British officials are prepared to water down Boris Johnson's controversial lawbreaking Brexit legislation in a move that could revive failing talks with the EU, according to people familiar with the matter. Negotiations over the two sides' future relationship have stalled, with the PM announcing last Friday that he will focus on preparations to leave the EU's single market and Customs Union at the year-end without a trade deal.

European and British negotiators will talk once again on Monday to discuss the "structure" of post-Brexit trade talks, despite London's threat on Friday to walk away unless there was a major shift in Brussels' approach.

The European Union imposed sanctions on seven ministers recently appointed to the Syrian government, blaming them for playing a role in the continued crackdown on civilians in the war-ravaged country.

The European Union needs to strike a balance on what its members want from future EU-UK relations and not solely focus on a single item, such as fishing rights, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said on Friday.

The EU and Britain are set to prolong Brexit talks past a mid-October deadline to try bridge persistent gaps holding up a new agreement, according to sources close to the talks. EU leaders meeting on Thursday and Friday will tell their Brexit negotiator to step up talks to get a deal by 1 January, according to a draft summit decision seen by Reuters.

Germany on Tuesday demanded “substantive” movement from Britain on fisheries, dispute settlement and fair competition guarantees in post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union, which it said were “at a very critical stage”.

Germany and France urged on Monday their EU partners on Monday to consider imposing sanctions on Russians suspected of poisoning Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent, Reuters reported. Berlin and Paris say they have not had a credible explanation from Moscow for the presence of the banned Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in his body.

The EU must stand up to Russia when it violates international norms, France and Germany's foreign ministers said on Thursday. A day earlier both countries said they would propose EU sanctions against Russian individuals after receiving no credible answers from Moscow over the use a nerve agent on Alexei Navalny.

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called on the European Union on Wednesday to take tough action against oligarchs close to the Kremlin as he continues his recovery in Germany after being poisoned by a nerve agent in the banned Novichok family.

British PM Boris Johnson and President of the European Commission  Ursula von der Leyen agreed in a phone call on Saturday to step up Brexit talks to close “significant gaps” barring a new trade partnership, Reuters reported. Тhe two sides have said this week’s round of negotiations aimed at getting a new, post-Brexit trade agreement from 2021 made some progress but not yielded a breakthrough.