European Union

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the discovery of 320 billion cubic meters of gas in the Black Sea on Friday. The price of the lira, which had risen before the speech, dropped once more shortly afterwards - presumably because the estimated quantity of gas is far lower than the figures previously talked of and will only cover Turkish demand for eight years. But not all commentators share the markets' disappointment.

Dara Calleary, Ireland's Minister of Agriculture, has resigned after just five weeks in office. The move came after it was revealed that he had flouted coronavirus restrictions by attending a dinner with 80 other guests. Also at the party was EU Trade Commissioner Philip Hogan, who intends to remain in office. For Irish commentators the government is ensnared in a web of crisis.

The fate of Belarus after its presidential election remains completely open: the protests continue but President Alexander Lukashenka has given no indication that he is willing to offer the opposition concessions, much less step down. Europe's media speculate on how things could develop in the country.

In 2020, Earth Overshoot Day came later than in the previous year for the first time. On 22 August - more than three weeks later than in 2019 - humanity had consumed the natural resources that the Earth can regenerate in the course of a year. Thanks to Covid-19 humanity's environmental footprint shrank this year. But is this trend sustainable?

The director-general of Belgium's federal police, André Desenfants, told a press conference he was temporarily stepping aside from his role after the emergence of a video showing a Slovak man being pinned down in a custody cell hours before his death and an officer apparently making a Hitler salute, the BBC reported. The Slovak man, Jozef Chovanec, was arrested at Charleroi airport in 2018.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz will lead the German Social Democrats (SPD) into the campaign for federal elections in 2021. Not an easy task for a party that faces strong competition from the Greens for number two position, behind the CDU/CSU conservatives. EURACTIV Germany reports.