Eurotopics.net

The new British government wants to push ahead with plans to reform the BBC. One idea is to stop prosecuting those who do not pay TV licence fees. Critics accuse Johnson of wanting to weaken the BBC for political reasons and argue that licence fees are still justified. Others say the reform is long overdue.

After technical mishaps led to delays in the vote count, the first results of the Democratic primaries have emerged in the US state of Iowa, with Pete Buttigieg minimally ahead of Bernie Sanders. The decision was based on hundreds of sometimes tiny party alliances. Some journalists are shocked by the chaos. Others prefer to focus on the candidates.

Bashar al-Assad's troops and Russian forces have been bombing Idlib for two months. The province in the north-west of the country is the last bastion of the rebels and jihadists. According to the US, more than 200 air strikes have been carried out there in the last few days, with many of them targeting the civilian population. The UN estimates that around 400,000 people are fleeing the area. Commentators discuss how - and whether - the madness can be stopped.

In recent days, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has visited US ally Ukraine, but also Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, all known as faithful allies of Moscow, offering US support all round. Commentators ask how much diplomatic headway the US can make against Russia with this initiative.

Hundreds of asylum seekers living in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, which was designed to hold 2840 people but has a current population of over 19,500, marched in the island's capital Mytilene on Monday and Tuesday, demanding transferral to the mainland. The local prefect called for a state of emergency to be declared, but the Greek government refused. It's high time Athens changed its approach, commentators urge.