Europe

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany hopes that trade barriers between the United States and Europe will be dismantled once the new administration under President-elect Joe Biden takes office, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Monday.

“I hope from the bottom of my heart that the new U.S. administration will help us broker a consensus on the trade relationship between the United States and the EU,” Altmaier said in Berlin.

“And that we can abolish many, many measures with regard to tariffs and trade inspired by protectionism,” he added.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain “has choices to make” if it wants a new trade deal with the European Union, three EU diplomatic sources said on Monday, adding that Brexit negotiators had yet to come up with mutually acceptable solutions for the three most contentious issues.

Ireland, the EU member state most exposed to Brexit, said Britain and the bloc had up to 10 days to unlock talks to avoid tariffs and quotas kicking in from Jan. 1, 2021, slashing an estimated trillion dollars worth of annual commerce.

DUBLIN/LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union have a week to 10 days to find a way to unlock trade talks, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Monday, after both sides called on the other to move their position on two of the most troublesome areas.

The trade talks resume on Monday in Brussels after there was little movement on the most contentious areas -- so-called “level playing field” fair competition rules and fisheries --last week when the two sides missed the latest mid-November deadline.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary plans to veto the European Union’s 2021-27 budget and its post-COVID recovery scheme over a proposal to make funding conditional on member states’ adherence to the rule of law, its government spokesman said on Monday.

The permanent representatives of EU member states will convene in Brussels on Monday afternoon to discuss the issue. Hungarian news outlet Portfolio reported earlier that the German EU presidency will ask governments to express their political stance on the funding conditionality.

LONDON, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-quarantining after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, a Downing Street spokesman said in a statement Sunday.

The spokesman said the prime minister "will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic."

"The PM is well and does not have any symptoms of COVID-19," the statement added.

LONDON (AP) — One of the scientists behind the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer said Sunday that he was confident that it could halve the transmission of the virus, resulting in a “dramatic” curb of the virus’ spread.

Professor Ugur Sahin, chief executive of Germany’s BioNTech, said it was “absolutely essential” to have a high vaccination rate before next autumn to ensure a return to normal life next winter.

BERLIN (AP) — Prince Charles called Sunday for Britain and Germany to remember their long and close ties, reaffirmed by the nations’ reconciliation after two world wars, as the U.K. tries to find its place outside — but also alongside — the European Union.

Charles’ appeal during a visit to Berlin to attend Germany’s traditional day of remembrance was part of Britain’s diplomatic outreach to Europe’s biggest economy, days before a deadline to strike a post-Brexit deal with the EU.

MOSCOW (AP) — Azerbaijan on Sunday postponed taking control of a territory ceded by Armenian forces in a cease-fire agreement, but denounced civilians leaving the area for burning houses and committing what it called “ecological terror.”

MOSCOW, November 14. / TASS /: Tomsk Mayor Ivan Klein was charged with abuse of power, the Investigative Committee press service told reporters on Saturday.

"He was charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The accused pleaded not guilty," the department said.

Klein was detained in his office on November 13. On Saturday, at the request of the investigation, the court detained him.

MINSK, November 15. /TASS/: Several dozen people were detained near Pushkinskaya metro station in Minsk where opposition activists are gathering to pay tribute to a Minsk citizen, Roman Bondarenko, who died on November 12, a TASS correspondent reported.

A large number of security forces and special equipment have been concentrated near the metro station. They are preventing protesters from approaching a "people’s memorial" set up on the site where another Minsk citizen Alexander Taraykovsky was killed early on August 11.