positive for COVID-19, the government announced on Monday evening.

Plenkovic is in a 10-day self-quarantine after his wife had a mild fever and tested positive on Saturday. He tested negative back then.

"Following the recommendations of epidemiologists, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic performed a re-test for the presence of coronavirus on Monday, and his test was positive," the government said in a press release.

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/: Changes in the status quo in Transnistria may lead to a rise in tensions, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

When asked under what conditions Russian peacekeepers could leave the region, he pointed out that "Russia is playing an important role and any changes in the status quo, which is based on the letter and spirit of international law, may lead to a serious rise in tensions," the Kremlin spokesman pointed out.

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/: Moscow’s Presnensky District Court declined to arrest the fifth one of the detained earlier leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses center on Monday, placing him under house arrest, the court told TASS.

BRUSSELS, November 30. /TASS/: The EU plans to approve a sanctions regime similar to the Magnitsky Act in the near future, Nabila Massrali, EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told reporters on Monday.

"It is being discussed at the Council [of Europe], so we are waiting for it. Everybody is making sure that it will be soon adopted," she said.

In September, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen informed that an act similar to the Magnitsky Act is being developed by the EU.

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/: Russia considers it important for member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to harmonize their legislation on the fight against drug trafficking, international terrorism and extremism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address to a session of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, the Kremlin website reported on Monday.