Eurotopics.net

The German government has just agreed on a major health reform which foresees, among other things, increased patient contributions for medicines and restrictions on family insurance coverage. This comes at a time when Chancellor Friedrich Merz's popularity has dropped to 15 percent, according to a recent Forsa poll, and a survey by public broadcaster ARD found that 81 percent of the population think wealth is unfairly distributed in Germany.

The president of the Portuguese parliament, José Aguiar-Branco, caused a furore during a parliamentary ceremony marking the anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. He made a speech in which he complained that politicians were now required to disclose every detail of their private lives. Socialist MP Pedro Delgado Alves saw this as mockery of the parliament's ethical rules and demonstratively turned his back.

Forty years ago, Chernobyl, which was still part of the USSR at the time, was the site of the worst accident in the history of nuclear energy. A series of technical errors caused the reactor in Block 4 to explode on 26 April 1986. The leaked radioactivity spread across the whole of Europe and can still be detected today – in mushrooms, the bodies of wild animals and the forest floor. Commentators discuss the use of nuclear energy, then and now.

US President Donald Trump, his wife Melania Trump and several members of his administration had to be escorted to safety after shots were fired at the annual Correspondents' Dinner in Washington at the weekend. A 31-year-old man who was reportedly carrying a shotgun, a handgun and several knives has been arrested. Commentators examine the ramifications of the attack.