Eurotopics.net

US President Trump is apparently intent on further escalating the conflict with Iran: after Tehran announced it would retaliate for the US's killing of high-ranking General Soleimani, Trump threatened to destroy Iranian cultural sites. Several European countries are now urging steps to de-escalate the situation. The confrontation doesn't bode well for transatlantic relations, Europe's press observes.

The high-ranking Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was killed in Baghdad by a US airstrike on the night of January 2. The Iranian regime has threatened to retaliate, to which US President Trump has responded by announcing further strikes. Europe's press discusses whether the situation will escalate and whether Iran would be in a position to wage war against the US.

Zoran Milanović won against incumbent president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in the second round of the presidential election in Croatia. The candidate for the social democratic SDP secured almost 53 percent of the vote while his rival from the conservative HDZ gained 47 percent. Europe's journalists say the election sends a powerful message at several levels.

A statue of the Swedish football star Zlatan Ibrahimović in Malmö was sawn off at the ankles and toppled by unidentified persons on Saturday night. The sculpture had already been vandalised on previous occasions. The Malmö-born footballer's announcement that he is becoming a shareholder in Stockholm's first division club Hammarby IF apparently triggered this latest attack. Was this the dangerous overreaction of angry fans or a welcome boost for Zlatan?

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into child abuse against writer Gabriel Matzneff following the release of a book by publisher Vanessa Springora. In her book, Springora accuses Matzneff of forcing her into a sexual relationship when she was 14 and he was 50. In the past Matzneff made no secret of the fact that he was attracted to minors. What do the media have to say about the affair?