DESPITE the sobering lessons inflicted on crystal ball gazers by Brexit, the elevation of President Trump and humiliation of Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May in last June’s

Germany has the confidence and capacity to lead Europe, but, ahead of Angela Merkel’s expected re-election, that doesn’t mean its partners have to like it, writes John Lloyd.    

It’s response to Turkey’s jailing of a German human rights activist was to discourage tourists from going there and firms from investing there, says Mark Leonard

The two-party system in Britain was threatened in the early ’80s. It’s time someone set out to challenge the establishment again, writes Bill Emmott.

Jeremy Corbyn has been re-elected as leader of the Labour Party in the UK.

Ask a five-year-old what they want when they grow up and most will have an answer.

Some of the new forces in Irish politics will hammer out their programmes this weekend for the looming general election.

THE best political biographies do more than record their subjects’ lives.

Three respected political figures have combined to form Ireland’s first Social Democratic party but Kyran Fitzgerald wonders if they have a future.

Warm tributes have poured in from across the political spectrum to former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, whose death at 55 has shocked Westminster.

I want to argue that Jean Claude Trichet’s ‘secret’ letter to Brian Lenihan and the consistent pressure directed at two governments, and by default every citizen in the Republic, now needs to be brought to the European Court of Human Rights .

Romanians have begun voting to elect a new leader as President Traian Basescu steps down after 10 years, with the prime minister favourite to win in the nation of 19 million.

A 300km cycle might not be everybody’s idea of a fun holiday, but it allowed Richard Herriott to experience the best that the often overlooked eastern Germany has to offer.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble pushed back against Deutsche Bank co-CEO Juergen Fitschen after he said the minister’s call to keep up vigilance of banks was “irresponsible”.

IN THE coming days, Bettina Wulff will testify in the trial of her estranged husband, Christian Wulff, the former president of Germany who stands accused of taking bribes.

Ireland’s 12.5% corporate tax rate was not “up for grabs”, if the Government decided to seek a precautionary credit line after exiting the bailout next month, a senior minister has said.

Germany’s Social Democrats want to strip euro policymaking out of the finance ministry in chancellor Angela Merkel’s third term, according to three people familiar with the party’s negotiating strategy.

It is feared Ireland's low rate of Corporation Tax could be in the firing line as Germany works to form a new coalition.

Official results confirm that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives have won Germany’s election but indicate they have finished short of an absolute majority.

Early indications of turnout in Germany’s national poll today showed more voters casting their ballots than in 2009, election officials said.

Angela Merkel is in a fight to clinch a new term for her ruling coalition despite enjoying overwhelming popularity and leading an economy that is the envy of Europe.

After the death of her husband and four children, Mary Jones risked her life for decades fighting for US workers’ rights says Nicola Depuis.

German vice chancellor Philipp Roesler has been criticised for resurrecting the possibility that Greece should leave the eurozone.

EU finance ministers have agreed to explore a limited form of taxing financial transactions but said they will also work on finding a way to tax derivatives.

EU finance ministers have agreed to a firewall that was less than the bazooka many said is needed to protect the euro.

Portugal’s Social Democrats unseated the Socialist government in an emphatic election victory, giving the centre-right party a strong mandate to enact a grinding austerity programme demanded in return for a €78bn international bail-out.

Portuguese voters are choosing a new government today, one that will be forced to impose grinding austerity measures as part of a €78bn bailout deal expected to pitch the country into a two-year recession.

Portugal's financial troubles deepened today despite political efforts to contain the acute debt crisis that is also worrying the 17-nation eurozone.

Portugal’s political parties have opted to hold an early election rather than form a new government, even though that could hasten the debt-stressed nation’s financial woes and force it to take a bail-out.

PORTUGAL looks set to follow Ireland into the EU/IMF bailout fund after its parliament voted against another round of austerity measures aimed at averting such a bailout.

Portugal’s government could collapse today after opposition parties withdrew their support for another round of austerity policies aimed at averting a financial bailout.

PORTUGAL elected its conservative president to a second term yesterday, exit polls indicated, delivering a harsh political setback to the minority Socialist government, which is struggling to contain an acute economic crisis.

Official figures show Portugal has elected its conservative president to a second term, delivering a harsh political setback to the minority Socialist government which is struggling to contain a financial crisis.

The two Swedish women accusing Julian Assange of sex crimes are not pawns of the CIA nor do they hunger for revenge or money - they just seek justice for a violation of their "sexual integrity", their lawyer says.

Portugal’s minority government and main opposition party have struck a deal on a package of austerity measures aimed at steering the country out of a financial crisis that has contributed to investor unease about the soundness of the euro.

Portugal’s borrowing costs jumped to the highest level since the adoption of the euro amid uncertainty about whether the government can cut the country’s debt levels.

Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said today that the resignation of his deputy, whose party threatened to withdraw from the ruling coalition, will not lead to the collapse of East Timor's government.

One of East Timor’s deputy prime ministers said he resigned after prime minister Xanana Gusmao publicly called him a “liar” for his outspoken critiques of the government’s failure to tackle corruption and improve people’s lives.

ROMA, gypsies, Muslims and gays promise to divert some of the attention from Europe’s see-sawing economic predicament this autumn.

Swedish prosecutors have withdrawn an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying the rape suspicions against him are unfounded.

A Swedish tabloid reported today that an arrest warrant has been issued for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on suspicion of rape, and officials said they could confirm “media reports”.

The Romanian government narrowly survived a no-confidence vote today after the opposition failed to muster the votes needed to topple it over unpopular cuts in wages, pensions and benefits.

Romania’s Constitutional Court today ordered a re-examination of ballots declared void in Sunday’s presidential election amid allegations of “massive fraud”.