Domestic violence

The killing of two women by their partners in Barcelona on Monday prompts a Spanish daily to call for action to confront domestic violence.

"Domestic violence in Spain is reaching epidemic figures," says Barcelona's La Vanguardia.

Confronting domestic violence is an issue which affects society as a whole La Vanguardia

The paper notes that over 40 women have been killed in domestic violence so far this year, and more than 300 in the past four years.

"Confronting domestic violence is an issue which affects society as a whole, from the government, the judiciary, the police, opinion formers and teachers, to the whole family," it says.

In Madrid, El Pais calls on the government to ensure that the planned protection measures are not "just another provision which are a legal marvel on paper but are completely inefficient in practice."

Crime and punishment

Violence of another kind prompts debate in two German dailies.

Berliner Zeitung says the threat of torture used during the questioning of law student Magnus Gaefgen, who was on Monday jailed for life for murdering the son of the head one of the country's oldest private banks, will continue to make waves for some time to come.

The paper argues that in view of the police tactics used it is doubtful whether Mr Gaefgen should have been sentenced at all for kidnapping and then murdering 11-year-old Jakob von Metzler.

The rule of law has suffered enormous damage Sueddeutsche Zeitung

It voices concern that in a debate about the issue many commentators has eroded the absolute ban on the use of torture.

"If at some point in the future historians and lawyers were to study the question of when a different, colder, more repressive judicial climate could first be felt in Germany," it says, "then, among other places, they will find material in newspaper archives in the form of articles about the 'torture debate' in the Metzler case."

Sueddeutsche Zeitung says the rule of law has suffered "enormous damage" as a result of the debate.

But the paper believes that the court was right to disregard the torture threat when it sentenced Mr Gaefgen because he repeated his confession in court.

"The punishment fits the crime," it says, adding that it sends out a message that people are responsible for what they do.

"The fact that police interrogators resorted to dubious means does not change this fact," it argues.

France's devastating fires...

"Fire kills in southern France", reads the main front-page headline in France's Le Figaro.

Two charred bodies were found in the Maures mountain range in south-east France after a forest fire broke out in the area, the paper explains.

"There is no end to the fires which are devastating the Mediterranean region," the paper laments, adding that a mistral wind is fanning the flames of forest fires which have been raging in Provence and Corsica for weeks.

... and Slovakia's droughts

A commentator in Slovakia's Sme has little sympathy for calls by the agricultural lobby for additional government subsides following this summer's severe droughts.

A number of opposition politicians and business leaders have called for the state budget to be readjusted to avoid possible food shortage and laying off agricultural workers, it says.

Droughts are not like meteorites - they are a phenomenon that can be reliably expected and for which every manager can prepare SME

"Workers in Slovakia are laid off and businesses are closed down on a daily basis. Why should farmers be an exception?" it asks angrily.

"Agriculture is a business and as such it carries some risk. Droughts are not like meteorites - they are a phenomenon that can be reliably expected and for which every manager can prepare," it says.

'End of ice age'

In neighbouring Austria, papers welcomes Israel's announcement that it is ready to restore full diplomatic relations with Vienna.

"End of Vienna-Jerusalem ice age", reads a headline in Die Presse.

The daily notes that in 2000 Israel recalled its ambassador from Vienna over the participation of the far-right Freedom Party in the Austrian Government.

It welcomes the move but sees no reason for what it calls "special gestures of gratitude".

"After all, by keeping its ambassador in Israel, Austria has been making a unilateral advance concession over the last three years," it explains.

The paper believes that one of the reasons for Israel's decision is its "unprecedented international isolation".

Noting that "even the US president is openly critical", the paper concludes that "Israel is in fact well-advised not to try to exclude others".

A grisly image

An article in Komsomolskaya Pravda says an artist in Tula Region has proposed to paint a fresco of Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov slaying a corrupt policeman on the wall of all the ministry's district offices.

"Boris Gryzlov slaying a policeman-'werewolf'", is the proposed title of an image which would depict the minister on a horse - like St George the Victorious on icons - with a lance in his hand, piercing a policeman-werewolf.

"What should the police bosses do? It is a catch-22 situation", the paper muses.

"To refuse means to indirectly express distrust in the great state initiative to expose corrupt policemen. But to agree would mean to become a laughing stock for people visiting Interior Ministry district offices."

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.