Spain Catalonia: Puigdemont's arrest in Germany sparks mass protests

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• Catalonia independence vote 2017

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Media captionCatalan protesters clash with police in Barcelona

Protests broke out across the Spanish region of Catalonia on Sunday after former leader Carles Puigdemont was taken into custody in Germany.

At least 89 people were injured in clashes with police and four arrests were made.

Mr Puigdemont, who is wanted in Spain for sedition and rebellion, was detained by German police acting on a European arrest warrant.

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionA sign saying "Free our president" is attached to the German consulate in Barcelona

Smaller demonstrations were held in Girona, where Mr Puigdemont once served as mayor, Tarragona and Lleida. Some protesters also formed road blocks in various locations.

Tensions in Catalonia are very high and its separatist leaders abandoned plans to name a new president after the arrest on Friday of the latest candidate, Jordi Turull, sparked protests in Barcelona.

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Image captionScuffles broke out between police and protesters in Barcelona

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Image captionAn image of Spain's King Felipe VI was burnt at a protest in Girona

Spain's Supreme Court has ruled 25 that Catalan leaders should be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobeying the state. They all deny the allegations.

How was Carles Puigdemont caught?

German police said that Mr Puigdemont was detained by a highway patrol in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, which borders Denmark.

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Image captionMr Puigdemont had been living in Belgium

He had been on a trip to Finland to meet lawmakers and attend a conference last week when the arrest warrant against him was reissued, taking him by surprise.

He slipped out of Finland before the authorities could arrest him but only got as far as Germany before being intercepted.

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His spokesman, Joan Maria Pique, said had been heading to Belgium "to put himself, as always, at the disposal of Belgian justice".

International warrants for Mr Puigdemont and other Catalan leaders were withdrawn in December by a Spanish judge, who said they had shown a willingness to return to the country.

What happens next?

Mr Puigdemont has spent the night in a prison in the north German town of Neumünster.

His court appearance on Monday will be a formality to confirm his identity.

German judges will have to assess if there is an equivalent to the Spanish charges of sedition and rebellion in German law.

This is known as the concept of "dual criminality", extradition barrister Saoirse Townshend explained to the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.

German judges do not have to prove an offence has taken place.

The extradition procedure lasts about two months. If it formally begins, then a judge will decide whether Mr Puigdemont will be kept in custody.

The charges he faces in Spain could result in up to 30 years in prison.

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Image captionPeople tie yellow ribbons - a symbol of support for Catalonian political prisoners - to a fence outside the German Consulate in Barcelona

Spain's latest move is considered the most serious challenge to date to the Catalan independence movement. Almost the entire leadership now faces a major legal fight.

Various other Catalan politicians have been subjected to new warrants, including Catalonia's former education minister, Clara Ponsati. She is in Scotland, where she has a position at the University of St Andrews, and is preparing to hand herself in.

How we got here

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Media captionWhy is there a Catalan crisis? The answer is in its past, as Europe correspondent Gavin Lee explains

1 October 2017: The independence referendum takes place in Catalonia; it is deemed illegal by Spain and boycotted by many potential voters

27 October: Catalonia's leaders declare independence, which leads to the Spanish government imposing direct rule on the region and dissolving its parliament

30 October: Charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds are brought against various sacked members of the Catalan government, including Mr Puigdemont

2 November: Several former Catalan ministers are taken into custody in Spain

3 November: European Arrest Warrants are issued against Mr Puigdemont and four of his allies, who have all fled to Belgium

5 December: A Spanish judge withdraws the European arrest warrants but says the group still face possible charges for sedition and rebellion

21 December: Carles Puigdemont is re-elected to parliament during Catalan's regional elections - which Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy had called to "restore democracy"

1 March 2018: Mr Puigdemont says he is stepping aside and he backs detained activist Jordi Sanchez to run as Catalonia's president

21 March: Mr Sanchez drops his leadership bid and instead the candidacy is passed to Jordi Turull, who the following day is rejected by hardline separatists

23 March: Mr Turull and various others are arrested in Spain, and the European arrest warrants are reissued

25 March: Mr Puigdemont is detained in Germany

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Egypt election: Voters to elect president

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Image captionAbdul Fattah al-Sisi (L) and his sole challenger Mousa Mostafa Mousa

Egyptians begin three days of voting on Monday to elect a new president in an election expected to produce a landslide for the sitting president.

There are few doubts that incumbent Abdul Fattah al-Sisi will win after most opposition candidates withdrew.

The only other candidate is little-known centrist politician Mousa Mostafa Mousa.

But Mr Mousa is known to be a supporter of the current leader, and has said he supports Mr Sisi's re-election.

Egypt, population 84 million, is the largest Arab country and has played a central role in Middle Eastern politics in modern times.

Why are there only two candidates?

Seven candidates initially put themselves forward for the presidency but the majority of these have withdrawn from the race.

Human rights lawyer Khalid Ali and former Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq both withdrew, citing intimidation.

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Image captionA bus with the message "Be positive and come to vote" could be seen in Cairo

Former chief of staff in the Egyptian army, Sami Anan, was detained in January after announcing his intention to run.

He was widely considered to be the last high-profile challenger to the president.

It led some opposition figures to call for a boycott of the vote but Mr Sisi's campaign spokesman has said no candidates have been prevented from running.

The authorities have been encouraging voter participation and buses with loudspeakers drove through the capital Cairo playing songs urging people to turn out and vote.

• Egypt country profile

What are the key issues?

Mr Sisi has been in power since 2013 since leading a military coup that ousted Mohammed Morsi from power. He then won a landslide in the 2014 presidential election.

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Image captionSisi posters can be seen around Cairo

His supporters say his first term has brought stability to a country that has been rocked by unrest since 2011.

Egypt has witnessed the overthrow of two presidents since that year's Arab Spring protests.

But some critics have pointed to the controversial build-up to the vote and the lack of opposition.

It is expected that Mr Sisi will win a second term comfortably but turnout figures are the main focus for many due to the calls for an opposition boycott.

Has there been unrest?

Ahead of the vote, the Egyptian interior ministry said police had killed six militants suspected of being behind a failed attempt to assassinate a security chief.

General Mostafa al-Nemr escaped unhurt when a bomb that was left under a car in Alexandria exploded as he drove past. Two police officers were killed in the attack.

In a statement, the ministry said it had tracked down a cell belonging to the Hasam movement and the militants were killed during an exchange of fire.

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Russia fire: Children killed in Kemerovo shopping centre blaze

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Media captionFirefighters tackle fatal shopping centre fire

At least 48 people have died in a fire that tore through a shopping and entertainment complex in the Siberian coal-mining city of Kemerovo.

As many as 41 children may be among the victims, and 16 people are missing, Russian officials say.

The blaze started on an upper floor of the Winter Cherry complex while many of the victims were at the cinema.

Video posted on social media showed people jumping from windows to escape the flames on Sunday.

"According to preliminary information, the roof collapsed in two cinemas," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and authorities have launched an investigation.

Some 660 emergency personnel were deployed in the rescue effort. Firefighters tackled the blaze for more than 17 hours.

Kemerovo, a key coal-producing area, lies about 3,600km (2,200 miles) east of Moscow.

Where did the fire start?

As well as a multiplex cinema, the shopping centre, which opened in 2013, includes restaurants, a sauna, a bowling alley and a petting zoo.

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The fire is believed to have started at around 17:00 (10:00 GMT) on Sunday in a part of the building that contains the entertainment complex, local media report.

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Image captionSmoke billowed from the building

Yevgeny Dedyukhin, deputy head of the Kemerovo region emergency department, said the area of the fire was about 1,500 sq m.

"The shopping centre is a very complex construction," he said. "There are a lot of combustible materials."

Four people have been detained for questioning, including the head of the company that manages the shopping centre, according to the Investigative Committee. The owner of the Winter Cherry complex is thought to be among those detained.

What do we know of the victims?

Russian officials had initially given a figure of 64 people missing but later clarified that this included victims whose remains had not been identified.

At least nine of the bodies found so far are children.

Andrei Mamchenkov, deputy head of Russia's National Crisis Management Centre, said 41 children were not accounted for.

Emergency services finally reached a cinema hall on the third floor after being obstructed by smoke and the danger of collapsing masonry, an unnamed source told Russian news agency Interfax.

They found no bodies inside but fear people may have been buried under rubble.

Another source told the agency there was practically no chance of finding survivors.

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