Suspects alleged to have posed as academics to access books and replace them with copies, says Europol

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Police have arrested nine Georgians suspected of running a sophisticated criminal operation stealing valuable antique books – including an original Alexander Pushkin manuscript – from national libraries across Europe.

Shelves of 19th-century Russian-language literature had been ransacked over two years across several countries and replaced by fakes, Europol, the EU police agency revealed on Thursday.

Brazil, Germany, Spain and South Africa sign motion for fairer tax system to deliver £250bn a year extra to fight poverty and climate crisis

• ‘Why we need a global tax on billionaires ’

The world’s 3,000 billionaires should pay a minimum 2% tax on their fast-growing wealth to raise £250bn a year for the global fight against poverty, inequality and global heating, ministers from four leading economies have suggested.

In a sign of growing international support for a levy on the super-rich, Brazil, Germany, South Africa and Spain say a 2% tax would reduce inequality and raise much-needed public funds after the economic shocks of the pandemic, the climate crisis and military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.

Finance chiefs say higher taxes for the super-rich are key to battling global inequality and climate crisis

• Billionaires should pay minimum 2% wealth tax, say G20 ministers

When the governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund convened for the spring meetings last week, it was all about the really big questions. What can the international community do to accelerate decarbonisation and fight climate change? How can highly indebted countries retain fiscal space to invest in poverty eradication, social services and global public goods? What does the international community need to do to get back on track towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How can multilateral development banks be strengthened to support these ambitions?

There is one issue that makes addressing these global challenges much harder: inequality. While the disparity between the richest and poorest countries has slightly narrowed, the gap remains alarmingly high. Moreover, in the past two decades, we have witnessed a significant increase in inequalities within most countries, with the income gap between the top 10% and the bottom 50% nearly doubling. Looking ahead, current global economic trends pose serious threats to progress towards higher equality.

Svenja Schulze is Germany’s minister for economic cooperation and development; Fernando Haddad is the minister of finance in Brazil; Enoch Godongwana is the minister of finance in South Africa; Carlos Cuerpo is the minister of economy, trade and business and María Jesús Montero the minister of finance in Spain

Central European tourists have been descending on Achill ever since Heinrich Böll wrote effusively about its inhabitants’ customs and idiosyncrasies

In 1954, the German writer Heinrich Böll landed in Ireland for the first time, headed west and kept going till he reached the Atlantic ocean. He was seeking a refuge from the brash materialism of postwar Germany, and found it on Achill island, where waves crashed against cliffs, sheep foraged in fields and villagers went about their business of fishing, farming and storytelling.

The following year he returned with his family and began to observe and chronicle the customs, idiosyncrasies, sorrows and joys of its inhabitants. So began a literary love affair between Germany and a windswept corner of County Mayo that endures 70 years after the Nobel laureate’s first visit.

Deutsche Bahn’s vision includes hi-tech cabins and more efficient engineering work amid growing dissatisfaction with the railway

Germany’s national rail company, Deutsche Bahn, has announced its plans for the future, with a multi-billion euro revamp which its bosses say will make it more efficient, more reliable – and more fragrant.

Digitalised railway stations, single-seat cabins and longer trains are among the promises, as well as buttons that passengers can press to diffuse relaxing scents.

Olaf Scholz says Chinese president agreed to back June peace talks that Russia is not attending while Xi says efforts for a resolution must involve both sides

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, says he has urged Xi Jinping to press Russia to end its “senseless” war in Ukraine and that the Chinese president has agreed to back a peace conference in Switzerland.

Scholz said after a meeting with Xi in Beijing on Tuesday that “China’s word carries weight in Russia”.

Markus Pieper resigns from €17k-a-month role hours before he was due to start amid claims of favouritism

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A row threatening to overshadow Ursula von der Leyen’s campaign for a second term as European Commission president has ended after a German colleague in her Christian Democratic Union party quit his new role as her special envoy for small businesses.

Markus Pieper resigned from the €17,000-a-month (£14,500) role hours before he was due to start on Tuesday after pressure from MEPs and European commissioners who had raised allegations of favouritism.

Olaf Scholz says European cars should have equal access to Chinese customers

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The chancellor of Germany has urged industry bosses in China to play fair by not overproducing cheap goods or infringing copyright rules.

Speaking on a three-day visit to China where he is travelling with leading business representatives and three government ministers, Olaf Scholz said he, in turn, would encourage the European Union not to be driven by self-interested protectionism, in which governments restrict international trade to help domestic companies.

France, Germany and EU organise meeting over ‘one of worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory’

Speaking at a press conference in Paris, Janez Lenarčič , the European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, said “the first thing that we have to do is to make sure that Sudan is not forgotten.”

“Today, the people caught in this emergency are almost completely invisible. Other devastating crises have overtaken the news from around the world,” he said.

One year since the war broke out, Sudan is in a state of collapse. The country has turned into one of the worst humanitarian disasters ever on the African continent. Grave violations of international humanitarian law continue unabated. As EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, I am strongly convinced that it is our duty not to look away.