EUROPEAN HEADLINES
FT – Burundi coup leaders surrender. Chiefs fail to win wholesale support from the rest of military
WSJE – Aberdeen’s Oil Troubles Are Two-Fold: Prices Have Slid and North Sea Oil Is Running Out.Europe’s oil capital is a victim of the sharp drop in oil prices since last year
INYT – In British Election, Majority Vote Hides Fissures. After all the talk of coalitions and constructs, odd bedfellows and shotgun alliances, Britain seemed to revert to its political default: a single party, in this case the Conservatives, providing a majority government,
BALTIC STATES
Baltic Times – Baltics to formally ask NATO for thousands of permanent troops. Baltic States will formally ask NATO to deploy several thousand troops as a deterrent, Lithuanian representatives said on Thursday, as tensions with Russia over the conflict in eastern Ukraine continue.
FRANCE
Le Monde – Burindi Coup d’etat aborted. Situation remains unclear.General Godefroid Niyombare, who had taken advantage of the absence of President Pierre Nkurunziza to try to remove him has finally announced his surrender today.
Les Echos – Burundi – The leaders of the coup are still at large.Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi, said on Twitter that he was back in the country
GERMANY
Frankfurter Allgemeine – Assad: To be charged with crimes against humanity. Internationale investigators have compiled evidence for an indictment against Assad.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung – FDP: after disaster comes harmony. The party now appears as a close-knit grouping. The successes in Hamburg and Bremen are the latest evidence of its recovery.
ITALY
La Repubblica – Matarella:”Corruption is widespread: On migration – EU has historical responsibility, must respect its values ”
Il Sole 24 Ore – Foreign direct investment stages a comeback, but continues to elude the South. Italy is back on foreign investors’ radars after foreign direct investments (FDI) had almost fallen to zero in 2012, a year when the ghosts of default loomed large.
SPAIN
El Pais – Catalan nationalist parties outraged over order to take down flags. Central Electoral Commission issued a resolution ordering all ‘esteladas’ to be removed. Anti-independence group claims they affect neutrality ahead of municipal and regional polls.
Expansion – Election: On the hunt for undecided on social networks.
UK
The Times – Umunna quits race to lead Labour after just three days. He has withdrawn his bid to become to Labour’s new leader, throwing the contest to replace Ed Miliband wide open
The Guardian – Chuka Umunna withdraws from leadership contest. Says he is not “comfortable” with leadership pressure. Umunna has said the “added level of pressure” around a Labour party leadership bid was too much.
