A suspected Russian cruise missile entered Polish airspace during a barrage of Russian airstrikes on Ukraine and crashed into a field in the east of the country. Poland's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, described the incident as "very serious” but said there was no reason to believe that Poland had been deliberately targeted. Commentators discuss how serious the threat is.
Fifa is planning to sell up to 20 percent of its stake in the World Cup to private investors. According to media reports, its president, Gianni Infantino, wants to set up a new entity to raise billions in profits. Fifa has confirmed that it is examining the proposal. Uefa has criticised this as an irresponsible overstep and threatened a boycott. Most commentators are appalled, although some can see certain advantages.
Nuclear power generation has been scaled back or halted in several European countries due to low water levels in rivers and the resulting shortage of cooling water. In Romania, two reactors at the country's only nuclear power station, Cernavoda, are out of operation, meaning that it is now having to source electricity from other countries. In Hungary, too, the four reactors at the Paks power station are being gradually shut down.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has announced a new initiative to resolve the Cyprus conflict. During a visit to the island, Guterres said he had already received the go-ahead from both Cyprus's President Nikos Christodoulidis and Tufan Erhürman, the President of the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The guarantor powers – Greece, Turkey and the UK – will also take part in the talks.
Fighting in the Gulf region has intensified again. In conjunction with Saudi Arabia, the US military has attacked positions held by pro-Iranian militias in Iraq that, according to Washington, were being used to launch drone strikes ordered by Tehran. The US also carried out further attacks on targets within Iran itself. Iran, for its part, has launched new strikes against US bases in the region.
A Ukrainian couple were beaten up by three men in the Polish city of Wrocław on Sunday. The police have arrested two suspects so far. Just a few years ago, the world was impressed by the Poles' solidarity with refugees from Ukraine, Prime Minister Donald Tusk admonished, adding that, "All of that is now being destroyed." Media outlets in both countries examine the shift in public sentiment in Poland.
While some progress has been made in the fight against the devastating wildfires in France and Spain, there are concerns that the situation may deteriorate again as yet another heatwave looms. President Emmanuel Macron has said this is France's worst fire emergency since the Second World War. Commentators are also alarmed and discuss what action should be taken.
AI research company OpenAI reported that during an internal test of its new AI models last week the software independently hacked its way into the systems of another AI company. The AI models apparently managed to break out of their isolated test environment and gain access to the internet. Commentators voice concern and call for appropriate measures.
The Austrian government wants to extend compulsory military service from six to nine months. Its 6+3 scheme is intended to boost the Austrian army's operational readiness and better prepare soldiers for crisis and defence tasks. To make military service more attractive, holiday entitlement will be introduced and pay will be hiked up to 1,000 euros a month. The press is very sceptical.
In July 2025, after more than 40 years of civil war, the PKK has symbolically laid down its arms. Reconciliation with the Kurds is now to be placed on a legal footing, and Turkey has announced that is preparing the legal framework for a peace process that will regulate disarmament, returns and reintegration. The speaker of Turkey's parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, called for Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood.
Berlin's Christopher Street Day parade was cut short on Saturday evening following an attack. A van driver ploughed into a crowd on the fringes of the festival and then attacked passers-by with what appeared to be a machete. One woman died and 29 people were injured. The suspected 21-year-old perpetrator was a known Islamist. He was shot dead in a police operation on Sunday.