Brussels / AFP The European Union on Wednesday proposed tighter checks on cash and gold transfers as part of a crackdown on terrorist financing across a bloc grappling with a wave of terrorism. EU officials put forward greater powers to freeze or seize assets of suspected terrorists, crack down on money laundering and stop the flow of terror funds. ...

  Berlin / AFP Should Germany’s popular Christmas markets be ringed with concrete, patrolled by armed soldiers and screened with surveillance cameras? After a truck ploughed through a crowd of holiday revellers in central Berlin, the country—having so far been spared large-scale attacks—is debating the balance between security and an open society. “This attack could have been prevented if the ...

  Seoul / AFP South Korea’s Constitutional Court will Thursday start hearings into whether to confirm the impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye, with her ruling conservative party deeply split on the issue before a likely fresh election. The court has up to 180 days to decide whether to uphold or reject parliament’s impeachment of the country’s first female president on ...