Danish police find severed head of journalist who’d been on sub Thousands demand Catalan and Spanish leaders negotiate

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish divers found the decapitated head and legs and the clothes of a Swedish journalist who was killed after going on a trip with an inventor on his submarine, police said Saturday.

The body parts and clothing were found Friday in plastic bags with a knife and “heavy metal pieces” to make them sink near where Kim Wall’s naked, headless torso was found in August, Copenhagen police investigator Jens Moeller Jensen said.

Moeller Jensen said there were no fractures to Wall’s skull.

Peter Madsen, the Danish inventor who is in pre-trial detention on preliminary manslaughter charges, has said Wall, 30, died after being accidentally hit by a 155-pound hatch on the UC3 Nautilus submarine, after which he “buried” her at sea.

BARCELONA, Spain — Thousands rallied in Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday in a last-ditch call for Spanish and Catalan leaders to stave off a national crisis amid Catalonia’s threat to secede.

The rallies in the Spanish capital and the Catalan city were held with the slogan “Shall We Talk?” in an effort to push lawmakers in both cities to end months of silence and start negotiating. Attendees respected the organizers’ call to not bring the Spanish or Catalan flags.

Catalonia’s regional president Carles Puigde-mont has vowed to make good on the results of Oct. 1’s disputed referendum on secession won by the “yes” side.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned that the vote was illegal and promised that Catalonia is going nowhere.

Protestors packed Barcelona’s Sant Jaume Square where the Catalan government has its presidential palace, shouting “We want to talk!” and holding signs saying “More Negotiation, Less Testosterone!” and “Talk or Resign!”

“We have to find a new way forward,” said Miquel Iceta, the leader of Spain’s Socialist party in Catalonia. “It’s the moment to listen to the people who are asking for the problem to be solved through an agreement, and without precipitated and unilateral decisions.”

The gathering around Madrid’s Cibeles fountain boasted a huge banner demanding that leaders start talking.

In a separate rally in Madrid’s Colon Square, thousands clamored for the unity of Spain and against any attempt by the northeastern region to break away. The crowd bristled with Spanish flags.

Pro-union forces will try to generate momentum on Sunday in a protest in Barcelona.