Egypt was braced for more mass protests on Tuesday in the wake of the killing of 51 supporters of the ex-president Mohamed Morsi. At the same time, political leaders bargained over the creation of a civilian transitional government to rule with military support, until new elections are held next year.

Thursday, July 4, Vilnius - On behalf of the people of Lithuania, President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to President Barack Obama of the United States of America on Independence Day.

The President Morsi has been overthrown by the military and Adly Mansour, the deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court, was named the interim President.

Prism and what it means for the privacy and fundamental rights of Europeans are to be debated on Wednesday afternoon in plenary with representatives from the European Commission and the Council. MEPs are expected to stress the need to speed up the reform of EU data protection rules. They will also vote on a resolution on Thursday 4 July. Follow the debate live on our website and join the discussion on our Twitter wall using the #Prism hashtag.

Close to 3.5 million Syrians will have to seek refuge in another country by the end of the year, according to the UN adding one more somber note to this year's World Refugee Day on 20 June.