Italy blocks anti gay-bashing law after Vatican lobbying

Legal scholars have argued to MEPs that it would be difficult legally without the backing of the UN general assembly to set up a tribunal to prosecute Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Tokayev received congratulations on his election victory from presidents Xi, Putin, Erdogan, and Lukashenko. However, the phone in the Akorda, Kazakhstan's presidential palace, did not ring with congratulatory calls from Berlin, Paris, London, or Washington.

In the European Parliament, MEPs will hear from ECB president Christina Lagarde, Kyiv's Vitali Klitschko, and from the three candidates proposed by the EU Commission to be the new boss of EU border agency Frontex.

Sweden won't make any pledges to relocate asylum seekers under a French-inspired EU plan because there is no legal basis, says Sweden's ambassador to the EU. But Sweden's new right-wing government is also tightening migration rules.

EU sanctions' policies have one notable omission — they do not include corruption as an offence warranting restrictive measures, explains the Open Society Foundation.

EU member states could not agree on a plan to cap the price of wholesale gas, with some experts suggesting the EU should forget about the plan altogether.