Eurotopics.net

Former US President Donald Trump has appeared in court in Washington. At his third trial he is charged with attempting to falsify the 2020 election results and for his role in the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021. The media agree: much is at stake in this trial - not just for Trump but for the US as a nation.

In a week-long experiment, the German discount supermarket chain Penny is charging its customers "real prices" for food. These factor in the environmental costs in production. Nine products will be affected, making them for the most part twice as expensive as before. Commentators discuss how much sense it makes to suddenly charge six euros instead of three for sausages.

Thousands of people across Bulgaria have protested against violence against women. The demonstrations were triggered by a brutal attack on an 18-year-old girl and the mild sentence handed down to her aggressor. Although she had been cruelly abused by her ex-partner, a court classified the act as "slight bodily harm" and released the perpetrator.

In Spain, the conservative People's Party has emerged as the strongest party in the snap general election. With almost all the votes counted it secured 136 (89 seats four years ago) out of a total of 350 parliamentary seats. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialists have 122 seats, the right-wing populist Vox won 33 and the left-wing alliance Sumar has 31. With these results neither the left nor the right has a real chance of achieving an absolute majority, which leaves commentators wondering what will happen now.

Since Russia suspended the grain agreement the Ukrainian port city of Odessa has been massively targeted by Russian missile and drone strikes. Civilian buildings in the old town, which is a protected Unesco World Heritage Site, have also been hit, and the Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral has been severely damaged. What do these attacks mean for the course of the war?