Great Moments in Self-Awareness

They're finally admitting how dull and pointless their summits are. Now for the stunning epiphany:

"Arguably, the two sides could save a huge amount of time and money by holding a video conference or even just exchanging position papers. In an age of government austerity, excessive debt and budget cuts, the public would surely applaud the move," he said in a written statement.

What does the meeting really amount to? EU: Kan I haz your revenue?

Cameron dubbed the event 'The Vegetable Summit' because of a mini-drama involving E. coli.

Otherwise, intimidation comes cheap in Russia. The fringe benefit is that it turned what would be a pointless European circus into a rather more effective phone call.

Authorities cancelled at the last minute a 9 June press conference to be held by Russian NGOs in the so-called EU-Russia Civil Society Forum. One of the forum's leaders also had her car number plates stolen - putting her at risk of arrest - and her credit cards blocked.