Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai (71) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday. Krasznahorkai, who has achieved worldwide fame with novels such as "Satantango" and "Melancholy of Resistance", had already won the International Booker Prize in 2015. He is a controversial figure in Hungary because of his harsh criticism of Viktor Orbán's government.
The winners of the 2025 Nobel prizes have been announced by the Swedish and Norwegian institutions responsible for awarding them. Four of the ten winners in the categories of physics, chemistry, medicine and literature come from the US, two from Japan and one each from the UK, France, Australia and Hungary. The media discuss the significance of the awards as "Nobel Prize Week" draws to an end.
Panos Routsis, the father of a 22-year-old victim of the Tempi train crash in February 2023, ended his 23-day hunger strike outside the Greek Parliament on Tuesday after the Prosecutor's Office ordered new DNA and toxicological tests to confirm his son's identity and the exact cause of death. The investigation into the tragedy in which 57 people died remains a highly emotional issue in Greece.
France's leadership seems confident that the government crisis will soon be resolved. A new prime minister could be appointed by Friday evening, the Élysée Palace has stated. Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who resigned on Monday, are now trying to get the Socialists on board. The latter are demanding that the country's controversial pension reform be withdrawn.
Italian MEP Ilaria Salis of the Green and Left Alliance will retain her parliamentary immunity. The European Parliament has decided by a narrow majority. Salis faces trial in Hungary for allegedly physically assaulting right-wing extremists in 2023. Hungarian opposition figures Péter Magyar and Klára Dobrev will also retain their immunity. Which side is failing to uphold democratic principles?
Charges against two British citizens accused of passing state secrets to Beijing were dropped in September, but only now has the main reason for the acquittal been revealed: the government's refusal to officially classify China as a "threat to national security", which is a prerequisite for a conviction. Critics see the decision as politically motivated rather than legally justified.
One man's meat is another man's tofu: the European Parliament has voted 355 to 247 to ban the use of terms such as burger, steak and schnitzel for plant-based foods. If the legislation goes through, such labels would be reserved for animal products, but it has yet to receive the approval of the 27 EU member states. The media see much more than just fraudulent labelling behind the move.
In an interview with the Hungarian website Partizán, former German chancellor Angela Merkel said that she had sought to establish a new EU format for dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the outbreak of the Ukraine war in summer 2021, but the initiative failed due to resistance from the Baltic states and Poland. Merkel's statements have drawn criticism from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in particular. Europe's press takes stock.
Since the terrorist attack on Israel carried out by the radical Islamic Hamas on 7 October 2023, Europe has seen a surge in antisemitic incidents, and demonstrations against Israel have become common at universities, in parliaments and on the streets. Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is a key factor. Europe's press voices concern.
US President Donald Trump has held out the prospect of supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. He said on Monday that he had "sort of made a decision" on the matter but would want to know how Kyiv intended to use the long-range US weapons system. Putin has responded by saying that such a move would jeopardise his country's revived bilateral relations with the US.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas carried out a terrorist attack in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip. Since then Israel has been waging war against Hamas in the densely populated Palestinian territory. On the anniversary of the massacre, the media reflect on the situation in the Middle East.
