European Union

Protests have broken out in Ukraine against a new law that slashes the independence of the country's top anti-corruption bodies, the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, and puts them under the control of the Prosecutor General's Office. Observers criticise President Zelensky and see Ukraine on a dangerous path towards authoritarianism.

Twenty-eight states - including France, Italy, the UK, Spain, Canada, Australia and Japan - have published a joint statement calling for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip and demanding that Israel fulfil its obligations under international humanitarian law. Germany and the US were not among the signatories. Commentators discuss whether the appeal is aimed at the right addressee.

A petition initiated by a student against a new French agricultural law two weeks ago has already gathered 1.7 million signatures, upping the pressure on the government. The "Loi Duplomb" relaxes environmental regulations governing the use of pesticides, including acetamiprid. The product has been banned in France for several years, but not in any other EU country.

American influencer IShowSpeed has made appearances in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania as part of a PR campaign for the Baltic states. In Riga he met with politicians and former president Raimonds Vējonis, with whom he jumped around on the platform of the country's Freedom Monument, before appearing with officials in Lithuania. Commentators who are not among his 40 million YouTube followers are baffled.