GERMANY - German coalition talks fail, Merkel’s chancellorship at risk. The pro-business Free Democratic Party abruptly announced its exit from three-way talks to form the German government on Sunday, citing a lack of common ground. The setback may see Germany hold new elections, challenging Merkel’s all but secured chancellorship.

GERMANY - The chancellor, whose hold on power is on the line after 12 years in office, is proposing a 10-point interim accord to bring the exploratory talks to a successful conclusion, Hans Michelbach, a lawmaker from her Bavarian CSU sister party, told reporters. German public broadcaster ZDF reported earlier Sunday that the four parties were considering abandoning the talks. 

Whatever happens, Germans are headed for uncharted territory.

GERMANY - Germany’s deadlocked government coalition talks may have huge repercussions on the EU, with one expert saying the Brussels' bloc will have to "put decisions on hold" until Angela Merkel agrees to a deal. Europe will be "damaged" if Mrs Merkel, regarded by many as the mother of Europe, fails to form a government from the ongoing coalition talks, according to a top EU official. The remarks from the EU's budget commissioner Guenther Oettinger come as the German Chancellor has struggled to strike a governing coalition deal. He said a failure to reach a deal would "damage Europe and strengthen the region's populists" as the bloc waits for its economic powerhouse to form a government. 

USA - That’s the main thing I took away from this past weekend’s strange episode of President Donald Trump seeming to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin actually believes Russia did not meddle in our 2016 election. The president is either incredibly naive and uninformed or Putin is a remarkably good KGB-trained case officer — or all of this. What the president doesn’t get is that it’s OK to tell the Russians you know they are lying. It actually doesn’t have to get in the way of dealing with them. Just get it out of the way and move on to business. They respect you most when they know that you know what you are talking about.

ZIMBABWE - The central committee fired Mugabe, his wife Grace, Education Minister Jonathan Moyo and Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere.  The announcement was followed by loud cheers and ululation from members of Zanu-PF, who had deliberated on the decision.  The party has in the meantime appointed former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa as the interim party leader.  Mugabe's axing as party leader follows hot on the heels of the vote of no confidence passed by Zanu-PF’s 10 provincial co-ordinating committees (PCC) on Friday. They called on him to step down as president of Zimbabwe and president and first secretary of the party, saying he has lost control of the party and government business due to “incapacitation stemming from his advanced age”. 

USA - A new article in Catholic media praises the two cardinals most conspicuous for their vocal criticism of President Trump as champions of a “culture of encounter.” In his November 17 essay for Crux, “Tobin and Cupich: Battling the bullies; creating a culture of encounter,” Christopher White holds up Cardinals Joseph Tobin and Blase Cupich as two of the most effective Catholic leaders for overcoming divisions and bringing people together.

USA - Scientists warn that fluctuations in the speed of Earth's rotation could trigger a swarm of devastating earthquakes across the globe, particularly in heavily populated tropical regions. Roger Bilham, of the University of Colorado in Boulder, and Rebecca Bendick, of the University of Montana in Missoula, presented their findings, published earlier this year, at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in October.

MIDDLE EAST - The winds of war in the Middle East, specifically pitting Iran against Saudi Arabia, are turning into a full-blown sandstorm. And the latest evidence of this comes from a surprising source: An interview in a Saudi newspaper.

MIDDLE EAST - PLO members and their organizations won’t accept the peace deal reportedly being drafted by Trump administration officials, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, several PLO members told Breitbart Jerusalem in a series of interviews. Waleed Awad, a member of the Palestinian People’s Party (the former communist party) said, “…Despite the fact that many people in many countries are working to sell the plan, the Palestinian organizations oppose any deal that doesn’t ensure Palestinians the creation of an independent state and sovereignty over the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as their capital.”

ITALY - When a candidate for a neo-fascist party, CasaPound, won a seat this month on the municipal council of the Roman suburb of Ostia, many Italians were startled. But they really took notice days later when a television reporter arrived to interview a CasaPound supporter — a supporter who happened to belong to one of the area’s most feared crime families — and received a vicious, nationally broadcast head butt that broke his nose.

ZIMBABWE - As the world waits to see what Zimbabwe's military will do next after seizing control of the country and detaining President Robert Mugabe, we look at some of the key things you should know about the country and its current situation.

UK - Sea creatures in one of the deepest places on Earth have been found for the first time with plastic fibres in their stomachs. Crustaceans almost seven miles down in the darkest depths of the Pacific Ocean are eating plastic, scientists have confirmed. The finding, which is the deepest possible record of microplastics, means nothing living in the world's seas is now likely to be untouched by manmade rubbish. Every creature sampled at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific had swallowed microscopic fragments including nylon, polyethylene and polyvinyls similar to PVC. Dr Alan Jamieson, from Newcastle University, who led the study, called the results 'immediate and startling'.

USA - A startling and honestly distressing view is beginning to receive serious consideration in both academic and popular discussions of climate change ethics. According to this view, having a child is a major contributor to climate change. The logical takeaway here is that everyone on Earth ought to consider having fewer children. Although culturally controversial, the scientific half of this position is fairly well-established. Several years ago, scientists showed that having a child, especially for the world’s wealthy, is one of the worst things you can do for the environment. That data was recycled this past summer in a paper showing that none of the activities most likely to reduce individuals’ carbon footprints are widely discussed.

USA - Only a sliver of Americans eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Just 12% of Americans eat the minimum daily fruit recommendation of one and a half to two cups per day, and only 9% consume the minimum daily vegetable recommendation of two to three cups per day, according to the study, published on Thursday. “The study confirms years of data demonstrating that Americans do not eat their veggies,” Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition and food studies at New York University, told the Guardian. “Assuming this result is close to reality, it suggests the need for taking much stronger action to make it easier and cheaper to eat fruits and vegetables.”

EGYPT - Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, for the second time in as many days, delivered on Saturday  a stern warning to Ethiopia over a dam it is building after the two countries along with Sudan failed to approve a study on its potential effects. Ethiopia is finalizing construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, its first major dam on the Blue Nile, and will eventually start filling the giant reservoir behind it to power Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam. Egypt fears that will cut into its water supply, destroying parts of its precious farmland and squeezing its population of 94 million people, who already face water shortages. The Nile provides over 90 percent of Egypt’s water supply. It already receives the lion’s share of Nile waters — more than 55 billion of the around 88 billion cubic meters of water that flow down the river each year.