Lagarde dismisses claim that Greece is being pushed to default

Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, has hit back at Greece over claims that the IMF is seeking to push the country towards default, describing the idea as "nonsense".

In a terse letter to Alexis Tsipras, Greek prime minister, Ms Lagarde defended IMF staff who have found themselves at the centre of a furore over a leaked transcript of a teleconference where they discuss difficult bailout negotiations.

Mr Tsipras has argued the leaked transcript of the mid-March call, which was published by WikiLeaks, raised the question of whether Athens can continue to deal with two officials on the call, Poul Thomsen, head of...