Eurotopics.net

Italy's new prime minister Mario Draghi presented his government programme on Wednesday. Draghi announced that he would fight the crisis "with all the means at his disposal". In his first major speech to Parliament, he also focused on long-term reform plans for the economy and administration. Most commentators respond positively to the new PM's address.

Spanish rapper Pablo Hasél was arrested and taken to jail on Tuesday after being sentenced to nine months' behind bars for glorifying terrorism and insulting the monarchy. In the lyrics of one of his songs, Hasél had called Spain's former king Juan Carlos a thief and a mafia boss, and called for right-wing politicians to be shot. Is the prison sentence justified?

With over four million infections and more than 117,000 deaths, Britain is one of the countries most severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, and its crisis management has been widely criticised. But now the UK is taking the lead in terms of vaccination: 90 percent of the over-70s have already received the jab, prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to promise a "cautious but irreversible" lockdown lifting.

A court in the Netherlands on Tuesday found in favour of the anti-lockdown campaign group Viruswaarheid (Virus Truth) and ruled that the nighttime curfew imposed by the government was illegal. The group's leader argues that Covid-19 is no more dangerous than the flu and has drawn comparisons between coronavirus containment measures and the persecution of the Jews. The government is appealing the decision and its case will be heard on Friday. But for observers, its cause is already lost.