Germany’s government is under pressure to disclose the details of conversations between deputy finance minister Jörg Kukies and former Wirecard chief executive Markus Braun, as the fraudulent collapse of the Bavaria-based payment processing company ripples through the country’s establishment. One conversation between the two took place on the day... Read more
Popular discontent is growing across the Balkans over governments’ handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, as concerns mount about continued lockdowns, poor testing provision and patchy access to healthcare. In Serbia, which was initially relatively successful in containing the virus, anti-government protests turned violent last week, while in Kosovo a... Read more
Europe’s “frugal” governments are pushing for cuts to Brussels’ planned €750bn coronavirus recovery package and the EU’s next-term budget, heralding tough discussions among the bloc’s leaders at a summit this week. As governments engage in intense diplomacy before Friday’s meeting, the overall size of the EU’s Covid-19 response has... Read more
Michael Gove, cabinet office minister, has announced a £705m package of measures to strengthen Britain’s borders, claiming it would help the UK “seize the opportunities” of Brexit. Mr Gove has had to delay by six months the full implementation of border controls from January 1 — when the Brexit... Read more
The UN-backed Libyan government will agree to a ceasefire to end the conflict in the north African state only if renegade general Khalifa Haftar withdraws his forces from key central and western regions, Turkey’s foreign minister has said. Mevlut Cavusoglu told the Financial Times there was a “determination” within... Read more
God, I miss the gossip. Almost four months into homeworking and I’d like to say that I miss chance discussions with colleagues about the shape of the economic recovery (U, V or W) or the creativity sparked by serendipitous chat. But that would be a lie. What I mourn... Read more
When Enoch Wu gave a lecture at National Cheng Kung University in southern Taiwan two weeks ago, the auditorium was packed. But while many had come just to catch a glimpse of the charismatic 39-year-old, a rising star in the ruling Democratic Progressive party (DPP), he issued them with... Read more
Former special counsel Robert Mueller has broken his silence by defending the prosecution of political operative Roger Stone, after President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of his former adviser on Friday. In an op-ed in the Washington Post on Saturday, Mr Mueller fought back against the president’s claim that... Read more
Turkey’ president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, one of the world’s greatest examples of Byzantine Christian architecture, to be turned into a mosque. The move ends the former Byzantine cathedral’s 85-year stint as a museum and fulfils a long-held dream of some of Mr Erdogan’s nationalist... Read more
US states ordered new restrictions including mandatory mask-wearing as a surge in Covid-19 cases continued across the US, a day after the country posted its largest one day jump in cases. Louisiana’s Democratic governor John Bel Edwards on Saturday announced that masks would be required for anyone over the... Read more