Eurotopics.net

An 18-year-old high school student killed the deputy headmistress and a classmate and injured other people in a knife attack in the Slovakian village of Spišská Stará Ves on Thursday. The perpetrator has been arrested, but his motives remain unclear. Should this attack be seen in a wider context?

Israel and Hamas have agreed on a ceasefire which is to come into force in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. In the first of three phases, 33 Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are to be released in batches. The media look at whether the agreement can bring lasting peace to the region and speculate on the role of US President-elect Donald Trump in the negotiations.

Next week, US President Joe Biden will hand over the office of president of the United States to Donald Trump. In his final address to the nation, he warned that "an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy." Commentators take stock of his four years in office.

In Bulgaria, the conservative Gerb party led by former prime minister Boyko Borisov has agreed on a governing coalition with the socialist BSP, the right-wing populist ITN and the party of the Turkish minority DPS. Gerb MP Rossen Zhelyazkov is to become prime minister. Will this put an end to the protracted political crisis that has led to seven successive elections?

After a controversial election which the opposition claims was rigged, Portugal, the former colonial power, sent its foreign minister rather than its president to the swearing-in ceremony of the new president of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo. Protests against Chapo's election have been ongoing for months and more than 300 people have died in clashes with security forces, according to reports by civil society organisations.