Eurotopics.net

Turkey has seen two school shootings in as many days. At a school in Kahramanmaraş on Wednesday, a 14-year-old boy shot eight pupils and a teacher before he was shot dead at the scene. A day earlier, a former pupil at a school in Siverek in Sanliurfa Province shot and wounded 16 people, including ten pupils, before killing himself. Commentators search for reasons to explain the attacks.

More than 100 authors have announced they will leave France's leading publisher Grasset in protest at the dismissal of its long-time CEO, Olivier Nora. Nora is to be replaced by Jean-Christophe Thiery, a close associate of ultra-conservative billionaire, media mogul and Grasset-owner Vincent Bolloré, who, the authors fear, will exert political interference. The press also voices consternation.

At an international conference in Berlin on Wednesday, aid commitments to the tune of 1.5 billion euros were agreed for Sudan, which for the past three years has been ravaged by a brutal civil war. According to UN estimates, 34 million people, or two-thirds of the population in the northeast African country, are dependent on humanitarian aid. The media debate the causes, consequences and possible solutions to the famine.

A direct exchange between envoys of Israel and Lebanon has taken place in Washington for the first time in decades. The Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, described the talks with his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, as very positive. They agreed that Hezbollah must relinquish its power. Commentators, however, are sceptical about the prospects of success.