Eurotopics.net

Infection numbers are rising rapidly across Europe and breaking previous records in many countries. Politicians warn that without more discipline new lockdowns are inevitable. The WHO's special envoy on Covid-19, David Nabarro, has now explicitly warned against this, saying that governments would do better to use other means to combat the pandemic. Europe's press discusses the dilemma.

In the run-up to the US presidential elections on November 3, the polls show the presidential challenger Joe Biden with a substantial lead against Donald Trump in some states. While some observers are already looking at how Trump would react to defeat, others voice doubts about the reliability of the polls.

Across Europe, Covid-19 infection rates are reaching and even exceeding the levels of last spring. Policymakers are responding with more stringent measures such as making masks compulsory outdoors or closing bars and cafés. A debate is raging in the media about whether politicians are to blame or whether the current situation is a result of the fact that the state can ultimately do nothing without the cooperation of its citizens.

The 77-year-old author and English professor Louise Glück has been named as this year's recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. In announcing its decision the Swedish Academy cited Glück's unmistakable poetic voice, noting how it transposes individual existence into universal experience. While some commentators take a similar view, others lament a lack of political relevance in the laureate's work.

The Prime Minister of the internationally unrecognised Republic of North Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, opened Varosha beach to visitors on Thursday - a provocation for the Cypriot government: the former holiday paradise has been a ghost town ever since the Greek Cyriot inhabitants fled from Turkish troops during the 1974 conflict in Cyprus. In the Turkish-occupied part of the island a new president is to be elected on Sunday, with Tatar competing against incumbent Mustafa Akıncı.