The paper clip, 25 January

The dominant news in the European papers is yesterday's terror attack on Moscow's biggest airport, Domodedovo. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung report that a German was among the 33 or more fatalities. Sme and Pravda report that Slovaks were among those killed in the terror attack in Moscow. Sme headlines the survival of several Slovak actors. The Guardian reports that a British citizen was among the eight non-Russians killed in the suicide bomb attack. The Daily Telegraph writes that Russian security forces were expecting a terrorist attack a week before the suicide bombing. Belgium's De Morgen says the current casualty figure is at least 35 people dead and 180 people injured. The French newspapers, including Le Monde and Le Figaro, also have reports. In an opinion piece, Libération criticises Russian authorities for its record on human rights in the Caucasus. 

On its front page, Le Figaro reports on Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who yesterday presented the agenda of the G20 summit, which he is to chair. Sarkozy wants a crackdown on speculators in the commodities markets who drive up prices. The newspaper says it is up to Sarkozy to defend the “French vision” in the face of the “Anglo-Saxons” and the free marketers. 

José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, has met Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan and one of Central Asia's most brutal dictators, Die Presse writes.

Népszabadság and HVG give prominence to the European Commission's serious doubts about the compatibility of Hungary's media law with European law.

The Irish Times reports that the Irish government and opposition parties have set a timetable for agreeing a new finance bill by this weekend ahead of elections that have been brought forward to 25 February. Brian Cowen, Ireland's prime minister, was forced to call early elections after the Green party withdrew its support for the government. The finance bill will set out a package of measures to ensure Ireland qualifies for a €67.5 billion rescue package from the EU and the International Monetary Fund. 

The Spanish government has threatened to nationalise banks that do not raise their core capital to 8% of their risk-weighted assets, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Financial Times write.

The EU has shied away from deep reforms of the eurozone, instead focusing its attention on marginal questions such as the exact size of its stability fund, a commentator in Austria's Der Standard writes.

Italy's Repubblica carries an interview with Albania's Prime Minister Sali Berisha, in which he argues that protests that resulted in three deaths on Friday amounted to a coup attempt.

HVG writes that warring factions within the far-right Hungarian party Jobbik may have reached a truce.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that EU member states will miss their target to achieve 20% improvement in energy efficiency by 2020. The article says that Germany is on track to achieve a cut in energy consumption of only 12.8% by 2020. Only Malta is expected to exceed the 20% figure while Austria is forecast to reduce consumption by 19.8%.

Sme has another revelation about cut-price sales of emissions permits to well-placed people in Slovakia.

Doubts are growing among the smaller Green and Christian Union parties over supporting a Dutch police training mission in Afghanistan. Support of the two parties, which totals 15 seats, will be crucial to securing enough votes to back the mission. Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, needs the support of opposition parties to approve the mission in parliament. The larger opposition parties, including the centre-left Labour Party and the anti-immigrant Freedom Party, have both said they are opposed to the mission, writes de Volkskrant.

Norbert Darabos, Austria's centre-left defence minister, has sacked the chief of staff of Austria's armed forces, Die Presse writes. Darabos has come under intense criticism, including from his own ranks, for his handling of internal dissent on plans to introduce a professional army.

Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that the office of Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, is putting pressure on Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Germany's defence minister, to go further in plans to reform the German military and achieve savings of €8.3 billion. Zu Guttenberg is being urged to make deeper cuts in senior management and close more bases to deliver cost reductions. An article in Die Welt describes the situation in the defence ministry as “chaotic”.

Diário de Notícias leads with the worsening terms for overtime for doctors and nurses in Portugal, and a clash between unions and the government.

Handelsblatt reports that Siemens, the technology and engineering company, has recorded its best quarter in its history. The company made a profit of €1.79 billion in October-December last year and had a turnover of €19.5bn in the first quarter of 2010/11.

Supporters of Lebanon's outgoing prime minister, Saad Hariri, are saying a coup is unde rway by Hezbollah, a radical Shia group backed by Iran and Syria, the Daily Star writes. Najib Mikati was nominated yesterday as the new prime minister with Hezbollah's backing and is expected to gain a majority in parliament today. The International Herald Tribune reports on the protests that have greeted Mikati's nomination, and provides background on Lebanon's fractured politics. The US has suggested it might stop aid to Lebanon should Hezbollah take control, Ha'aretz writes.

Libération also looks at a report on schools and the lives of pupils commissioned by the French government. It found that the school day, among the longest in Europe, is “too long and tiring” for most children, the four-day week in primary schools is “inadequate” and children spend too much of their time at home watching television.

Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza gives its front page to the attack in Moscow. On its website, it also highlights a Facebook campaign – “3 February, a Smolensk-free day” – called to divert some public attention away from the crash in Smolensk last April in which President Lech Kaczynski was killed. The group say that public discourse is overly dominated by the tragedy.