The leaders of France and Germany are to press Ukraine's president to agree to a new truce in eastern Ukraine when they speak by phone on Wednesday.  President Francois Hollande of France announced the planned talks with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko.  Ukraine says it will not talk to separatist rebels until they disarm.  A separatist official in Donetsk city, where the rebels are regrouping after losing ground, ruled out any new truce.  Government forces recaptured several large towns from the rebels in recent days after resuming their 'anti-terrorist operation' in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.  In Donetsk itself, a city of more than one million people, the rebels have vowed to keep fighting the government, which they regard as illegitimate.  More than 1,000 people, both civilians and combatants, are believed to have been killed since the uprising began in April.

More than 5,000 migrants have been picked up by the Italian navy in the past 48 hours in several rescue operations between Sicily and North Africa.  On Monday, about 30 bodies were found in one of the migrant boats, Italian news agencies reported, citing the navy and coastguard. The rescuers made the gruesome discovery when they boarded a fishing boat carrying around 590 refugees and migrants. The immigrants apparently died of asphyxiation, the news agencies said. It is not the first time Italian rescuers have found migrants dead on the overcrowded boats, but never before had they found so many bodies in one boat. Over the past weekend more than 1,600 migrants were rescued by Italian authorities, bringing the total number of migrants rescued so far this year to above 60,000. The number is expected to soar past the record 63,000 set in 2011 during the Arab Spring uprisings.

The separatist leaders of two regions in eastern Ukraine say they will now respect a Kiev ceasefire called last Friday by President Poroshenko until June 27th. They also indicated that they were willing to consider Poroshenko’s peace plan, which includes a buffer zone, decentralisation, and early elections. ‘We hope that, during the time of bilateral ceasefire, we can agree to at least start consultations on the peaceful resolution of the conflict,’ said pro-Russian rebel leader Alexander Borodai. Present for the announcement was former president Leonid Kuchma, who opposes any breakup of his country. ‘We resolved one of the most important issues, and that is to stop the military actions from both sides,’ he said. Outside, however, a crowd was protesting against Kuchma and appeared in no mood to compromise. They angrily surrounded his car and it was several minutes before he was able to leave.

On Monday Pope Francis met with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and much of their official discussion was confirming the need for the world-wide church to persevere in a united commitment to eradicate human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Pope Francis said, ‘Notable collaborative efforts have been initiated on the ecumenical level and in cooperation with civil authorities and international organizations. Many charitable initiatives have been undertaken by our communities, and they are operating with generosity and courage in various parts of the world. I think in particular of the action network against the trafficking in women set up by a number of women’s religious institutes. Let us persevere in our commitment to combat new forms of enslavement, in the hope that we can help provide relief to victims and oppose this deplorable trade. I thank God that, as disciples sent to heal a wounded world, we stand together, with perseverance and determination, in opposing this grave evil.’ See also Global Freedom Network at http://www.gfn2020.org/

The leadership of the Commission has always been a tightly fought contest. In 2014 Britain vetoed the appointment of Guy Verhofstadt, with the French opposed to Chris Patten and leaders settling on José Manuel Barroso instead. The current controversy, coming less than three years before Britain holds a referendum on EU membership. Should the Conservative Party still be in leadership, which has given the election additional importance. EU leaders are expected to make a decision on the next Commission President during a summit next week on the 26th -27th June. The European parliament will hold a confidence vote on the chosen candidate, possibly as early as 15th July. Pray for the new commission president to ensure a  fair deal for Britain.  See also:

Nine European countries endorsed plans on 5th June to step up intelligence-sharing and take down radical websites to try to stop European citizens going to fight in Syria and bringing violence back home with them.The initiative by states that deem themselves most affected by jihadist violence was given new urgency after the killing of three people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels last month by a Frenchman recently returned from fighting with Islamist rebels in Syria's civil war. EU officials will hold meetings with ‘the leading Internet operators’ this month to look into the possibilities for immediately shutting down web sites and barring messages that spread hatred or encourage violent militancy or terrorism. Also Britain proposed creating a European task force using media campaigns to counter the radicals' message. Experts will work on details of the new measures before they are decided on by ministers at a meeting in Milan in July.

The Italian coastguard rescued more than 1,000 migrants from three separate boats early last Saturday, in the second such operation in two days. The migrants and asylum-seekers were plucked from three boats 40 miles off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. The rescue came a day after the Italian navy picked up another 2,500 asylum-seekers from 17 boats, as good weather conditions in the Mediterranean further boost the influx of migrants desperate to reach Europe. Most of the migrants and asylum seekers arriving in Italy come from Eritrea or Syria and are departing from Libya. Refugees also come from impoverished parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Thousands have died in tragedies at sea in recent years because they often cross in rickety fishing boats that are badly overcrowded to maximise profits for traffickers.

Aykan Erdemir, a member of Turkey’s parliament, will travel to Diyarbakir Church in mid-June. To prepare for his visit, he looked up the church’s website but his parliamentary office computer blocked the church website with a message that it contained ‘pornographic’ content. Checking the websites of other Turkish Protestant churches Erdemir and his colleagues found they also were blocked. Diyarbakir Church is not under a national ban (occasionally websites are banned). The block only affected computers in the parliament and was quickly removed after Erdemir complained. Erdemir said the episode is a symptom of deep-rooted governmental antagonism toward Christians (especially Protestants) and of Turkey’s increasing intolerance towards minorities. He believes law enforcement authorities consider Christianity to be one of the country’s greatest threats and that military training has reinforced an attitude of marginalisation. ‘They really don’t see Turkish Christians as citizens of this country,’ he said.

EU leaders have agreed to re-evaluate the bloc's agenda after voters ‘sent a strong message’, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has said. Mr Van Rompuy said leaders of the 28 member states had asked him to launch consultations on future policies. He was speaking after a meeting in Brussels to discuss big election gains by populist and far-right parties. The results of the European Parliament election led to calls for an EU rethink by those leaders who suffered defeats. But despite gains by anti-EU groups, pro-European parties still won most votes overall. Tuesday's summit was the first opportunity for leaders of all member states to discuss the way forward after last week's polls. Mr Van Rompuy said the meeting in Brussels had been a ‘useful first discussion’ and that EU leaders had agreed on putting the economy at the heart of the group's agenda.

Ukraine says it has recaptured the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk after a day of air strikes and fierce gun battles with pro-Moscow separatists that left at least 48 people, including two civilians, dead. ‘The airport is under our full control. The enemy suffered heavy losses. We have none,’ Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement on Tuesday. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also reported that it had lost contact with a four-member observer team based in the restive city since Monday evening. The battle for the main transport hub in Ukraine's industrial heartland erupted on Monday just hours after president-elect Petro Poroshenko vowed to take a tough stand against the ‘terrorists’. Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately called on Ukraine to end its ‘punitive’ operation in the rebel-held east and for talks between Kiev and the pro-Russian separatists.