Lawyers

• Unprecedented migrant crisis forces EU to seek answers

  European Union ministers were summoned on Sunday to meet in two weeks' time to seek urgent solutions to a migration crisis unprecedented in the bloc's history, as the mounting death toll on land and sea forced governments to respond.

• Greece votes in referendum with future in euro in doubt

  Greeks voted on Sunday whether to accept or reject the tough terms of an aid offer to stave off financial collapse, in a referendum that may determine their future in Europe’s common currency.

• Italy's Renzi warns EU on refugees as neighbors block border crossings

  Italy stepped up calls for a change to European asylum rules on Sunday as neighboring states tightened border controls, turning back African migrants and leaving hundreds stranded at the frontier in northern Italy.

• Pope urges Putin to make 'sincere, great effort' for Ukraine peace

  A stern Pope Francis urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to make a "sincere and great effort" to achieve peace in Ukraine.

• Putin visits Italy with one eye on EU sanctions

  President Vladimir Putin will be on the lookout for signs of dissent over European Union sanctions on Russia when he visits Italy on Wednesday, but he is likely to be disappointed.

• International flotilla rescues 5,900 from Mediterranean in a weekend

  An international rescue fleet plucked almost 5,900 migrants from rickety boats making the perilous sea crossing for North Africa to Europe on Saturday and Sunday, Italy's coastguard said.

• Italy's Renzi faces election test as scandals overshadow vote

  Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi goes into elections this weekend hoping nascent signs of economic recovery after years of recession will outweigh a corruption scandal that has dogged one of the main candidates of his centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

• U.S. strike inadvertently killed U.S., Italian hostages; Obama apologizes

  A U.S. drone strike in January targeting an al Qaeda compound in Pakistan near the Afghan border inadvertently killed an American and an Italian who had been held hostage for years by the group, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

• Shipwrecked bodies brought ashore, EU proposes doubling rescue effort

  The European Union proposed doubling the size of its Mediterranean search and rescue operations on Monday, as the first bodies were brought ashore of some 900 people feared killed in the deadliest shipwreck while trying to reach Europe.

• EU meets on migrant crisis as shipwreck corpses brought ashore

  European Union foreign ministers gathered in Luxembourg on Monday under pressure to produce more than words as bodies were brought ashore in Malta among hundreds feared drowned in the latest Mediterranean migrant tragedy.

• After attacks, arm-in-arm world leaders join mass Paris march

  World leaders including Muslim and Jewish statesmen linked arms to lead an estimated million-plus French citizens through Paris in an unprecedented march under high security to pay tribute to victims of Islamist militant attacks.

• French forces kill newspaper attack suspects, hostages die in second siege

  Two brothers wanted for a bloody attack on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were killed on Friday when anti-terrorist police stormed their hideout, while a second siege ended with the deaths of four hostages.

• Italy president says he will step down soon

  Italy's 89-year-old President Giorgio Napolitano said on Wednesday that he would step down soon because of his age, leaving Prime Minister Matteo Renzi facing a delicate political challenge to replace him.

• Egypt could send troops to a Palestinian state to help out: paper

  Egypt would be ready to lend a hand in securing a future Palestinian state by sending in troops that could help out local police and offer Israel security guarantees, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a newspaper interview.

• Italy and China sign business deals worth $10 billion

  Italy and China signed business deals worth about 8 billion euros ($10 billion) on Tuesday in sectors ranging from energy to engineering, deepening Beijing's commercial ties with the euro zone's No. 3 economy.