The week at a glance...Europe

London

Spying on diplomats: U.S. and British intelligence spied on foreign diplomats during the 2009 G-20 summit in London, according to documents leaked to The Guardian by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden. The documents show that the British tapped the phones and monitored the computers of Turkey’s finance minister and his staff. “Such an action by an ally country is unacceptable,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. The U.S. allegedly intercepted top-secret communications of Dmitry Medvedev, who was then Russia’s president and is now prime minister. At the time, the U.S. had just announced a “reset” of the relationship between the two countries. “In this situation, how can we trust the current announcements of U.S. President Barack Obama, who is talking about a new ‘reset’?” asked Russian lawmaker Igor Morozov.

Hostens, France

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Chinese students attacked: A brutal attack on Chinese students studying wine in Bordeaux has heightened diplomatic tension between France and China. French officials quickly condemned the attack, in which three drunken Frenchmen beat up six students, shouting racist insults and smashing a bottle into one young woman’s face. China called for “swift justice” and demanded that France protect Chinese students. China’s rising affluence has made it a major importer of French wine. But in recent years resentment has been growing in Bordeaux as Chinese investors buy up vineyards and Chinese students flock to the area to train as sommeliers and importers.

Prague

Eavesdropping on the wife: Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas has resigned after his top aide was accused of ordering intelligence services to eavesdrop on Necas’s wife. Necas’s chief of staff, Jana Nagyova—who is rumored also to be his mistress—was charged with ordering the wiretaps and bribing three of Necas’s political opponents to leave parliament. The current and former heads of military intelligence and the three politicians were also arrested. Necas has not been charged and says he had no knowledge of the illegal surveillance but was resigning for the good of the country. “I am fully aware how the twists and turns of my personal life are burdening the Czech political scene,” he said.

Athens

Protest over TV: Greece erupted in protest last week after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras abruptly shut down Greek public television and laid off the entire staff of nearly 2,700. Greece has to fire thousands of public-sector workers to meet targets set by its international creditors, and the station, ERT, is notorious for its bloated, overpaid staff. But Greeks were angry that Samaras simply shut the station with no notice and no political discussion—not even with the other parties in his ruling coalition, which threatened to unravel as a result. The courts have ordered that the station be put back on the air, and the government said it would create a plan to operate it with a smaller staff.