Eurotopics.net

The BBC is under fire again after the resignation of its Director General Tim Davie. US President Trump has now threatened to sue for one billion dollars in damages following allegations that the British broadcaster misleadingly edited a speech he gave shortly before the storming of the Capitol for one of its documentary programmes. What does the crisis say about the BBC and public service media?

After a pause of more than 30 years, nuclear weapons tests are once again under discussion in Washington and Moscow: Donald Trump has announced that the US will resume testing of nuclear weapons following claims from Russia that it had successfully tested two new nuclear-powered missile systems. Whether Trump was referring to nuclear warheads remains unclear. Putin responded by announcing that Russia would also examine its options for nuclear weapons tests.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been released from prison after around three weeks behind bars. A Paris court approved the 70-year-old's request for release pending appeal. Sarkozy described his time in prison as "very tough". He was convicted at the end of September in a trial over illegal campaign financing, but had lodged an appeal.

The conservative government in Lisbon wants to implement labour market reforms that would restrict workers' rights and the right to strike. For the first time since the sovereign debt crisis and the so-called "troika years" (2011-2014), the two major trade union confederations, CGTP and UGT, have now jointly called for a general strike.

Following the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán last Friday in Washington, a White House representative announced that Hungary had been exempted from the US sanctions against Russia's energy sector for the time being. Commentators discuss the reasons for the exemption and its potential impact on next year's parliamentary elections in Hungary.