Europe

LONDON, July 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain’s separation talks with the European Union resume Monday with few signs of compromise on a new trade agreement and time running out to avoid a messy split.

London will host EU negotiator Michel Barnier after a round of face-to-face talks ended a day early last week in Brussels because of deep divides in the sides’ approach.

Barnier said after ending the negotiations last Thursday that “serious divergences remain”.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday, supported by tighter supplies and a string of data expected to show economic recovery across the globe and despite a spike in coronavirus cases in the United States and other countries.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 73 cents, or 1.7%, to $43.53 per barrel by 0808 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was up 28 cents, or 0.7%, at $40.93.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - One of President Vladimir Putin’s relatives has been elected leader of a small Russian political party which he hopes will win seats in the national parliament at an election next year, the party’s website showed on Monday.

Roman Putin, son of Putin’s cousin Igor, was elected head of the People Against Corruption party at a congress on Sunday after becoming a member last month, it said.

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — The ruling conservatives overwhelmingly won Croatia’s parliamentary elections held Sunday amid a spike in new coronavirus cases as the latest European Union member state leaned further to the right.

With over 90 percent of the vote counted, the governing Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, won 66 seats in Croatia’s 151-seat parliament and is likely to form a new coalition government with smaller right-wing groups.

Andrej Plenkovic, the acting prime minister and HDZ leader, praised what he described as a “great result and a great victory.”

BRUSSELS (AP) — The festering dispute between France and Turkey over a naval standoff in the Mediterranean Sea has shone a glaring searchlight on NATO’s struggle to keep order among its ranks and exposed weaknesses in a military alliance that can only take action by consensus.

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/: The Russian Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, the Guards missile cruiser Moskva, will remain in service until 2040, a source in the Russian defense industry told TASS on Saturday.

The warship was placed in the dock of the 13th Ship Repair Plant in Sevastopol on April 22. The dockside repairs proceeded along with the cruiser’s maintenance, which was also done by the shipyard’s specialists. The vessel was brought out of the dock on July 2-3.

VIENNA, July 5. /TASS/: Austria’s investigators believe that the murder of an asylum seeker from Russia in Gerasdorf near the capital Vienna was a contract killing, OE24 news portal reported citing sources in law enforcement agencies on Sunday.

The killed man and the detained person could be natives of Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya. Police declined to confirm this.

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/: The range of Russia’s prospective EMP (electromagnetic pulse) cannons, which use a powerful beam of electromagnetic energy to destroy enemy targets, has been increased to 10 km, two defense industry sources told TASS on Sunday.

"The trials of EMP weapons have been under way since 2015. The latest firing of EMP cannons took place this spring. At present, the average range of EMP cannons against aerial targets is 7-8 km, with the maximum of 10 km," one of the sources said, adding that the range of such weapons was previously estimated at 1-2 km.

KIEV, July 5. /TASS/: The Ukrainian Navy will receive Neptune anti-ship missile systems next year and deploy them in the Black and Azov seas, Ukrainian Navy Commander Alexei Neizhpapa told the Ukrainian Radio Liberty on Saturday.

"As to the question of when - next year, I think. As to how many, I would say that there will be three divisions of coastal missile battalions: two in the Black Sea and one in the Sea of Azov," he said.

"The main task now is to get the Neptunes as soon as possible and to use them wisely," the official added.

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/: Russia remains committed to the ban on nuclear tests and continues to implement the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty despite the fact that the treaty has not come into force, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press office said on Saturday commenting on the United States’ 2020 Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments (Compliance Report).