Eurotopics.net

A few countries have eased their Covid restrictions in recent days: in the Czech Republic, Ireland and France, stores and restaurants are allowed to open once more and people can spend more time in public spaces. But commentators are far from relieved.

Iranian physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, said to be one of the architects of Iran's nuclear programme, was shot dead in his car near Tehran on Saturday. It remains unclear who was behind the assassination; Iran's foreign minister has accused Israel, while other authorities have been more cautious in their statements. Commentators analyse the potential motives and repercussions of the attack.

France saw more protests and rioting this weekend against a proposed security law aimed at restricting the filming of police in action. Hundreds of thousands of people came together to protest on Saturday, further incensed by a police attack on music producer Michel Zecler in his studio on Thursday that was documented by a surveillance camera.

In Switzerland, the Responsibile Business Initiative was narrowly defeated on Sunday. While 50.7 percent voted for Swiss companies that violate human rights and environmental standards abroad to be held accountable under civil law in their home country, the majority of Swiss cantons (including almost all the German-speaking ones) rejected the initiative.

Due to the high number of infections in the Romanian district of Constanța, the authorities banned the annual pilgrimage to Saint Andrew's Cave on November 30. However, the Orthodox Archbishop Teodosie of Tomis opposed the ban and on the weekend called on the faithful to come to the pilgrimage site to be healed.