Europe

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/: Relations between Russia and the EU are "at zero level" and they need to be recovered without any preconditions, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated on the outcomes of the talks with his Slovenian colleague Marjan Sarec.

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday he had never met former staff member of the Russian presidential administration Oleg Smolenkov, whom media reports refer to as a possible CIA agent.

"I have never seen him, I have never met him, and I have neither kept track of his career nor his movements," Lavrov said, stressing that he could only comment on the facts.

10 September 2019; AFP: US agents extracted a high-level mole in the Russian government who had confirmed Vladimir Putin's direct role in interfering in the 2016 presidential election, American media reported.

The individual had been providing information to US intelligence for decades, had access to Putin and had sent pictures of high-level documents on the Russian leader's desk, CNN said.

But the spy was pulled out of Russia, both CNN and the New York Times reported late Monday.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday he would get a Brexit deal and leave the European Union on Oct. 31.

“We’re going to get a deal, and we’ll work very hard to get a deal,” Johnson told children during a visit to a school. “I was in Ireland yesterday talking to our Irish friends about how to do that. And we’re going to go to Brussels and chat to some other European capitals.”

He added: “There is a way of getting a deal but it will take a lot of hard work. We must be prepared to come out without one.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is close to completing preparations for a like-for-like response following a U.S. missile test that was carried out last month, the RIA news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Tuesday.

The Pentagon said last month it had tested a conventionally-configured cruise missile that hit its target after more than 500 km (310 miles) of flight, its first such test since the demise of the landmark INF nuclear arms limitation treaty.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s opposition Labour Party said on Tuesday if it won power it would create a Ministry of Employment Rights to deliver better wages, greater job security and give workers more of a say over how their workplaces are run.

With a deepening crisis over Brexit in Britain, both Labour and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s governing Conservative Party are already drawing the battle lines for an early election, which many believe could be triggered later this year.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The European Union will seek to convince U.S President Donald Trump to see “the error of his ways” and abandon some of his reckless trade policies, the EU executive’s incoming trade commissioner said on Tuesday.

The new head of the executive, Ursula von der Leyen, named a 27-strong team of commissioners on Tuesday who will take office on Nov. 1, assuming they secure approval from the European Parliament.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union must lead the fight against climate change, build ties with the United States and Africa and face up to a more assertive China, the incoming chief of the EU executive said on Tuesday.

European Commission's president-designate Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium September 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Heathrow Airport said it will work to ensure it stays open and can operate safely during planned drone disruption by climate activists due to start on Friday.

A group calling itself Heathrow Pause has said it plans to disrupt the airport with toy drones from Sept. 13, a step they hope will ground flights and put pressure on the government to take tougher steps to reduce carbon emissions.

ROME, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Paolo Gentiloni, former Italian prime minister and foreign minister, will be named European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, multiple Italian news sites reported Monday, quoting sources close to Gentiloni.

The economic affairs portfolio is one of the most important in the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union.