MORNING BID EUROPE-Difficult bridge-building

* A look at the day ahead from European Economics and Politics Editor Mark John and Nigel Stephenson, specialist editor, EMEA markets. The views expressed are their own.

LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Tensions rise again between Ukraine and Russia after pro-Ukrainian activists blocked repairs to sabotaged power lines leading to the Russia-annexed territory of Crimea, with Kiev now also urging a temporary trade embargo on the peninsula. Poland's ties with Russia will also come under strain as the new government in Warsaw plans to reopen a probe into the death of former Polish president Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash over Russia in 2010. Kaczynski's identical twin brother Jaroslaw now runs the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has not hid its dissatisfaction over Moscow's handling of the affair. This of course all comes as Russia and the West are looking to build bridges to combat Islamic State in Syria, showing just how fragile such a rapprochement will be.

Francois Hollande heads to Washington for talks with Barack Obama on the global anti-IS coalition that Paris is trying to put together after the attacks. As reported, his main goal is to persuade a wary Obama to step up its bombing campaign.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) 's a big data day for the German economy with detailed Q3 GDP and the Ifo business climate index. Ifo will be interesting after it defied expectations of a strong fall in October amid the VW scandal and emerging markets slowdown.

In London, Mark Carney explains the Bank of England's latest thinking on the UK economy and the timing of any rate move. The bank's Inflation Report earlier this month surprised many who had expected the BoE to give a clearer signal that it was moving closer to raising interest rates.

MARKETS (AT 0745 GMT)

Investors so far are little impressed by the Pfizer (NYSE: PFE - news) /Allergan (Berlin: 28551749.BE - news) merger. That pushed Wall St down and the downbeat mood carried over into Asia and European shares. Here, airlines and travel stocks are under pressure after a U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . travel warning. The upcoming U.S. Thanksgiving holiday is also keeping things relatively thin. MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) 's main Asia-Pacific index exJapan index is down less than 0.1 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei eked out gains of 0.2 percent. Chinese stocks are up a bit but moves are not dramatic.

Metals prices are not far from the string of multi-year lows hit on Monday but a 0.1 percent easing in the dollar against a basket of currencies has eased the pressure somewhat. The euro, which fell as low as $1.0592 on Monday, is flat at $1.0636 and the yean is up 0.1 percent at 122.68 per dollar. No big moves among the major currencies so far. Sterling slightly higher vs dollar. Investors watching for Carney and mid-year budget review from UK finance minister Osborne.

German Bund yields are down 1.5 bps at 0.52 percent after rising getting on for 6 bps on Monday on strong PMIs. Eyes on Germany's Ifo business climate data.

The slightly weaker dollar has helped lift oil prices, although the market awaits U.S. crude stocks data expected to show supply is still ample. Brent crude last up 42 cents at $45.25 a barrel

Upcoming data/events/themes:

- German Ifo data 0900 GMT

- UK CBI retail sales 1100 GMT

- U.S. GDP 2nd estimate 1330 GMT (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)