In the Czech Republic, parliament survives a no-confidence vote
The Czech parliament survived a no-confidence vote on Wednesday over the handling of disputes between President Petr Pavel and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka.
Pavel accused Macinka of blackmailing him for not appointing government minister Filip Turek — a member of the right-wing party, Motorists for Themselves — to the position of environment minister. The president cited Turek’s past racist, sexist and homophobic behavior online as reasoning for his decision.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, a member of the right-wing populist party ANO and ally to Motorists for Themselves, has so far dismissed opposition calls to remove Macinka, who has declined to issue an apology.
The vote was requested by opposition parties including the Civic Democrats, TOP 09 and the Mayors and Independents, who lost 84 to 99, falling short of the 101-vote requirement to replace Babiš. Some members of both coalitions were absent from the session.
Tens of thousands of citizens gathered at Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square on Sunday to demonstrate their support for Pavel, holding Czech, Ukrainian and European Union flags and holding signs that read “Long Live Pavel.”
“We reject the idea that we are making empty gestures here,” TOP 09 chairman Matej Ondrej Havel said. “The crowded squares on Sunday showed that civil society is not satisfied with Minister Macinka’s unprecedented blackmailing of the president.”
Motorists for Themselves are eurosceptic and anti-environment, rejecting the European Green Deal and pushing for policies expanding coal use. Last month, Babiš also faced a vote of no-confidence over his reluctance to provide financial aid to Ukraine.
In Italy, a church painting resembling the prime minister sparks backlash
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is facing backlash after reports of a Roman church painting of a cherub displaying uncanny similarity to her were released over the weekend.
The cherub, located in the Basilica of St. Lawrence’s Chapel of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, was restored in December as part of water damage repairs. Meloni posted a picture of the painting on Instagram, writing, “No, I definitely don’t look like an angel 🤣.”
Cultural minister Alessandro Giuli ordered the Special Superintendency of Rome — which is responsible for the city’s archaeological and historic heritage sites — to investigate whether the resemblance was intentional.
“The Superintendency has initiated archival research to identify documentation, photographic or project drawings, of the original painting in the chapel of the Crucifix in San Lorenzo in Lucina, created in 2000,” the office of Daniela Porro, who serves as the head of the superintendency, told CNN. “The research is aimed at comparing it with the current decoration resulting from the restoration that took place in 2025.”
Bruno Valentinetti, who restored the painting, rejected claims that he intentionally made the cherub resemble Meloni, having completed the work as a volunteer. On Tuesday, he erased her face at the request of Vatican administrators.
In Germany, regulators fine Amazon for price controls
German antitrust regulators fined Amazon $70 million after determining that the company’s filters on pricing for third-party vendors violate the EU’s competition laws.
The Federal Cartel Office objected to restrictions including Amazon’s pricing cap for third-party sellers, deeming it “based on nontransparent rules.”
“Influencing its competitors’ pricing, including through price caps, is only permissible in the most exceptional cases, such as in the event of excessive pricing,” Andreas Mundt, the agency’s president, told Barron’s.
Because Amazon sells its own branded goods on its platform in addition to hosting third-party vendors, whose products make up 60% of products sold on its website, the cartel office deemed the company’s control of the order in which products are listed as uncompetitive. Prices that its algorithm deems too high are either removed from the listing completely or pushed downwards to the “See all buying options” or “Other sellers on Amazon” sections.
“We will vigorously challenge the FCO’s conclusion, which is based on unique German regulation and directly conflicts with EU competition law consumer standards,” Amazon’s country manager for Germany Rocco Bräuniger said in a statement. “As a result of this decision, Amazon would be the only retailer in Germany forced to promote uncompetitive prices to customers, which makes no sense for customers, selling partners or competition.”
Contact Justin Yen at [email protected].