Eurotopics.net

Following Saudi Arabia's admission that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed, US President Donald Trump continues to exercise restraint in his criticism of Riyadh. According to the Saudi royal family the journalist was killed during a fight that broke out in the consulate in Istanbul, but Turkish investigators still suspect he was murdered in a planned attack. Should the US defend human rights or act in the interest of good business relations?

Hundreds of thousands of people - the organisers claim more than 600,000 turned out - demonstrated for a second Brexit referendum in the People's Vote March in London on the weekend. Prior to the march Prime Minister Theresa May made it clear that she would oppose a second Brexit vote. Where is Britain headed?

The PiS won the most votes in regional elections in Poland on Sunday. According to exit polls the ruling party won 32 percent of the vote, gaining five percentage points compared to the last elections four years ago. Commentators explain why PiS leader Kaczyński and his team can't celebrate a complete victory.

The EU Commission has responded with criticism to Rome's draft budget and said it expects an explanation for the high level of new debt envisaged by Monday afternoon. If the Commission is not satisfied with the answer it will probably ask Rome to come up with a new version within three weeks. Europe's commentators make varying recommendations as to how Brussels should deal with the situation.

Eleven European countries have been deprived of taxes to the tune of 55.2 billion euros due to dividend-stripping schemes. The scale of this kind of deal in which packages of shares are unlawfully shoved back and forth in order to gain dividends is far greater than previously known. For commentators it's clear who will pay the price.