Israelis elects a new parliament today. Following the devastating Hamas massacre on 7 October 2023 and three years of war, a deeply polarised country will decide which direction its politics take. According to polls, it looks set to be a close race between Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing religious bloc and the more moderate opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot, former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has narrowly won the presidential election in Brazil. His victory against Flávio Bolsonaro is making waves across the globe. How will Lula's fourth non-consecutive term impact relations with the US, Europe and China? And what does his re-election mean for global climate action? The international press sizes up Brazil's future role in global politics.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration is pushing former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán as a candidate for the post of UN Secretary-General. There is speculation that Orbán could even be nominated as a joint candidate by the US, Russia and China. The reports have sparked a lively debate among commentators in Hungary.

Israelis elects a new parliament today. Following the devastating Hamas massacre on 7 October 2023 and three years of war, a deeply polarised country will decide the direction its politics should take. According to the polls it looks set to be a close race between Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing religious bloc and the more moderate opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot, the former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces.

The grassroots Student List movement, which stood for the first time for election, has won a clear victory in Serbia's snap election, securing 54 percent of the vote and thus an absolute majority in the parliament. Former President Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat. Europe's media assess the challenges and the foreign policy implications of the change of government in Belgrade.

The Czech Republic's governing parties passed a bill on Friday night reforming the funding of the country's public service broadcasters. Under the new legislation, radio stations and TV channels will see their funding cut by 15 percent – and the money will no longer come from licence fees but from the state budget. The opposition has described the reform as an attack on freedom of expression and protests have been held in Prague and other cities.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has narrowly won Sunday's runoff vote for the Brazilian presidency. The left-wing incumbent president secured 51.8 percent of the valid votes while his right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro received 48.2 percent. Commentators ask what direction the country will take during Lula's fourth term in office.

Israelis will elect a new parliament next Tuesday. The main issues in the campaign are foreign and security policy, mistakes regarding the 2023 Hamas attack, military service for ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews, and high inflation. The right-wing religious bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the more moderate forces led by former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces Gadi Eisenkot are neck-and-neck in the polls.

A serious security vulnerability in the PHP programming language has set off alarm bells worldwide. Government agencies, hospitals and universities have taken their websites offline as a precaution, while cybercriminals have made millions of attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities. Around 70 percent of the world's websites use PHP. Commentators discuss the role of AI in both detecting and exploiting such security flaws.

Following the meeting between Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg, talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US are set to resume. However, Witkoff describing Putin as a "humanitarian" during the meeting has drawn criticism even from US Republicans. The press looks at who stands to benefit from Trump's attempts at mediation.

Relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan appear to have deteriorated sharply. A speech delivered at a party conference in which President Ilham Aliyev emphasised his country's independence has been interpreted as an attack on Ankara. A ban on headscarves in Azerbaijani schools has met with sharp criticism in Turkey, and now Baku has imposed entry bans on 31 Turkish nationals.

Following the meeting between Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg, talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US are set to resume. Witkoff's description of Putin as a "humanitarian" has also drawn criticism, even among US Republicans. The press is asks who stands to benefit from Trump's attempts at mediation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin received Donald Trump's chief negotiator on Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday. According to Moscow, it was agreed that trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US would resume. Witkoff had met with European representatives and Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo before heading to Saint Petersburg. The media discuss the prospects of a peaceful resolution against the backdrop of Trump's new hard line on Ukraine.

School pupils and university students are taking to the streets in France, and protesters rioted and looted businesses in Milan, prompting Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to deploy troops to the city. High rents, social inequality and a lack of prospects are fuelling discontent. Commentators look at whether politicians should crack down further or introduce reforms to address the problems of the younger generation.

Libya's eastern parliament has unanimously approved the maritime border agreement that the Government of National Accord signed with Turkey in 2019, five years after rejecting it in 2020. This means it is now recognised by both parts of the country. The European Commission does not recognise the deal, which redefines territorial boundaries, and has backed Greece and Cyprus, which consider the agreement unlawful.

According to media reports, the VW Group is planning a five-year wage freeze in the face of significant overcapacities and weak sales figures. Its 660,000 employees across the globe fear further cuts as a result of the austerity measures, and trade unions are threatening with strikes. Europe's press debates whether VW CEO Oliver Blume's tough measures are necessary or will only exacerbate the carmaker's problems.

In a bid to prevent further violence and looting after the widespread unrest on the weekend, curfews have been imposed in certain areas of major cities across France. Meanwhile, the Yellow Vests movement has announced new demonstrations for Saturday in protest at the high cost of living. As the 2027 presidential election draws closer, the media discuss the political and economic consequences of the unrest.

A meeting between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping could take place in China on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November. The plan has stoked fear in Europe that these major powers will conduct negotiations without consulting Ukraine and its allies. Commentators discuss the dangers of a redrawing of spheres of influence and the consequences for European security.

After three unsuccessful attempts, the independent diplomat Luca Niculescu was elected as Romania's new prime minister on Tuesday. In the parliamentary vote in Bucharest, 280 MPs voted for the 55-year-old and 58 against. He will now head a minority government, with 12 of the 18 ministerial posts going to the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and 6 to independent technocrats.

Mass demonstrations and protests have taken place in countries across Europe in recent days, staged for the most part by young people. In many cases there have been outbreaks of violence and looting, with property being set on fire in France and Albania. Europe's media examines the causes.