
Catalan MPs have elected a fervent separatist as the new chief of the region, ending a leadership vacuum of more than six months and setting the scene for more confrontations with the Spanish government. Quim Torra, 55, a former corporate lawyer who went on to lead a prominent pro-secession group, vowed to build an independent Catalan republic by working under the leadership of his fugitive predecessor, Carles Puigdemont.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with Germany's Angela Merkel and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive after the US decision to withdraw, the Kremlin said Friday.

Europe cannot put all of its trust in the U.S. when it comes to protection and should instead “take its destiny into its own hands,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. It's no longer the case that the United States will simply just protect us.

Chinese gift of a statue of Karl Marx is dividing Germans, as his home town of Trier prepares to unveil it 200 years after his birth. Marx co-wrote the Communist Manifesto, which said that all human history had been based on class struggle. His work remains controversial in Europe but is presented by China as central to its way of governing.

By Gwynne Dyer - If the model is broken, should you try to fix it, or scrap it and get a new one? In questions of technology, increasingly the answer is: scrap it. Computer repair shops are dying out: if your laptop doesn't work, just buy a new one. What applies to consumer technology, however, does not necessarily apply to politics.

Germany's junior partner in the ruling coalition, the Social Democrats (SPD), has elected its first female leader in the party's 154-year history. Former Labour Minister Andrea Nahles was chosen to replace Martin Schulz, who resigned after the SPD's worst result since 1933 in last year's polls.

Former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont will face German justice this Monday. The case expects a cascade of court procedures that could drag on for weeks and supporters of independence of Catalonia have mobilized on Sunday afternoon in Barcelona, causing dozens of injured demonstrators due to clashes with the police.

Germany and Argentina want to uphold a pledge to keep international trade free at a summit of the world’s 20 largest economies in Buenos Aires this week, the countries’ finance ministers said on Sunday.

German firms ideally want the UK to stay in a customs union after Brexit, a powerful German industry group says. BDI said it would prefer a deep form of integration between Britain and the EU after Brexit. It had previously said the integrity of the single market for remaining European Union member states should be a priority.

EU leaders have agreed to spend more on common defense and security policy in their next long-term budget, said European Council President Donald Tusk. Leaders of 27 states were meeting in Brussels to shape the 2021-27 budget.