Eurotopics.net

Three important summits with leaders from Asia and the CIS are taking place in the Kazakh capital Astana on Thursday and Friday. Vladimir Putin will also be attending, and some observers have voiced hopes that his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will lead to advances towards peace in Ukraine. For most commentators, however, it is increasingly clear how isolated Putin has become.

Two days after the explosion on the Crimean Bridge on 8 October, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka announced his intention to form a joint regional military task force with Russia, which would be stationed in Belarus. He cited Ukraine's alleged plans for an attack as the reason for the move. This has renewed fears in Europe's press that Belarus could join Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Israel and Lebanon are officially at war with each other, but after years of negotiations the two countries have reached an agreement on offshore gas fields and therefore on where the maritime border between the two countries lies. According to Israeli sources, Lebanon is giving up its claims to the Karish gas field in exchange for access to the Qana gas field, a small part of which lies in Israeli waters. Israel will receive a percentage of the revenues in return.

The Catholic Church has been hit by a massive scandal in Portugal: an independent commission has gathered more than 400 testimonies of sex abuse which will be passed on to public prosecutors. Leading Portuguese bishops have apparently known about the crimes for years, but none has admitted any guilt so far. The national press voices outrage.