Eurotopics.net

The 30th World Climate Conference (COP30) ended on Saturday in Belém, Brazil. A voluntary platform outside the COP committees to speed up progress on climate protection and a new rainforest protection fund were set up, but no consensus on an action plan was reached. Concrete targets for moving away from coal, oil and gas also failed to materialise. Europe's press takes stock.

Spain's Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz has been barred from holding public office for two years and sentenced to pay a fine of 7,200 euros for leaking confidential information. He must also pay 10,000 euros in damages to businessman Alberto González Amador, the partner of Madrid Regional President Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP). Ortiz was found guilty of leaking an email that incriminated Amador.

The 28-point plan drawn up by Russian and US negotiators to end the war in Ukraine has now been presented to Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky has announced that he will work with the US on the plan to achieve a "dignified end to the war". US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the document as a "list of potential ideas" rather than a final proposal. EU Foreign Affairs Representative Kaja Kallas has warned that the Europeans must be involved in the negotiations to ensure that the plan can work.

The US is upping the pressure on Venezuela and its leader Nicolás Maduro. In recent weeks, the US military has killed at least 80 people in attacks on speedboats that Washington claims were transporting drugs. The US Navy's largest aircraft carrier has now arrived in the area. Europe's media see military intervention as a distinct possibility and draw historical comparisons.