The European Union may be about to elect its "most right-wing parliament in history", said CNBC. Voters in 27 nations this week will choose 720 members for five-year terms in the EU Parliament, and as with much of the rest of the world, the results are expected to reflect a surge of nationalist anti-immigrant sentiment.

What did the commentators say? 
The expected far-right surge looks set to make the next European parliament "more polarised and fragmented than ever", said Ivan Krastev in the Financial Times. But newly empowered right-wing groups may only push their luck so far. Many on Europe's far-right have been "shaped by the failure of Brexit" and are haunted by a fear of "being forced to deliver on their radical promises". Infighting may also limit their effectiveness.

Some observers are less sanguine. "I'm a brown, Muslim European," said Shada Islam in The Guardian. "For people like me, these EU elections are terrifying." The far-right parties, even if they now wear friendlier faces, are still backed by "unashamedly racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic" politicians. "This is a sad and sobering moment for all progressive Europeans."

The elections come during Europe's largest armed conflict since the Second World War and could "test the durability of the Western coalition that is backing Ukraine against Russian aggression", said the Council on Foreign Relations. As the stakes rise, EU officials say Russia is behind a disinformation campaign targeting the elections. "Before with trolls and bots, there was usually a person behind it," a researcher told Reuters. "With AI, everything has multiplied."

What next?
The election is likely to leave European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with a dilemma. She will need 361 votes from the parliament's next crop of members to secure another term, but may not be able to get there without support from one of the far-right parties. 

Italy's Giorgia Meloni is already presenting herself as a kingmaker. Von der Leyen has "signalled that she may look for allies on the hard right to gather enough votes", said The New York Times. "But such a move would risk alienating center-left forces on which she has also depended."

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Madrí Excepcional beer is "as Spanish as it comes", said The Telegraph.

The logo is "a man adorned in the distinctive 19th-century chulapo style associated with the Spanish capital", and the bottle "features the phrase el alma de Madrid – the soul of Madrid".

Yet the beer is brewed in the Yorkshire town of Tadcaster, by Molson Coors, prompting accusations of dishonesty from an actual Spanish beer boss.

'Duped and cheated'
Aitor de Artaza, international managing director of Estrella Galicia, criticised the makers of Madrí for using "a big famous city in Spain" for marketing, even though "they don't produce here", which is "confusing for the consumer". The rival brewer had done a "nice job" in terms of "marketing", he said, "but it's a little bit tricky because people think they are drinking a Spanish beer". 

"They are not very clear and not, to my point of view, very honest," he told the paper.

Southpaw, a creative agency that worked with Estrella Galicia, told The Grocer last year that beer lovers were "starting to get really upset about being duped and cheated by big British-brewed brands masquerading as Spanish beers". These brewers are just "noisy pretenders", the agency said.

'Summer of Madrí'
Defending its Spanish credentials, Molson Coors said that Madrí was made "in collaboration" with La Sagra, a brewery near Madrid, but that brewing the beer in the UK was more environmentally friendly than importing it.

Madrí is certainly not the first British beer to claim affinity with the Continent. These sorts of lagers "sound like they're from Spain or Italy", said Time Out, with their "loud, brightly coloured labels" that "make you think of long days in the sun, crunching on little bowls of olives and manchego". And "when you sip them in a pub garden you forget all about the woes of the UK". But "sorry, people, you've been had".

Yet "any qualms about authenticity", said The Telegraph, "have not hindered the remarkable rise of Madrí", which recently topped £100 million in UK supermarket sales, less than four years after launching. "Like it or not," added the paper, "this is the summer of Madrí and it will be some time before Britain's taste for the 'soul of Madrid' fades." 

Would you go to southeast London to have Helena Bonham Carter murmur a "gothic bedtime yarn" in your ear? That's basically what's on offer at immersive theatre company Punchdrunk's latest show, "Viola's Room", said Nick Curtis in the London Evening Standard.

Small groups of "barefoot punters" are led through an otherworldly "labyrinth of corridors and antechambers", as the actor's "honeyed voice" pours through headphones, narrating the story of an orphaned princess, Viola.

The show takes place at Punchdrunk's London venue in the former Woolwich Arsenal buildings. The eerie tale, written by Booker-shortlisted novelist Daisy Johnson, is based on Barry Pain's 1901 short story "The Moon-Slave". As her wedding to Prince Hugo edges closer, Viola slips away to dance under the "moon's spell".

"The original story is quite slight," said Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times, but the creative team have pulled off a show that is both "haunting and mysterious". Everything comes together to create a compelling experience that feels akin to "falling through a disturbing dream".

Directed by Punchdrunk's Felix Barrett, along with Hector Harkness, the "darkly alluring production" floats delicately between "fairytale, children's game and nightmare", said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian.

Audience members roam through "exquisitely detailed" rooms peppered with "dazzling" miniature models and silhouette cut-outs.

Despite being "barely an hour long", the show inspires so much "puzzling wonder" that you'll want to dive straight back in, immersing yourself once again in Viola's dream-like world.

At One Cartridge Place, London, until 18 August

The seismic radicalism of Nigel Farage
Jason Cowley for The New Statesman
Nigel Farage is behind only Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair as the "most consequential politician of the last 50 years", says Jason Cowley. Reform UK's new leader "relishes the game of politics, delights in the outrage he causes and means what he says: the Conservatives have betrayed their voters and the country". And in this "turbulent and volatile" political era, Farage will be "waiting among the ruins" if a Labour government fails.

Don't forget the role of stupidity in the debate about Israel
Stephen Pollard for The Jewish Chronicle
"I've long been convinced that we underplay the role of stupidity in public life," writes Stephen Pollard. When it comes to politics, the idea that "someone might act in a certain way because they are basically an idiot is rarely, if ever, cited". Yet since 7 October, social media has been "full of examples of jaw-dropping ignorance" about Israel, and though "I don't suggest that the entire pro-Palestine movement is stupid", some of the minds they win are "very stupid indeed".

Why India's election results bring hope, even in defeat
Apoorvanand for Al Jazeera
Indian voters have not given the BJP the "absolute mandate it wanted", writes academic and commentator Apoorvanand. Instead, they have "given back meaning to democracy" and reaffirmed that it is "opposed to the complete dominance of one idea and one voice". In a "multireligious and multicultural India", the people have shown they "do not accept the isolation of the followers of one religion and the mobilisation of the majority against them". The nation can "now heal its wounds".