Eurotopics.net

Berlin, Paris and Rome want to keep all ski areas in the EU closed until January 10 in a bid to limit the Covid infection rates. Vienna opposes the idea saying it does not want to further damage the sector, which generates an annual turnover running into the billions, even though it played a key role in the spread of the virus across Europe at the beginning of the pandemic. For some commentators, there is more to the dispute than the fear of Covid.

Four years after the failed coup in Turkey, 337 people have been sentenced in Ankara to life imprisonment for violating the constitution, manslaughter and attempts on the president's life. Some of the arraigned received as many as 79 life sentences. On 15 July 2016, members of the Turkish military staged an abortive attempt to topple the government, which believes a "Fethullahist terror organisation" (Fetö) led by the preacher Fethullah Gülen was behind the coup.

Scotland has become the first country in the world to guarantee free access to menstrual products. A law passed by unanimous vote on Tuesday makes the free provision of tampons and pads for women in public buildings compulsory. One in five Scottish women currently say they can't afford menstrual products. Commentators applaud the decision.