Push for compromise:

Europe

France and Germany are “determined” to reach a compromise on President Emmanuel Macron’s proposals for a shake-up of the eurozone, a French government source told AFP Sunday after marathon talks between the two countries.

Paris and Berlin are racing to bridge the gap between Macron’s ambitious EU reform agenda and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s more prudent approach by a crunch eurozone summit on June 29.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire spent nearly 14 hours holed up with his German counterpart Olaf Scholz at a Paris hotel on Saturday, the source told AFP.

While the talks, which lasted into the early hours of Sunday, did not yield an agreement the ministers discussed “all the unresolved issues” and made “substantial progress”, the source said.

“We still have work to do before agreeing on a roadmap,” the source continued, adding “there is agreement on nothing until there is agreement on everything” and that Le Maire and Scholz planned further talks in the coming week. (AFP)

‘Toughen asylum rules’:

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives called on Sunday for stricter immigration rules and faster deportation of failed asylum seekers after a public outcry over a 14-year-old German girl who was allegedly raped and killed by an Iraqi man.

Police in the Kurdistan region of Iraq said on Saturday the 20-year-old suspect, identified by German authorities as Ali Bashar, had admitted to the murder of Susanna Feldman in Germany, where the case has stoked the immigration debate.

Iraqi authorities extradited Bashar on Saturday after Kurdish security forces had taken him into custody on Friday. He left Germany together with relatives earlier this month.

“The procedures and rules for asylum, refuge and integration must be put under scrutiny,” Christian Baldauf, leader of Merkel’s conservatives in the state parliament