Eurotopics.net

As part of an austerity package the Czech government has more than doubled the VAT on printed newspapers, bringing it up to 21 percent from the previous 10 percent. Publishers fear that this will mean the end for these newspapers. Commentators criticise the measure as a declaration of defeat in the fight against misinformation.

Because neither candidate won an absolute majority in the first round of the Turkish presidential elections, a run-off vote will be held on 28 May. In the first round incumbent Erdoğan (49.5 percent) beat opposition candidate Kılıçdaroğlu (44.9 percent). The ultra-nationalist Sinan Oğan, whose voters could now tip the balance, garnered 5.2 percent of the vote. Europe's press sees the chances of a change of government receding into the distance.

Europe wants lead the way in the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI): around two years after the EU Commission presented its Artificial Intelligence Act, parliamentary committees are calling for tighter regulations such as a ban on face and emotion recognition systems. A step in the right direction?

For several days now speculation has been rife that Alexander Lukashenka could be seriously and perhaps even fatally ill. The Belarusian leader was visibly ailing at the celebrations in Moscow on 9 May, after which he wasn't seen for almost a week. Then on Monday he visited an air force installation, looking pale and speaking very quietly. Commentators wonder what would happen if he was gone.

Euthanasia for terminally ill patients is to become legal in Portugal. The left-liberal parliamentary majority has been seeking to pass the corresponding law for years, however the conservative president and vocal opponent of euthanasia, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has rejected the bill three times and twice appealed to the Constitutional Court. But now that the parliament has given it the green light he can no longer veto it.