Whistleblower Edward Snowden has pledged to help Brazil investigate the NSA's spying activities. Snowden said he had been asked by Brazilian senators for information on "suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens."

Parliament passed three separate resolutions on Thursday, asking for an immediate end to the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China; calling on the Sri Lankan government to implement the recommendation of the Reconciliation Committee in full; and condemning the violence and human rights violations in the Central African Republic.

EU countries must stop illegal expulsion of Roma people and end ethnic profiling, police abuse and human rights violations perpetrated against them, says Parliament in a non-binding resolution adopted on Thursday. It assesses member states' strategies to boost Roma integration and calls for more funds to prevent discrimination and reach small community projects.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton travels to Ukraine on 10th of December to hold talks with President Yanukovych, officials and opposition, as well as with representatives of the civil society to support efforts in finding a political solution to the current crisis in the country and to create a background for talks with the opposition.

During his opening speech at the New Narrative for Europe conference in Milan today, President Barroso also made the following remarks on the current situation in Ukraine:

Senior Officials' Meeting of the so called Budapest process is to be held in Istanbul on 9-10 December 2013. The Budapest Process, initiated by Germany in 1991, is a consultative forum involving more than 50 governments and 10 international organisations.

EU flags are flying at half-mast at the European Parliament in tribute to Nelson Mandela who died at the age of 95 on 5 December. Speaking after the death of Mandela, EP president Martin Schulz said: "South Africa today loses its father, the world loses a hero. I pay tribute to one of the greatest humans of our time." Mandela was the first recipient of the Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

On behalf of the Lithuanian people and on her own behalf, President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended sincere condolences to President Jacob Zuma on the passing of Nelson Mandela, former President of the Republic of South Africa.

Today President Yanukovych of Ukraine called the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso.

Today the Commission adopted the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP) evaluation report and a report on the joint review of the US Passenger Name Record (PNR) Agreement. The Commission assessed the value of financial information data provided under the EU-US TFTP Agreement in the fight against terrorism and how PNR data has been used by US authorities for the purpose of fighting serious crime and terrorism. The Commission also adopted a Communication on a European Terrorist Finance Tracking System (TFTS), concluding that the establishment of such a system is not expected at this stage.