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NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s junta announced an amnesty for 7,000 prisoners to mark Independence Day on Wednesday following a show of force in the capital, days after increasing democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi’s jail term to 33 years. Swaths of the Southeast Asian country have been engulfed by fighting between junta troops and anti-coup rebels since the military seized power almost two years ago. The junta, which recently wrapped up a series of […]
Moscow, Russia (AFP) Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognised the independence of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, according to presidential decrees issued late Thursday, on the eve of Russia finalising their annexation. “I order the recognition of the state sovereignty and independence” of the regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, located in southern Ukraine, Putin said in the decrees, as Russia prepares to formalise the annexation of the two regions, along with Donetsk and Lugansk […]
by Hui Min Neo with Daniel Silva in Madrid Agence France Presse German police on Sunday arrested Catalonia’s former president Carles Puigdemont as he crossed the border with Denmark by car, after Spain’s Supreme Court vowed to prosecute key separatists over their breakaway bid. The arrest puts the fate of Puigdemont in the hands of German courts, which would have to decide whether to hand him over to Spanish authorities to face charges of “rebellion […]
by Marianne Barriaux Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalans take their independence struggle to the polls Thursday in a hotly-contested election that could mark a turning point for their region just two months after a secession bid ended in failure. The vote pits leaders of the wealthy northeastern region’s separatist movement against parties that want to remain in Spain, and opinion polls suggest both sides’ leading candidates are neck-and-neck. Will voters again hand […]
by Anna Maria Jakubek Agence France Presse WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — Carrying Polish flags and throwing red smoke bombs, tens of thousands of people on Saturday joined a march in Warsaw organized by far-right nationalists to mark independence day, while counter-protesters rallied against fascism. The annual march also attracted a considerable number of supporters of the governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party to honour the reestablishment of Poland’s independence in 1918. This year’s slogan […]
by Daniel BOSQUE Agence France-Presse DOSRIUS, Spain (AFP) – A month ago, residents of the Catalan village Dosrius were facing off against police in their struggle to break away from Spain. Now independence has been declared — but nothing, they feel, has been gained. Indeed, they have probably lost what they had. Spain’s central government has taken control of the region for the first time since the end of dictatorship in the 1970s. Catalonia’s separatist […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Catalonia’s axed separatist leader Carles Puigdemont will not return to Spain as there is a “good chance that he would be detained,” his lawyer has said. Speaking to Dutch public newscaster NOS late Tuesday, Belgian lawyer Paul Bekaert said “as far as he told me, that’s not going to happen” when asked if his client would go back to Spain. “That’s because we are awaiting further reactions from the Spanish […]
by Jordi Zamora Barcelo with Marianne Barriaux in Madrid Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalonia’s secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont stood defiant Saturday against Madrid’s moves to depose him, urging “democratic resistance” to direct rule imposed in a bid to stop the region breaking away from Spain. In a televised statement, Puigdemont accused the central government of trampling on the will of independence-seeking Catalans who rejoiced at Friday’s vote by regional lawmakers to […]
by Daniel Bosque with Marianne Barriaux in Madrid © Agence France-Presse Barcelona, Spain | AFP Catalonia woke up Saturday under the direct control of Madrid as the Spanish prime minister took drastic measures to quash secession, deposing the region’s leaders and dissolving its parliament hours after lawmakers declared independence. In a dramatic escalation of a political crisis that has stoked alarm in Europe and sent shockwaves through Spain, Mariano Rajoy also decided to call snap Catalan elections on December […]
by Alfons Luna and Marie Giffard © Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalan parties were due to meet Monday to discuss their next steps at the start of a week that will see Spain dismiss the region’s government to stave off its threat to break away from the country. “What happens now, with everyone in agreement and unity, is that we will announce what we will do and how,” Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said after […]
by Katy Lee Agence France Presse MADRID, Spain — Spain said Thursday it will move to seize some of the Catalan regional government’s powers after its leader warned he could declare independence, escalating the country’s worst political crisis in decades. The central government in Madrid had given separatist leader Carles Puigdemont until 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Thursday to say whether or not he was declaring a breakaway state in the semi-autonomous region following a […]
by Marianne Barriaux with Patrick Galey in Madrid Agence France Presse Madrid on Monday gave Catalonia’s separatist leader three more days to “return to legality” after he refused to say whether he would follow through on a threat to declare independence from Spain. Responding to an initial deadline set by the central government, Carles Puigdemont sent a letter early Monday calling for talks with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy “as soon as possible” amid Spain’s worst […]
