Eurotopics.net

Representatives from the worlds of politics and business have been convening since Monday in Davos, Switzerland, for the 54th World Economic Forum. Despite another high-ranking line-up, commentators question, not for the first time, what purpose the forum fulfils today.

The right-wing populist Chega party organised a conference on the weekend to prepare for the upcoming election campaign in Portugal. According to polls it could win around 15 percent of the vote in the snap parliamentary election on 10 March. Portuguese media analyse the reasons for the party's growing popularity and potential consequences.

The farmers' protests in Germany against the traffic light coalition government's plans to cut subsidies came to an end on Monday with a large rally in Berlin. The main issue was subsidies for diesel, which the government under Olaf Scholz still plans to axe despite the protests. Commentators from other European countries assess the mood in the country based on the protests.

Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice in The Hague today to answer the accusations that it is committing genocide against the Palestinians in its war against the Islamist Hamas organisation in the Gaza Strip. It intends to reject the claim by invoking its right to self-defence. The case was brought before the court by South Africa. Commentators are divided on the question of whether this was a good move.

There have been shootings and looting across Ecuador following a well-known drug lord's escape from prison. Masked and heavily armed, gang members also stormed a live TV programme and forced those present to demand that President Daniel Noboa end his war on drug trafficking. Noboa has declared a state of emergency and deployed the military against the gangs. Where will all this lead?