European Parliament President Sassoli dies at 65

European Parliament President David Sassoli has died at age 65 at a hospital in Italy. No details were offered in the tweet by spokesman Roberto Cuillo beyond Sassoli's death at 1:15 a.m. (0015 GMT) Tuesday in Aviano, a city in northeastern Italy.

Sassoli had been hospitalized since Dec. 26 due to abnormal functioning of his immune system. Sassoli was first elected at the European Parliament in 2009. He won another term in 2014 and served as the Parliament’s vice president. He had decided not to run for reelection when lawmakers vote to appoint their new president later this month.