Der Tagesspiegel (Germany)

Amokläufer tötet 15 Menschen
Crazed gunman kills 15

I’d be surprised if any German newspaper leads with anything but this school shooting in the town of Winnendon.

Fifteen people, mainly girls, were shot by the gunman, leaving the country in a state of shock. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was visibly shaken as she addressed the nation, saying her thoughts were with the families of the victims.

Die Welt (Germany)
Tag der Trauer für ganz Deutschland
A day of mourning for all of Germany

Many of the papers were speculating on whether this was a copycat killing, given that a similar shootout took place in Alabama just hours earlier.

The copycat element makes you think perhaps the media should not cover these stories but how can you not?

Germany is trying to understand how and why this happened, in today’s press.

Hamburger Morgenpost (Germany)

Der Kinder-Killer
The child killer
 

This tabloid newspaper focuses on the youth of the killer. The 17-year-old died of a bullet wound. It is still unclear if he died by his own hand or if someone else shot him down.

Le Figaro (France)
Pourquoi Yvan Colonna a quitté son procès
Why Yvan Colonna left his trial

This is the story of a Corsican nationalist who is suspected of having killed the Governor (préfet) of the island of Corsica in 1998. In a UK context, this would be the equivalent of the Northern Secretary in Northern Ireland being killed by nationalists. It is arguably the most high level political assassination in the history of the Fifth Republic.

Yvan Colonna and his legal team have now decided not to participate in the trial which Colonna has labeled a "political trial" from the outset. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, when he was Minister of the Interior, said that Colonna was the assassin of the Governor of Corsica - a statement which clearly shows disregard for the presumption of innocence.

So the question now is can this trial continue without the participation of the original defense team and without the participation of the defendant himself?

Moscow Times (Russia)
Georgia’s Eurovision Entry Nixed

The Moscow Times has a story on Georgia, which has pulled out of the Eurovision Song Contest. The infamously kitsch contest is taking place in Moscow this year and in the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian War, Tblisi is suspected of continuing the conflict in a very different battlefield.

Russia has banned Georgia’s song, “We don’t wanna put in”, saying it refers to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and that it is overly political.

I personally think it should have been banned anyway because the lyrics are so bad. In fact, I think that the first line, which makes no grammatical sense anyway, is just the beginning of the problem. Here’s the chorus in it’s entirety. You can judge for yourself!

We don’t wanna Put In
Cos negative move
It’s killin’ the groove
I’m gonna try to shoot in
Some disco tonight
Boggie with you

L’Equipe (France)
Désespérant
Despair

It was probably a safe bet that Lyon would lose to Barcelona in the final 16 of the Champions League. Nevertheless, French football is licking its wounds after a humiliating 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Spanish side. Lyon never came close to Barcelona’s talent and excellence, the paper says.

Ironically, Frenchman Thierry Henry was key to the downfall of the French side. He scored twice for Barcelona in the first half hour.