Eurotopics.net

Potentially decisive hearings in the Julian Assange case are under way: the High Court in London is examining whether Assange can appeal against last June's decision to extradite him to the US. If his appeal is rejected, the legal process will be exhausted in the UK. Assange's supporters have announced that they would then take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

At least nine miners were trapped in a gold mine after a landslide near the eastern Anatolian town of Erzincan in Turkey last week, and have still not been rescued. Gold mined there is washed out of the rock using a cyanide solution, and there is now a risk of water contamination in the region. The incident has triggered outrage in the national press.

A debate over European defence capabilities has broken out after Donald Trump threatened to only grant alliance protection to those Nato states that meet the agreed target of two percent of GDP for defence spending. Commentators discuss what should be done in the event that the US really does cease to guarantee the continent's security.

Ukraine has been defending itself against the full-scale Russian invasion launched on 24 February 2022 for almost two years now. Initially, the Ukrainian military surprised observers with its resilience. However, hopes that the Ukrainian counter-offensive that began in June 2023 would quickly push back the aggressor were disappointed. Europe's press takes stock.

Whether 81-year-old Joe Biden is fit for another presidency is the subject of heated debate ahead of the US elections in November. Biden himself fiercely rejected recent accusations by a special counsel who led an investigation into his handling of classified documents that he has a poor memory. The press looks at the pros and cons of Biden's advanced age.