From hope trips to death trips
In the past, the Italian media was moved by "hope trips" – stories of people travelling abroad seeking medical treatment unavailable at home. Today, medical emigration follows another trend, ending rather than prolonging life. Turin daily La Stampa reports on the case of Salvatore Cristafulli, 45, who after two years in a coma following a car accident in 2003, is paraplegic. Promised home care that was never provided, family members have chosen a shock solution – to take him to Belgium where euthanasia is practised. The Catholic Church has voiced oppostion to the plan, while Italian health authorities have immediately pledged to provide the assistance so far denied. The story, however, launches a debate about interpretations of the Italian constitution regarding biological testament, which recognizes the right of every person to decide, even against medical advice, whether or not to be subjected to a given treatment.
In a time of crisis with high unemployment, young Lithuanians are following in the footsteps of their emigrant ancestors. Tens of thousands have left the country in search of a better life, mainly in the British Isles and Scandinavia. The weekly Veidas reports: 
The new Eurogroup meeting on February 9 is not enough to banish the spectre of a Greek bankruptcy. While Athens may largely be responsible for the crisis, the EU and its partners are not blameless themselves. La Stampa argues that their confused messages and the absence of any strategy have transformed a resolvable problem into an explosive chaos. 
Two camps, two theories, and two visions of France: 18 years after the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis, the precise role played by Paris is still the subject of heated debate, fueled by the findings of successive criminal investigations.