An AI model launched by Chinese tech company DeepSeek has sent the share prices of several US tech companies into a downward spiral. The new R1 chatbot was reportedly developed at a far lower cost and requires significantly less computing power than its competitors. Europe's press asks where our continent stands in this context.
Italian prosecutors are investigating Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other members of her cabinet in connection with the release and repatriation of a Libyan police official who is wanted for war crimes by the international criminal court (ICC). Meloni explained in a video message that she is suspected of aiding and abetting a crime, among other things, but she is not obliged to resign and will "not be blackmailed or intimidated".
Yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. Only gradually did the world realise the true extent of the Nazis' crimes. Auschwitz, where the Nazis murdered at least 1.1 million people, has come to epitomise the Holocaust. Poland marked the anniversary with a commemorative ceremony attended by international high-ranking guests and Auschwitz survivors. Europe's press reflects.
According to official sources in Minsk, Alexander Lukashenka has been re-elected president of Belarus for the seventh time in a row with 87 percent of the vote and an 86-percent turnout. The EU has criticised the election process, in which no real opposition was allowed, as a "sham election that was neither free nor fair". How should the West behave towards the Moscow-oriented autocracy on its doorstep?
Several priceless Romanian gold artefacts were stolen from the Drents Museum in Assen in the Netherlands late on Friday night. Among the looted exhibits on loan for a special exhibition about the ancient kingdom of Dacia were the Helmet of Coțofenești, a ceremonial golden headdress dating back 2,500 years, as well as three gold bracelets. For commentators, the theft is about far more than the loss of gold and silver artefacts.
Donald Trump has suggested resettling most of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip in Jordan and Egypt, where he said they could "live in peace for a change". Both countries immediately rejected the idea, while far-right circles in Israel have endorsed it. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned against the repercussions of a mass displacement of the ruined coastal strip's inhabitants.
Tens of thousands across Greece took to the streets to demand justice for the victims of the Tempi train crash on Sunday. A team of experts commissioned by the bereaved has uncovered new evidence that almost half of the 57 people who died in the crash were not killed by the collision but by an explosion caused by flammable liquids which one of the two trains was transporting. The media look at why criticism of the way the accident has been handled continues?
78 people died early last week in a fire at a ski resort hotel in the Bolu moutains in Turkey. The hotel's owner and manager as well as several more people have been arrested. The tourism minister of the ruling AKP party and the opposition CHP mayor blame each other for lacking safety checks; apparently there were blatant violations of the fire safety regulations.
Speaking via video at the World Economic Forum, US President Donald Trump called on companies across the globe to manufacture their products in the US. Thanks to his administration's tax cuts and cheap energy from oil and gas, there was "no better place to create jobs," he declared, adding that those who do not produce in the US will have to pay tariffs to access the US market. Europe's press discusses the EU's options.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal has announced plans to increase his country's defence spending to five percent of GDP, in line with US President Trump's demand to all Nato states. With its previous plans for 3.7 percent of GDP as of 2026 Estonia was already one of the front-runners on defence spending. Commentators debate whether the five percent target makes sense and how it can be achieved.
A knife attack on a kindergarten group in Aschaffenburg has left two dead and three seriously injured. The suspect, a 28-year-old Afghan, has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The fact that the man had a history of violence and should have already left the country has triggered a political controversy.
A presidential election will be held in Belarus on Sunday. Alexander Lukashenka, who has ruled the country as a dictator since 1994, wants to be confirmed for a seventh term. In 2020 there was a major wave of protests against an election that was widely held to have been rigged. The protests were brutally suppressed by the regime. The media explain why such protests are unlikely this time round.