Belgium

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is willing to drop its current “maximalist” approach on fisheries in negotiations with Britain next week, sources said, in what would be the first major concession from the bloc in talks on their ties after Brexit.

The EU has so far demanded to keep the status quo, in which fishing mostly takes place in UK waters but most of the catch goes to the bloc’s fishermen.

Britain has said it would become an independent coastal state after Brexit materialises in practice from next year, and wants to be in control of its waters and fish.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain’s refusal to seal climate commitments in a new deal with the European Union to govern their relations after Brexit has become a stumbling block in their deadlocked talks and raises the risk of future trade disputes.

While Britain has joined the global Paris agreement to fight climate change and has its own ambitious emissions-cutting goals, London has refused to make binding commitments in the area in the new deal it is seeking with the EU from 2021.

BRUSSELS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

LONDON -- Another 118 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Saturday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 36,793, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

BRUSSELS, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

LONDON -- Another 545 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Monday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 35,341, Environment Secretary George Eustice said Tuesday.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

Earlier in the day, Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned that Britain faces a "severe recession".

PARIS/BERLIN, May 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France and Germany are proposing a €500bn European recovery fund to be distributed to EU countries worst affected by Covid-19.

In talks via video link, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed that the funds should be provided as grants.

The proposal represents a significant shift in Merkel’s position.

Macron said it was a major step forward and was “what the eurozone needs to remain united”.

BRUSSELS/LONDON, May 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Stumbling through video calls, the long-troubled Brexit talks are heading for a new crisis as coronavirus health restrictions bar the intense face-to-face meetings that have proven crucial in pulling the negotiations back from the brink.

With increasingly frustrated British and EU negotiators trading barbs over each other’s “ideological approach” and “lack of understanding” of the consequences of Britain’s departure from the bloc, talks on a new trade pact between the estranged allies have made virtually no progress in recent months.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Temporary unemployment schemes operating across Europe could struggle to save the jobs of leisure and travel sector workers facing drawn-out or partial recoveries from the COVID-19 pandemic, even if they help industries that rebound quickly.

Short-term unemployment or furlough schemes have taken in a quarter of Britain’s workforce, nearly two-thirds of those employed by France’s private sector and many millions across Europe.

BRUSSELS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

PARIS -- France had registered 96 new deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, fewer than the previous two 24-hour periods, while the balance of the coronavirus-related hospitalization remains negative, France's Health Ministry said on Saturday.

BRUSSELS/JERUSALEM, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The EU has indicated that it will try to stop Israel’s proposed annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank.

Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc would use its diplomatic clout to prevent unilateral action.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the new unity government could press ahead with annexing some West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley as early as in July.

The Palestinians bitterly oppose the idea.

BRUSSELS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

LONDON -- Another 348 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Thursday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 33,998, the Department of Health and Social Care said Friday.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

As of Friday morning, 236,711 have tested positive for the virus, said the department.