Eurotopics.net

The prime minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, has announced that he will resign in January. Prior to the announcement Muscat's chief of staff and two ministers had already either resigned or suspended themselves from duty. Muscat's government has come under growing pressure over its alleged involvement in the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Muscat's step was overdue, Europe's press writes.

Libya and Turkey have signed an agreement on maritime borders. According to Ankara the deal protects Turkish rights in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, including access to resources such as natural gas. Greece says the deal violates international maritime law because among other things it ignores the island of Crete's jurisdiction. The Greek and Greek Cypriot press are also incensed.

A labour dispute over the inadequate payment of postal workers has culminated in a political crisis in Finland. The bone of contention is whether the government knew about the plans of the state postal service to reduce the salaries of more than 700 package sorters. After the postal workers went on strike for several weeks the responsible minister resigned. Should the PM go too?

A growing number of companies are using the last Friday in November to lure customers with attractive deals under the Black Friday slogan. The idea is to kick off the Christmas season with a US-style shopping spree. For commentators, the discount day highlights how our society indiscriminately indulges in consumption. But they also point out that for some it's easier to forego the bargains than for others.

Under the "climate emergency" declared by the European Parliament after a vote passed by an overwhelming majority the EU Commission and the member states must in future assess all their decisions in terms of their impact on the climate and the environment. Individual cities and states had already passed similar resolutions. Journalists are not very impressed.