Nicolas Sarkozy, seeking to return to power as French president, has denied receiving money from deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to fund his election bid in 2007, calling claims by a Franco-Lebanese businessman a “crude manipulation”.

Ukraine’s police chief and a prominent customs officer resigned on Monday, continuing an exodus of reformist officials that has raised serious doubts about the Western-backed government’s commitment to tackle corruption.

Former economy minister Emmanuel Macron will announce today a run for the French presidency, a source close to him said, a long-awaited move that could disrupt other campaigns on both the left and the right.

Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev has denied extorting a $2mn after Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil company, helped authorities organise a sting on him in a case that could expose fault lines in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

Police launched dawn raids across Germany yesterday on about 190 mosques, flats and offices linked to an Islamist group after the government banned the organisation, accusing it of radicalising youngsters.

US President Barack Obama has issued a warning against “crude” nationalism following Donald Trump’s shock election win as he visited Europe on a mission to reassure jittery allies.

A court yesterday ordered thousands of prison officers back to work, saying there had been incidents in prisons during their industrial action and calling the situation “very concerning”.

Record low mortgage rates are driving massive demand for homes in London’s booming “super suburbs” where property prices are soaring at up to 20% a year.

Britain has no overall strategy for leaving the European Union and splits in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Cabinet could delay a clear negotiating position for six months, according to a memo for the government that was leaked to The Times newspaper.

With yellow flags waving and vuvuzelas blaring, a convoy of two dozen cars snakes into the sleepy Malaysian town of Batu Gajah, breaking the rural calm with warnings of corruption and national decay.

Indonesian police yesterday considered a blasphemy case brought by Muslim groups against the Jakarta governor, the first ethnic Chinese and Christian in the job, as religious tension simmers and President Joko Widodo tries to keep a handle on security.

New Zealand emergency services and defence personnel yesterday evacuated hundreds of tourists and residents from a small South Island town amid more strong aftershocks, a day after a powerful earthquake killed two people.