Eurotopics.net

New records set every day, anxious warnings from politicians and scientists: the coronavirus infection rates are rising rapidly once again in almost all European countries. As governments try to counteract this trend with stricter rules, the first countries have reimposed lockdowns. Commentators discuss what has changed since spring, and whether there is really no alternative to tough measures.

Almost 70 percent of Italians voted in favour of reducing the size of both chambers of parliament in a vote initiated chiefly by the Cinque Stelle Movement (M5S). In regional elections taking place at the same time, the right-wing Lega fell short of the clear election victory it had been hoping for. The press is divided over the extent to which the results show support for the coalition in Rome under Giuseppe Conte.

According to more than 2000 documents leaked by the US anti-money laundering agency FinCEN and published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), several major banks, including Deutsche Bank and the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC, have done business with shady customers who have been convicted of money laundering. How can banks be prevented from helping to cover up corruption and crime?

For the last four weeks judges have been hearing evidence in the trial dealing with the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. In January 2015 attackers with Islamist motives killed twelve members of the magazine's editorial staff, a police office and four hostages at a kosher supermarket. Commentators discuss how important it is in the trial to first find the right words for the perpetrators and their deeds.