Eurotopics.net

At a summit this week the eight Amazon nations declared their commitment to conserving the rainforest and demanded global financial assistance to this end. However, concrete targets for ending deforestation remain a matter for each individual state and there was no joint declaration on reducing coal, oil and gas production in the Amazon region. Europe's press voices disappointment and calls on industrialised countries to assume more responsibility.

The Economic Community of Western African States (Ecowas) will hold a meeting today to discuss how to react to the political situation in Niger. The coup plotters have refused to reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and the constitutional institutions. The military junta which is now in charge in Niger also ignored a deadline after which Ecowas had threatened with military intervention. Europe's press discusses what the West can do.

Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, co-founder and parliamentary spokesperson of Spain's far-right Vox party, has announced that he is leaving politics. Vox's performance in the general election on 23 July was very disappointing for the party, which ended up losing 19 seats. With his departure it loses one of its more moderate representatives. What does this mean for Vox and for Spain's party landscape?

The Russian currency has plunged to a record low. At the beginning of the year the rouble exchange rate was 76 per euro but in the last two months it has dropped from 89 to 106 roubles per euro. On the Moscow foreign exchange market the US dollar and the euro are currently trading at rates even higher than those triggered by the panic shortly after the war with Ukraine began. The main reason for the drop in value is the slump in foreign exchange revenues due to sanctions and increased imports.