Good morning Europe! Welcome to our coverage of the major European stories and key international news on Monday, May 7.
ADVERTISEMENTGood morning Europe! Here is the key news from this morning, May 7:
Putin inauguration: Russia's Vladimir Putin was sworn in for his fourth presidential term. The inauguration came after anti-Putin protests over the weekend that saw opposition leader Alexei Navalny and around 1,600 anti-Kremlin activists detained by police.
Iran nuclear deal: Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson was in Washington for a trip largely aimed at convincing the US to maintain the Iran nuclear deal. In a New York Times op-ed he urged President Donald Trump not to pull out of the accord.
Lebanon election: Lebanon was awaiting results from its first parliamentary election in nine years. The turnout for the poll was put at 49.2 percent, while unofficial results cited by politicians and Lebanese media showed the Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah and its political allies winning more than half of the seats.
Italy deadlock: Talks were set to get underway in Rome in a bid to break a two-month political impasse. On Sunday night the leader of Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Luigi Di Maio, made a last-ditch offer to the far-right League in a bid to solve the deadlock.
**US Embassy signs: **Road signs directing drivers to the imminent US Embassy in Jerusalem were installed, one week before the embassy's opening which will coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel's founding.
Look back at how events unfolded over the morning in the blog below: