Berlin mayor under pressure after playing tennis during city blackout

Berlin mayor Kai Wegner played tennis during a city-wide blackout and later acknowledged he had not been fully forthcoming; he is facing calls to resign.

A major power outage hit parts of Berlin after what officials reported was an arson attack. Mayor Kai Wegner has acknowledged he played tennis during the period when the outage began and said he had not been fully forthcoming about his actions. He is now facing mounting calls to resign as the city and political parties respond to the incident. Key facts: - Officials reported the blackout affected about 45,000 households and more than 2,000 businesses. - Wegner confirmed he was on a tennis court between about 1pm and 2pm and later said his earlier public statements had been incomplete. - Political opponents and coalition partners criticised his conduct, and he has met with his party colleagues amid calls for his resignation. Summary: The immediate impact has been intensified political scrutiny of the mayor and questions about political leadership in the run-up to a regional election. Undetermined at this time.