Eurotopics.net

The situation could certainly be easier for the newly inaugurated 46th US president: Joe Biden is taking over a politically destabilised and economically weakened nation that is in the grips of a pandemic. Europe's press sees Biden and his team facing a whole series of urgent challenges.

The withdrawal of Matteo Renzi and his party from the governing coalition will not prompt new elections in Italy for the time being. The Senate gave Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte a vote of confidence on Tuesday, and the Chamber of Deputies followed suit. With 156 votes, however, Conte fell short of an absolute majority. Commentators are both relieved and disappointed.

One day after Navalny's arrest, his team has released a full-scale investigative documentary on Putin's wealth, including a bombastic palace of jaw-dropping luxury in Gelendzhik on the Black Sea and the corruption schemes that financed it. Navalny is making a risky gamble, commentators find, and see the confrontation between him and Putin coming to a head.

The Trump presidency comes to an end at midday on 20 January (Washington time). Two weeks after the storming of the Capitol he is leaving the White House with his popularity ratings at an all-time low. He will not be attending the inauguration of his successor. Some commentators would like Trump and his presidency to simply be forgotten; others warn that this is precisely what should not happen.