At the same time, three male candidates for posts at institutions such as the European Central Bank, were approved by the EU parliament.

British prime minister Theresa May has urged MPs to back her EU exit deal in a third vote - or face a Brexit delay of up to two years.

Now that the UK is leaving, Italy can, and should, step up. It is the third largest country and economy in the EU. Spain and Poland follow, but they are significantly smaller economically and population-wise.

In response to the now worldwide movement of concerned school children, the EU parliament held a debate about climate change. But those pupils attending were not allowed to speak, only to listen.

France, Germany, and Italy are Russia's top targets for EU election meddling, amid mounting military threats to Nato, Estonia's intelligence service has warned.

The likelihood the UK will leave the EU on 29 March has faded after Tuesday's vote, but no one can say how much longer and on what terms it will stay in.

A new 10-point strategic plan sharpens Europe's profile in relations with China, and signals impatience with Beijing.

EU officials have voiced scepticism on proposed new human rights sanctions, amid a "nasty" debate to what extent Russia ought to be named and shamed in the title of the new measures.

It is disappointing that so many MEPs in the Socialist and Green group caved in to Russian interests, in fear of challenging a plutocratic regime, by saying 'no' to naming the Magnitsky legislation by its rightful name: Magnitsky.

EU lawmakers and member states have struck a political deal on the first-ever EU-wide directive on whistleblower protection - following years of big tax-evasion revelations and the laundering of dirty money in European banks.

Meat production contributes far more to climate change than vegetables - yet a programme to promote European food allocated €71.5m in three years to pushing meat products.

Uncertainty continued to hang over Tuesday night's big vote on Brexit, as British MPs and their lawyers tried to make sense of last-minute tweaks to the exit deal.

The future of the Viktor Orban's Fidesz party inside the European Parliament's centre-right EPP political group hangs in the balance. On Tuesday, Orban and EPP chief Manfred Weber meet in Budapest in a final effort to iron out differences.

Fears are mounting that more extreme militants, possibly linked to the Islamic State, will gain a foothold in the Gaza Strip as trapped youth lose all sense of hope in a conflict that is on the verge of boiling over.