Page 8 - AT

A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 21 december 2018
Spain, Catalonia leaders agree to resolve political crisis

By JOSEPH WILSON chapter, a chapter in which
ARITZ PARRA confrontation becomes
Associated Press concord," Sanchez told a
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Catalan business forum at
Spain's prime minister and a nearby hotel shortly after
the leader of Catalonia seeing Torra.
emerged from a meeting "Against the polarization of
Thursday with an agree- society, cohesion. Against
ment to find a solution to posturing and noise, dia-
the political crisis that has logue, dialogue and dia-
festered since the region's logue," Sanchez said.
failed secession attempt Torra also attended the
last year. forum and said that "both
Following the talks in the governments share the
Catalan city of Barcelona idea of finding a demo-
between Spanish leader cratic solution."
Pedro Sanchez and Cata- Despite the willingness
lan head Quim Torra, their shown by both sides to talk,
governments issued a joint neither hid how far apart
statement calling for dia- they still are on agreeing to
logue to settle the fight. the way to resolve Spain's
The statement said the Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, left and the president of the country's Catalonia region, worst political crisis in nearly
central and regional gov- Quim Torra talk at the start of a meeting in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. three decades.
ernments recognize there Associated Press Catalan government
is a conflict over Catalo- spokeswoman Elsa Artadi
nia's future. But, it added, governments meet again authorities. Several leaders place in Barcelona's Palau told reporters after the
"Despite the notable differ- in January. of the secession movement de Pedralbes, a former pal- meeting that Torra's posi-
ences about its origin, na- The Spanish and Catalan were jailed. ace surrounded by walled tion remains that a legal
ture and ways of resolution, governments have been Sanchez and Torra sat gardens that once housed binding referendum on in-
they share, above all, the at odds since the Catalan down for the first time last Spanish royalty. Torra shook dependence is the answer.
commitment for effective Parliament issued an inef- July in an initial step by the hands with Sanchez on Spain's minister of territorial
dialogue that is linked to a fective declaration of inde- Spanish prime minister to his arrival and they spoke affairs, Meritxell Batet, said
political proposal that has pendence last year, which mend relations with Cata- briefly as they walked into the federal government
the backing of large part was ruled unconstitutional lonia's separatist leaders the building, which belongs has not budged from its
of Catalan society." by the courts and led to since they both took power to the regional govern- position that such a refer-
The two sides also agreed a temporary takeover of earlier this year. ment. endum by a Spanish region
to have members of their regional affairs by Spanish Their second meeting took "We all must open a new is unconstitutional.q

Disgraced German reporter stripped of

awards, returns others

The German Reporters Fo-
rum said Relotius contact-
ed the group about return-
ing the four awards it gave
him in recent years and to
apologize.
German magazine Der
Spiegel announced
Wednesday that Relotius,
who worked for the publi-
cation first as a freelancer
and later full-time, had fab-
ricated interviews and facts
in at least 14 articles.
The Dec. 19, 2018 photo shows issues of German news maga- The fraud, which Spiegel
zine Spiegel arranged on a table in Berlin. described as "a low point"
Associated Press in its 70-year history, was
widely condemned in Ger-
By FRANK JORDANS ciated Press, CNN Interna- many but also drew rebuke
BERLIN (AP) — A German tional said the independent in the United States, where
journalist who was found to panel of judges that gave Relotius claimed to have re-
have made up information Claas Relotius the "Journal- ported many of his articles.
for numerous published arti- ist of the Year" and "Print In a lengthy blog post , two
cles is being stripped of two Journalist of the Year" prizes Minnesota residents de-
awards he received in 2014 decided unanimously to re- scribed the suspicions they
from CNN International, the scind the honors following had about Relotius' work
broadcaster said Thursday. the reporting fraud revela- after he visited the town of
In a statement to The Asso- tions. Fergus Falls in 2017.q