The European Green Party was launched in Rome yesterday

20000 demonstrate in Tirana, calling on Albanian PM Fatos Nano to resign

An interesting article on how resolving the issues of Cyprus might affect the internal politics of Turkey and Turkey's EU ambitions (found via Young Fogey)

Europe has lost its leverage in the places that matter - Guardian columnist Martin Woolacott on Europe's declining influence

We'll meet again - Berlusconi leads the criticism of the Franco-German-British summit, as they insist they intend to continue meeting as a triumvirate

Has Schroeder started a trend? Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller is resigning the leadership of the Democratic Left Alliance, but will remain in office as PM

Well, we didn't win - congratulations to Daily Kos, who won Best Group Blog, and all the other winners of the Koufax Awards

Queen Elizabeth may become the first British monarch to visit Ireland in 90 years after a meeting between Irish President Mary McAleese and the Princess Royal

France is sending humanitarian assistance to Haiti and is reported to be considering dispatching peacekeeping troops there as well

Finally there's a manual... Answers to everything you always wanted to know and never dared to ask about... Germany (via papascott).

Paid Content.org now offers "European Digital Media Weekly", a weekly e-mail newsletter that will cover news and issues related to EU, with special emphasis on the UK.

Procycling reports on the death of Marco Pantani - reaction here and here, a report on how and where he died is here

A scientist describes Saturn's moon Titan as potentially looking 'a bit like Sweden'. No comment is available from the Swedes at this time, but Norwegian comedians are reportedly working overtime

A Guardian Q&A; on the working rights citizens of the 10 accession countries will have in the 15 current members of the EU

The first jackpot - €15million - in the EuroMillions lottery was won by someone who bought their ticket in France, the BBC reports

Kofi Annan will have the power to set the final terms for a referendum on the reunification of Cyprus raising real hopes that the island could be reunified before it joins the EU

Der Spiegel only seems to have some of the facts about the pretender to the British throne. I have some more information on it here from when the news came out in Britain in January.

Ivan Rybkin now claims that his disappearance wasn't entirely voluntary after all. Just to be on the safe side, he'll stay abroad till the elections are over. (From the BBC.)

If Der Spiegel has its facts right, Elizabeth II is a pretender and the true King a beer-drinking Australian farmer. If so, this would clear things up for the Scots, who wonder how they can have an Elizabeth 'the second' when they never had a first one: Good Queen Bess would've had as little claim to the throne as her latter-day namesake. The putative King Mike I, though, would just as soon stay on in Oz with his mates. (Report in German.)

The European Commission has approved the merger of Air France and KLM