Bratislava

Murders prompt political crisis: Slovakia’s government seemed on the brink of collapse this week as public anger over the murder of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, continued to convulse the country. Both were shot dead last month in a targeted assassination. In his final article, published posthumously, Kuciak revealed the alleged links between the Italian Mafia and two advisers to the Slovakian PM, Robert Fico. Last Friday, tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took part in the biggest demonstrations in the country since those that ended communist rule there in 1989. Two of Fico’s allies have resigned and a junior partner in his ruling coalition called for an early election.