European leaders from London to Berlin face an alarming reality: lockdowns are creeping back on the agenda as the pandemic threatens the continent again. It’s a scenario many ruled out after the summer, when coronavirus cases were receding across Europe and borders were re-opening. A resurgence was expected but the conviction was that a targeted approach would do. That early sense of victory has given way to disappointment, and set the stage for a deeper crisis with major cities under curfew and central governments openly clashing with local officials on the way forward. “The hope was that the second wave would be ... (full story)