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Engie, EDF and TotalEnergies, France's three main energy companies, called on Sunday on households and businesses to reduce their energy consumption as Russia tightens gas supplies to Europe, Reuters reported. "We need to work collectively to reduce our consumption in order to regain room to manoeuvre," they said in an open letter published by the newspaper Journal du Dimanche. French gas storage facilities are currently at 59-percent capacity.

Russia failed to pay interest due to Taiwanese bondholders late on Sunday according to reports by the Reuters and Bloomberg financial newswires, marking its first sovereign default since 1918. Some of the euro-denominated bonds "cannot be paid in roubles instead," a Taiwanese source told Reuters, as Russia struggles to make foreign currency payments due to US and EU-imposed economic sanctions.

The Czech Republic is already in the throes of an extremely difficult period — several waves of Covid, high inflation, energy fears, an influx of Ukrainian refugees and a Prague corruption scandal. Now it has the EU presidency.

Ursula von der Leyen, Frans Timmermans, and Kadri Simson, may be the faces of the EU's Green Deal — but Big Business is in the driving seat of its energy policy.

EU energy ministers and environment ministers are expected to reach common positions on different aspects of the Fit for 55 package — as the continent is increasingly worried about energy prices and future supplies.

Almost a dozen NGOs have demanded an investigation into the reported deaths of some 29 people who had attempted to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla last week.

The UK has said it will continue to push legislation through parliament Monday to unilaterally undo parts of the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland customs. "This legislation will fix the problems the Protocol has created, ensuring that goods can flow freely within the UK, while avoiding a hard border and safeguarding the EU single market," British foreign secretary Liz Truss said Sunday. "We are obliged to act".

Russian president Vladimir Putin has offered to station nuclear-capable missiles in Belarus after Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko complained about alleged Western "aggressiveness" at a meeting in St Petersburg Saturday. "We will transfer Iskander-M tactical missile systems to Belarus, which can use both ballistic and cruise missiles, both in conventional and nuclear versions," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement following the talks.

France should enshrine women's right to abortion in its constitution, French prime minister Elisabeth Borne has said following the US rollback of nationwide protection last week. "For all women, for human rights, we must engrave this acquired right in stone," Borne said on Twitter Saturday. French president Emmanuel Macron also pledged that abortion was a "fundamental right for all women" in reaction to the US Supreme Court decision.

Amnesty International in a 65-page report out Monday says Lithuania has "arbitrarily detained thousands of people in militarised centres where they have been subjected to inhumane conditions, torture and other ill-treatment." The findings came after the NGO had interviewed dozens of unlawfully detained people. The abuse came as thousands attempted to cross in from Belarus early last year. Lithuania then introduced new rules, leading to automatic detention of people caught.

Between 2,000 and 5,000 people protested in Madrid on Sunday ahead of a Nato summit on Tuesday, calling for lower Western spending on defence and for US troops in Europe to go home, Reuters reports. The summit will discuss Russia's threats to European interests in Africa as well as the Ukraine war, Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares told Spanish media over the weekend.

Thousands of Poles and Ukrainians joined together in a gay pride march in Warsaw on Saturday after the Kyiv edition of the event was cancelled this year due to the war. "Russia denied us the right that we were fighting for for years, Russia denied us the Pride, our march of equality that we are holding every year since 2012 in Kyiv" Lenny Emson, executive director of KyivPride, told Reuters.

Two people were killed and more than a dozen injured when a man opened fire outside a bar popular with the LGBTQ community in Norway's capital, Oslo early Saturday. The annual Pride parade to be held in the city on Saturday was cancelled on advice from the police. The perpetrator, a 42 year old Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin, is charged with murder, attempted murder and terror.

EU leaders at their summit talked of unity in the face of the economic outfall of the war in Ukraine — but amid uncertainty over common solutions.

EU leaders discussed how to guarantee enough gas supplies for next winter at a summit in Brussels — after Russia cut off or reduced gas supplies to 12 member states.

Turbulent times require cooperation between EU members, Belgian prime minister Alexander de Croo told reporters on Friday, "otherwise it could become a very hard winter." He also expressed hopes Germany would move on jointly procuring gas, which would be a solution for the energy crisis, he said. "They have been reluctant so far, but they may now have to slow down their industry. There is no better argument to cooperate."

Bulgarian MPs have voted by 170 against 37 to lift a veto on starting North Macedonia accession talks, but under strict conditions that might be hard for Skopje to swallow. These include amending the constitution to mention a Bulgarian minority and concessions on the historical origins of the Macedonian language. The parliament in Skopje will also have to vote on the deal, if prime minister Dimitar Kovačevski calls a vote.

Lativan prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš told reporters on Friday Nato needs to expand operations in the Baltics for Latvia to "feel safe." The current defense posture allows Russia to occupy part of the country, after which Nato would come in to liberate the country. "Russians will leave nothing behind. They destroy infrastructure; they rape women; they deport civlians, this can't be tolerated. We need a brigade-size Nato force," he said.

The body governing the Energy Charter Treaty launched Friday its "agreement in principle" over the modernisation of this controversial trade deal, ending two-year-long negotiations. The outcome of the talks was slammed by campaigners, who argue that the treaty may potentially be in breach of EU law and international commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Under the deal, fossil-fuel investments will be protected in the EU for decades.

After Covid-19 restrictions were partially eased last year, carbon emissions from EU energy use grew 6.3 percent compared with the 2020, according to Eurostat figures. The biggest increases were in Bulgaria, Estonia, Slovakia and Italy, while only Portugal and Finland recorded emissions decline. Carbon emissions from electricity generation, industry, transport and other energy uses are a major contributor to global warming, accounting for about 75 percent of EU total emissions.