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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 102 ~ 33 of 63
Spain’s government had said it would be willing to hold off on applying Article 155 if the Catalan separat- ist leader were to call a snap regional election. But Catalan of cials have ruled that out.
The Catalan government’s international affairs director, Raul Romeva, told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday that Catalonia’s banned secession referendum gave the region’s separatist government a mandate to declare independence from Spain.
Andrew Dowling, an expert in Catalan history at Cardiff University in Wales, said that any declaration of independence in the Catalan parliament would be symbolic without border and institutional control and no international support.
Such a declaration “will see the fracture between hardliners and the pragmatic people in Catalonia who are already seeing an economic fallout,” Dowling said.
More than 700 companies, including Catalan banks, multinationals and mid-size businesses, have moved their registered addresses out of the troubled region because of concerns about the region’s legal status, according to Spain’s Association of Commercial Registers. While it doesn’t affect jobs, the rms could delay investments if the standoff continues.
Civil society groups who have drawn hundreds of thousands to the streets in peaceful pro-independence demonstrations over the past few years are calling for new protests Thursday at the gates of the central government’s of ce in Barcelona and a bigger march later this week.
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Ciaran Giles reported from Madrid. Frank Grif ths contributed to this report from London.
10 Things to Know for Today By The Associated Press
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. TOURISTS NOW QUESTIONING INVISIBLE ATTACKS IN CUBA
Chris Allen, visiting Havana from South Carolina, tells the AP exclusively he had similar neurological
symptoms as a U.S. government worker when Allen stayed at the same hotel two years earlier.
2. TRUMP’S REMARKS ON KELLY’S SON CONTRAST WITH MESSY BRAWL THIS WEEK
The president’s political re ght over his role as consoler-in-chief is a remarkable contrast with his solemn
Memorial Day tribute to U.S. personnel lost to war.
3. AS CATALAN DEADLINE PASSES, MADRID TAKES ACTION
Spain will hold a special Cabinet meeting on Saturday to trigger the process to take some or full control
of Catalonia’s semi-autonomous powers.
4. WHY TRUMP IS AN ERRATIC TRADING PARTNER
The president often kicks thorny policy issues to Congress and then sends con icting signals about what
he really wants.
5. SWEEPING MULTISTATE MANHUNT ENDS
Police say they chased down on foot Radee Prince, 37, accused of shooting ve co-workers at a granite
company in Maryland, killing three.
6. UNCERTAINTY AS MIDDLE EAST DEFEATS MILITANTS IN RAQQA
The downfall of the Islamic State group could open up cracks in temporary alliances created to ght the
extremists, and rivalries for in uence are now likely to take center stage.
7. JIHADIST AMBUSH ON US FORCES SHOWS NEW DANGER IN SAHEL
Authorities believe the attack in Niger was carried out by a group that has pledged allegiance to the
Islamic State group.
8. WHAT PHILIPPINE CITY IS IN RUINS FROM MILITANT SIEGE
A ve-monthlong assault of Marawi reveals a devastated southern city with smoke smoldering from
damaged houses.
9. DODGERS HAVE TO PUT BROOMS AWAY
Javier Baez snaps a long batting slump with two home runs and the Chicago Cubs avoid a sweep, hold-