Political ads in the EU are to be labelled as having been "paid for by" and restricted to their home countries, US tech giant Facebook has said ahead of elections in May.

Petro Poroshenko is unlikely to win Sunday's presidential election without voting fraud - it is not even clear if he will get into the run-off in a fair vote.

MEPs are debating and voting on their report on the European Peace Facility - a proposal from Federica Mogherini that would, among other things, enable the EU to "train and equip" foreign government militaries, including with lethal weapons.

Illegal settlers are more free to travel to and trade with the EU than Palestinians who are living at home, posing unanswered questions on EU visa and trade policy.

Malta and Cyprus should end their golden passport schemes, MEPs have said, amid an EU-wide alert on Russian money laundering.

France has signed €40bn of business deals with China, despite concerns on strategic investment and human rights abuses.

Romania will move its embassy to Jerusalem, its prime minister has said, shattering the EU line on the Arab-Israeli conflict while the country holds the EU rotating presidency.

While Italy's government signs memorandum to join China's Belt and Road Initiative, its traditional allies in Europe and the US are worried about its implications.

The EU must call the Ukraine conflict by its true name - Russia's illegal war on its peaceful neighbour - and take commensurate action to protect peace in Europe.

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.

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.

Any new regime should focus on individual perpetrators, such as the prison guards and low-level administrators and officers - but it must also similarly allow the listing of individuals higher up in the command chain.