Portugal

PARIS - Serbia's best tennis player Novak Djokovic eased into the second round at Roland Garros on Monday after a comfortable win over Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

Second seed Djokovic will next face local favorite Jeremy Chardy who defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain in straight sets 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

By Jonathan Stearns

Jean-Claude Juncker staked a claim to the European Commission presidency after his Europe-wide party won parliamentary elections, setting up a potential clash with national government leaders over the high-profile post.

BELGRADE - At the invitation of European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi, National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic is attending a three-day forum on central banking, hosted by the ECB in Sintra, Portugal, on May 25-27, the NBS said in a statement on Monday.

By Jeff Black & Alessandro Speciale

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled policy makers are ready to take action in June should they see low inflation becoming entrenched.

The dollar gained against the euro on Wednesday amid concern the European Parliament elections starting on Thursday may shift the balance of power in the 18-nation region.

The yen reached a three-month high earlier after the Bank of Japan refrained from expanding stimulus.

Bulgarian households had the lowest electricity bills in the European Union in the second half of 2013, Eurostat data has revealed.

A family in Bulgaria pays EUR 8.8 per kWh of energy on the average, compared to EUR 20.1 for the EU as a whole.

Romania (EUR 12.8) and Hungary (EUR 13.3) rank second and third, according to the European statistical agency.

In March 2014 compared with February 2014, seasonally adjusted production in the construction sector fell by 0.6 % in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU.

Photo: Storm above Serbia seen from space

BELGRADE -- NASA has published a satellite photo showing Europe seen from space, where a huge cloud system, covering Serbia at its center, dominates.

The system has engulfed most of Europe, except Spain and Portugal, but seems to be the most concentrated above our country, and the region.

Croatian PM says Ukraine is "falling apart"

ZAGREB -- Croatian PM Zoran Milanović has said that Ukraine was disintegrating as a state, while Russia "crossed the line of what is permissible" when it comes to Crimea.

Speaking for Croatian Radio, he noted that the situation in Ukraine was "far too complex to be summarized in two sentences," and added:

Day-ahead power markets were linked from Portugal to Finland on Tuesday as the European Union seeks to integrate electricity markets by the end of this year across the 28-nation bloc.

Spain and Portugal joined the existing 15-country market coupling project, linked through an interconnector between Spain and France.