Earlier this week, coalition negotiation talks in Germany between Chancellor Merkel and the right-wing Free Democratic Party collapsed. The failure to reach an agreement leaves Germany without a government. Merkel’s future hangs in the balance. As Hans-Gerd Öfinger discusses, a period of instability lies ahead.

Robert Mugabe, the 93-year-old dictator of Zimbabwe, interrupted parliament’s impeachment proceedings this afternoon with a letter announcing his resignation. This follows a week of pressure on the senile president, both from other factions in the ruling elite and from the masses on the streets. But, as Ben Morken explains in an article written earlier this week, Mugabe’s downfall will lead to even greater instability and crisis for the regime.

The proclamation of the Republic by the Catalan Parliament on October 27th was short-lived. The Spanish state was ready to crush it decisively, while the Catalan government had no plans and no strategy to defend it. That, however, is not the end of the movement. Jorge Martin reports on the perspectives for the struggle for Catalan independence.