Slumping exports sent Germany’s economy into reverse in the second quarter, with prospects of an early recovery slim as its manufacturers struggle at the sharp end of a global slowdown amplified by tariff conflicts and the fallout from Brexit.

Italy wants France and Spain to support its campaign to change the EU’s fiscal rules and focus them more on growth in the face of a regional and global economic slowdown, Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said in an interview.

Investors in global stocks and Irish shares, in particular, will learn this week whether the growing fears over escalating trade wars will send markets reeling again.

Intel will receive grant aid of about $1bn (€875m) from the Israeli government for its latest investment plan to expand its chip manufacturing operations in the country, Israel’s finance minister has said.

Lufthansa has received more German government support in its bid to take over substantial assets of insolvent rival Air Berlin, with German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries saying she would welcome such a move.

Cuban president Raul Castro has denounced US president Donald Trump's tougher line on relations with Havana, calling it a setback but promising to continue working to normalise ties between the former Cold War rivals.

Sinn Féin has warned a collapse of the powersharing institutions at Stormont is an option if First Minister Arlene Foster refuses to stand down to allow a probe into her handling of a botched green energy scheme.

The Stormont Assembly has been plunged into crisis after all non-Democratic Unionist members walked out ahead of a disputed statement by the North's First Minister on her role in a botched renewable energy scheme.

The Italian president's office says that foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni has formed a new government.

Turkish special forces captured a group of rebel commandos who tried to seize or kill President Tayyip Erdogan during a failed coup, and a government minister said plotters would “never see God’s sun as long as they breathe”.

Brexit could make Northern Ireland a haven for smugglers, as the only land border for goods and people to enter Great Britain.

Bavarian allies cranked up pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday to reverse her “open-door” refugee policy, saying the deadly attacks in Paris underlined the need for tougher measures to control the influx of migrants.

Thousands now expected to flood into Sweden to seek asylum.

Greece delayed repayment of an IMF loan yesterday and a deputy minister said Athens might call snap elections to break an impasse with lenders that threatens to push the country into bankruptcy and out of the euro.

Greece’s finance minister is holding talks in Paris amid high tensions with international creditors, as his country’s new leftist leadership seeks to renegotiate huge debts.

Investors are prepared to pay the most on record to hold Russian shares abroad amid speculation that President Vladimir Putin’s government will be forced to implement currency controls to arrest the ruble’s decline.

A US internet security firm is to set up a new operation in Belfast, creating 80 jobs.

US financial services company Citi is creating 600 new jobs in Belfast in a £54m investment.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has emerged as clear favourite for the key post of president of the European Council when EU leaders meet for a special summit tomorrow, several sources familiar with the selection process said.

French president Francois Hollande dissolved the government yesterday after open feuding among his cabinet over the country’s stagnant economy. 

The weekend suggestion from Simon Harris, the junior finance minister, that income tax should be cut adds momentum to statements made by senior cabinet ministers Michael Noonan and Simon Coveney. If that expectation is not met, then the political consequences will be severe.

French president Francois Hollande is dissolving the government after an open feud in Cabinet over the country’s economy.

Italy will settle the debt arrears it owes to private sector suppliers by the end of this year, economy minister Pier Carlo Padoan said in a newspaper interview yesterday, pushing back previous commitments.

A financial technology company is to create almost 500 jobs in Co Down.

The EU, supported by Germany, is working to meet an Italian demand to shift focus from austerity towards growth in a deal that could help cement Jean-Claude Juncker as the next European Commission president.

Plans for a beauty pageant at the home of the Northern Ireland Assembly have sparked controversy.

Italy’s fragile coalition government, already struggling to contain deep divisions over tax and economic policy, woke up to a whole set of new problems yesterday after Silvio Berlusconi’s conviction for tax fraud was upheld by the supreme court.

Six European Union states have asked Poland to explain why it is not paying billions of euro that foreign construction firms say they are owed for work carried out under an EU-backed road-building programme.

Almost 180 new jobs are being created at a Co Tyrone meat processing plant.

Hundreds of thousands of people across Europe joined demonstrations or went on strike today as they demanded that governments stop cutting benefits and create more employment.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s leading economies met in Mexico on Sunday amid growing fears over the global impact of Europe’s debt crisis and the stalemate over a fiscal plan in the US.

Another delegation of victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles will today challenge Taoiseach Enda Kenny to apologise for alleged Government inaction against the IRA.

Spain is ready to request a eurozone bailout for its public finances as early as next weekend but Germany has signalled that it should hold off, European officials said yesterday.

Spain overhauled its banks for the fifth time in three years yesterday in order to secure up to €100bn in European aid for lenders crushed by bad loans resulting from the country’s extended property market crash.

Greece’s prime minister has insisted ahead of a visit to Germany that Athens does not want more money from creditors, but indicated it would like more time to enact reforms and spending cuts.

Spain has time to wait for clarity on what a full European rescue would involve as it has already covered the majority of its debt needs for the year, economy minister Luis de Guindos said yesterday.

Germany’s finance minister has said he can’t see room for further concessions to Greece, insisting that the country must implement far-reaching reforms and cut its budget deficit.

Germany's finance minister said in an interview published today that he can't see room for further concessions to Greece, insisting anew that the country must implement far-reaching reforms and cut its budget deficit.

Spain’s troubled banks could need as much as €62bn in new capital, independent auditors have calculated.

Investors expect Spain to become the fourth euro member to need external funding as borrowing costs surge to levels too punitive for the nation to finance its needs on capital markets.

Spain will ask for a bank bailout from the eurozone, becoming the fourth and largest country to seek help since the single currency bloc's debt crisis erupted.