In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Bulgaria not asking for asking for final clearance to join the eurozone, Argentine President Javier Milei taking aim at Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez,

BERLIN (Reuters) - German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, tipped to become the next chancellor, said on Thursday he wanted to win back the lost trust of key allies and ensure Berlin is more assertive on the global stage in a speech laying out his foreign policy plans.

After years in which Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been accused of treading lightly on European and world stages, conservative election front-runner Friedrich Merz has vowed a bold return to international affairs.

Scholz's visit to Paris today confirmed what many have whispered for months: the Franco-German relationship is anything but.

BERLIN - Ukraine must win the war against Russia, regain lost territory and be free to join military alliances, Mr Friedrich Merz - favourite to become Germany’s next chancellor - said on Jan 23. Mr Merz said he wants peace in Ukraine but not “at the price of submission to an imperialist power” and stressed that “Ukraine must win the war”.

Poland is pushing for a debate on increased military spending by EU member states during its six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, which started on 1 January. But the result of Germany's fede

Poland's JSW said on Wednesday that there has been a methane explosion at Knurow-Szczyglowice Ruch Szczyglowice mine in southern Poland.

European Commission president is in Berlin for her first public appearance since she was admitted to hospital.

Riigikogu National Defense Committee member Kristo Enn Vaga (Reform) stated that Prime Minister Kristen Michal's (Reform) proposal to raise defense spending to 5 percent was motivated by positive signals from the European Commission regarding a defense bond program and the possibility of Friedrich Merz becoming Germany's next chancellor.

Germany’s opposition leader vowed Thursday to bar people from entering the country without proper papers and to step up deportations if he is elected chancellor next month, as a knife attack by a rejected asylum-seeker spilled over into an election campaign in which he is the front-runner.

UNITED NATIONS (United States) - Ceremony on the occasion of the World Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (1600 GMT) VIDEO. LIVE VIDEO. (+) COTONOU (Benin) - Trial of Steve Amoussou, aka Brother Hounvi, an internet user arrested in August for criticizing the government VIDEO.