Eurotopics.net

Italy's government made up of Lega and the Five Star Movement is at odds over what to do about a junior minister in the Transport Ministry who is accussed of corruption. Five Star has demanded the resignation of the Lega minister and the cabinet is to reach a decision this Wednesday. But the case of the junior minister is just a pretext, observers suspect.

May 8 is celebrated as Liberation Day - the day that marked the end of the Second World War and liberation from the Nazis - in a number of European countries. In Russia May 9 is celebrated as Victory Day. The question of how this day should be commemorated is still contentious and some commentators are very unhappy about the current approach.

On 12 May Lithuanians will decide in a referendum on whether to change the constitution to allow dual citizenship. As the commentators explain, the issue is more complicated than it sounds.

Approximately one million plant and animal species are now threatened with extinction. With this figure the World Biodiversity Council underlined the urgency of its first global report on Monday in Paris. Human beings are destroying the very life they depend on, warned Robert Watson, chairman of the UN body. Commentators say they know what needs to be done - but not how to do it.

Turkey's Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) has annulled the local elections in Istanbul at the request of the AKP. Opposition supporters took to the streets in protest and the new mayor elected in April, Ekrem İmamoğlu, urged them to win back their rights in the democratic process. The EU is calling for transparency about the decision-making process. What does this step mean for Turkey?

After a plane crash at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday evening that left forty-one dead, police are trying to reconstruct the events that led to the tragedy. About half an hour after taking off the Aeroflot plane, a Suchoi Superjet-100, turned around due to problems and crash landed, bursting into flames. Opinion pages probe the tragedy and its wider implications.