Mr Scholz leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on November 6.

A youth opened fire at a private Christian school on Monday in the US state of Wisconsin, killing two people in the final week before the Christmas break. The gunman also died, police said.

Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar was highly critical of the Irish Government after ordering the closure of the embassy in Dublin.

An alleged Chinese spy who was banned from the UK and linked to the Duke of York has been named as Yang Tengbo, following a High Court ruling. The 50-year-old is said to have become a “close” ...