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".
Hundreds of thousands of Romanians have signed a citizens' petition to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 14 after a case in which a 15-year-old boy was killed with a knife and axe and then burned and buried by three other minors, including a 13-year-old, in the western Romanian municipality of Cenei. Romanian Justice Minister Radu Marinescu has announced plans to review the criminal laws applying to minors.
The free trade agreement concluded between the EU and India will abolish or reduce customs duties on 90 percent of the bilateral trade and save European exporters up to four billion euros annually in duties, according to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The media highlight the global political significance of the partnership and the associated risks.
In the dispute over President Petr Pavel's refusal to appoint Filip Turek, honorary president of the co-governing party Motorists for Themselves, to a ministerial post, the party's leader, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka, has upped the stakes. He has threatened that if Pavel continues to refuse he will inform Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte that Pavel is disregarding the constitution and therefore unfit to represent the country at the 2026 Nato Summit in Ankara in July.
France may follow Australia's example and introduce a ban on social media for children and young teenagers after its National Assembly voted in favour of a bill to this effect. If approved by the Senate, the ban could apply to children under 15 from this September. President Emmanuel Macron has enthusiastically endorsed the draft law. While many commentators applaud the move, some present alternatives.
Even before the tug-of-war with Washington over Greenland, Europe was pondering whether and how it could take its military security into its own hands. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has now dismissed such ideas with the words "keep on dreaming", stressing that Europe cannot defend itself without the US. Commentators take stock of the security situation on the continent.