Eurotopics.net

Following a heated public debate over his controversial photograph with Turkey's President Erdoğan, footballer Mesut Özil has quit the German national team. In a statement Özil harshly criticised the German Football Association citing racism and a lack of respect. Not all commentators believe the football world champion has done the right thing.

US President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon plans to establish a foundation to support European right-wing populists. According to the news website The Daily Beast, Bannon's objective is to instigate a "right-wing populist revolt". How should Europe react to Bannon's "The Movement"?

After the Novaya Gazeta newspaper released a video filmed in 2017 showing an inmate in a penal colony in the city of Yaroslavl being tortured by prison employees, the investigation into the incident, which had been closed, has been reopened. But this won't make any difference to the situation in Russia's prisons, commentators from the opposition predict.

They made a name for themselves by rescuing civilians from war zones in Syria, but now they are in danger: 422 members of the Syrian aid organisation White Helmets and their families have been rescued from the combat area in the south of Syria - by the Israeli army. The press reacts positively to the spectacular rescue of the rescuers.

At least 54 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in forest fires in the Athens area. An extended period of extreme heat and drought abetted by strong winds contributed to the rapid spread of the wildfires. The authorities have declared a state of emergency and are seeking international aid. Commentators see the state as partially responsible for the tragedy.