• The political and corporate repercussions from the imbroglio engulfing Monte dei Paschi bank are resonating far beyond the walls of Siena.
• David Pilling argues that a grand bargain must be struck with North Korea, even if it is “a horrible deal, tantamount to giving in to extortion”, because it would be better than hollow talk and ineffective sanctions.
• The EU and US have vowed to complete talks on a new trade agreement. The project boasts huge commercial potential, but is rife with complications.
• The director of a Dutch company that received horsemeat from Romania had already been convicted of selling horsemeat labelled as beef. The company’s name, “Draap”, is the Dutch word for horse (“paard”) spelt backwards.
• “It is hard to turn from a vicious cycle of cost-cutting and quality dilution to a virtuous circle of co-operation and innovation”, but it would be a good investment, according to John Gapper.
• Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer, has laid out in The American Conservative the questions that he thinks John Brennan should have answered in his confirmation.
• Take a look at these pictures of “Guevara”, a female opposition activist who used to be an English professor. A Syrian of Palestinian origin, she was trained by Hamas in Lebanon and the reputation of “the woman with the gun” has spread.
• Japan may conjure up images of robots and bullet trains, but it also remains very attached to … the fax machine.

 Read more