Retired General Keith Kellogg is to become US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia under Donald Trump. Kellogg was security advisor for the White House during Trump's first term in office - and presented a plan last spring for ending the war in Ukraine according to which the US would bring the parties to the conflict to the negotiating table by exerting pressure on both sides.
Following a complaint by a candidate who was eliminated, Romania's Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that the votes in the first round of the presidential election won by far-right candidate Călin Georgescu are to be recounted. The court is reconvening this Friday to decide whether the election will be annulled. The parliamentary elections on Sunday are to go ahead as planned.
At the Mazan rapes trial in Avignon, the public prosecutor has demanded the maximum sentence for the main defendant Dominique Pelicot. The sentence is to be handed down in December. The plaintiff Gisèle Pelicot, celebrated as a heroine by many, had demanded that the proceedings be open to the public and that the videos of the crimes be shown. The shock waves reverberate beyond France, as a glance at the press shows.
The European Parliament has given its final approval for Ursula von der Leyen's second EU Commission. MEPs voted 370 to 282 in favour of the 26 Commissioners selected in a complex procedure involving national governments, the EU Parliament and the Commission president. "Von der Leyen II" is now set to commence its work on Sunday.
After the surprise victory of far-right outsider Călin Georgescu in the first round of the Romanian presidential election, the Constitutional Court will deliberate today, Thursday, whether the election should be annulled following complaints about illegal campaign financing and other irregularities. With the parliamentary elections due to be held on Sunday, the press sees a highly precarious situation.
Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire for an initial period of 60 days. Both sides must now withdraw their units from southern Lebanon, with the Unifil peacekeeping force and the Lebanese army taking over the task of protecting the border area with Israel. Europe's media greet the agreement with relief but also scepticism.
The Russian currency is experiencing severe turbulence: since early August the rouble has lost almost a quarter of its value, and yesterday it dipped to a low of 115 roubles to the dollar. Although its exchange rate recovered a little afterwards, the downward trend continues. The press takes a look at the causes.
US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that as soon as he takes office in January he plans to impose tariffs of 25 percent on imports from neighbouring Mexico and Canada and increase the current tariffs on Chinese imports by 10 percent. With these measures he aims to boost the US economy and exert pressure on these countries to combat illegal migration and drug trafficking. Europe's press is not convinced.
The far-right candidate Călin Georgescu scored a surprise victory in the first round of Romania's presidential elections. He will now go into the runoff on 8 December against the centre-right politician Elena Lasconi. One week before that, the country will elect a new parliament. Commentators examine how outsider Georgescu, who was mostly active on Tiktok before the first round, was able to secure so many votes, and what this means for the country.
The 29th UN Climate Change Conference in Baku has come to an end. For two weeks, delegates from around the world grappled over a new financial equalisation formula between industrialised and developing countries in global climate protection funding. In the end, they agreed on 300 billion dollars per year as of 2035. The estimated required sum was 1.3 trillion, however.