The European Union has decided to end imports of natural gas from Russia by the end of 2027 at the latest. The decisions comes after 24 EU countries voted in favour of the move while Hungary and Slovakia voted against it and Bulgaria abstained. The governments in Budapest and Bratislava now plan to challenge the decision before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Europe's commentators discuss the options for gas supplies to the bloc.
Several winners at the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday used their acceptance speeches to criticise the actions of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE and to make other political statements. Afterwards, US President Donald Trump described the event as "garbage" and announced that he would be taking legal action against its presenter.
In the Czech Republic, President Petr Pavel and Andrej Babiš's right-wing coalition government are locked in a fierce dispute after Foreign Minister Petr Macinka tried to force the head of state to appoint Filip Turek, the Motorist Party's honorary president, as minister of the environment. At least 80,000 people took to the streets in Prague on Sunday to support Pavel.
For the first time since 2019, the freezing temperatures mean that motor vehicles could travel across the ice from Estonia's mainland to its islands. However, the authorities are refusing to set up ice roads on the grounds that they are too expensive, too risky, and that no money has been allocated to such roads in the budget. Locals are now driving across the ice at their own risk in some places.
After the US deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships to the Middle East last week, it remains unclear whether there will be an attack on Iran. According to the Iranian state news agency Irna the country's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Media reports suggest that talks on a new nuclear deal are taking place behind the scenes. European commentators warn of the dangers of a military strike.
The US Department of Justice has released further files in the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: according to US Attorney General Todd Blanche the more than three million pages of documents, thousands of videos and well over 100,000 photos contain "disturbing material", but do not provide grounds for new investigations. Commentators call for clarification at various levels.
Storm Kristin has caused fatalities and severe damage to buildings and infrastructure in Portugal, and more storms are forecast. Disaster management has become the dominant issue in the presidential election campaign, with the run-off election between the socialist candidate Antonio José Seguro and the right-wing populist André Ventura due to take place on Sunday.
Three months after the general election, three parties in the Netherlands have agreed to form a minority government. The left-liberal D66, the Christian Democrats (CDA) and the right-liberal VDD have presented their coalition agreement. Since a future government under D66 leader Rob Jetten would only have 66 of the 150 seats in the lower house, the national media examine how open it will be open to compromise in parliament.
According to Donald Trump, Russia has agreed to halt strikes on Ukrainian cities for one week. The US president said he had made an appeal to Vladimir Putin to do this citing the extreme cold in Ukraine. The Kremlin has not commented. However, a long-discussed "energy ceasefire" may already be in effect, as both parties have reported hardly any air strikes on their energy infrastructure since Thursday. The media take a closer look.
After the bloody crackdown on mass protests in Iran, there are growing signs of a military reaction from the US. President Donald Trump has ordered the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and accompanying warships to be deployed to the region. Tehran has threatened to respond "immediately and powerfully" in the event of an attack. Commentators question the motives behind a military strike.
The ICE officers involved in the fatal shooting in Minneapolis at the weekend have been placed on administrative leave, a spokesperson for the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has confirmed. US President Donald Trump had recently attempted to de-escalate the tense situation in the city, describing the death of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti as a "very unfortunate incident".