Catalonia referendum: 90% of voters back independence, Catalan officials say
Preliminary results show that 90% of those who voted in Catalonia’s independence referendum backed leaving Spain, Catalan officials say.
EU
Trump vows another healthcare vote next year, eyes executive order
President Donald Trump, faced with the latest Republican failure to undo Obamacare, pledged on Wednesday to tackle it again next year, suggesting without evidence that he had the votes to pass reform and promising to work with Democrats in the meantime.
Iraqi Kurdish leader says ‘yes’ vote won independence referendum
Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said on Tuesday that Kurds had voted “yes” to independence in a referendum held in defiance of the government in Baghdad and which had angered their neighbors and their U.S. allies.
Trump: military option for North Korea not preferred, but would be ‘devastating’
President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday that any U.S. military option would be ‘devastating’ for Pyongyang, but said the use of force was not Washington’s first option to deal with the country’s ballistic and nuclear weapons program.
Emmanuel Macron says Britain could be part of reformed EU after Brexit
Emmanuel Macron has signaled Britain could be part of a reformed European Union after Brexit.
3 Israelis killed, 1 seriously wounded in terror attack outside Jerusalem
Four Israelis were attacked Tuesday morning in the town of Har Adar outside Jerusalem. Three died of their injuries, while one is in serious condition.
Trump aide Greenblatt returning to Israel for peace talks: official
President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace negotiator, Jason Greenblatt, is returning to Israel to continue the peace track after the president met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week in New York, a White House official said on Sunday.
U.S. to partially unveil key NAFTA proposal, talks seen dragging
U.S. trade negotiators will only partially unveil new text on modifying a key chapter on investment under NAFTA, two well-placed sources said on Sunday, underlying the cautious pace of talks that are supposed to wrap up by the end of the year.
Merkel celebrates fourth-term victory; right-wing nationalists win seats in German parliament
German voters delivered Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats a fourth consecutive term and the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party a spot in the parliament in Sunday’s federal election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Ms. Merkel’s performance over the past 12 years.
Half-a-Million People Gather in the Streets of Ukraine to Praise the Name of Jesus
The streets of Kiev filled with songs of praise and thanks as 500,000 evangelical, Ukrainian Christians gathered to celebrated the 500th anniversary of the protestant reformation.
If threatened, U.S. will ‘totally destroy’ North Korea, Trump vows
U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his standoff with North Korea over its nuclear challenge on Tuesday, threatening to “totally destroy” the country of 26 million people and mocking its leader, Kim Jong Un, as a ‘rocket man.’
Putin displays massive firepower in Russian war games on border with Europe
Russia’s big Zapad 2017 military exercises, believed to be the largest since the end of the Cold War, entered the news again on Tuesday after a video emerged appearing to show a Russian attack helicopter firing its rockets into a group of bystanders during drills.
Contradicting IDF, US says it didn’t establish military base in Israel
The American military on Tuesday denied a claim made by the Israel Defense Forces that the United States had established its first base in Israel, saying the new buildings were instead a “living facility.”
Hamas says ready to hand Gaza to a Palestinian unity government
Hamas has agreed to dissolve the administration that runs Gaza, it said on Sunday, a major step towards handing control of the enclave to a Palestinian unity government after a decade of bitter rivalry with President Mahmoud Abbas.
Russia kicks off huge war games on Europe’s borders
Military officials in Belarus sought Thursday morning to calm Western fears about major war games taking place with Russia, hours before they got underway.
Fearing Russia, Sweden holds biggest war games in 20 years
Neutral Sweden has launched its biggest war games in two decades with support from NATO countries, drilling 19,000 troops after years of spending cuts that have left the country fearful of Russia’s growing military strength.
Ghost Jihadis: ISIS Fighters Have Thousands of Blank Syrian Passports That Could Be Used to Provide Fake Identities
The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has some 11,000 blank Syrian passports that could be used to provide fake identities for jihadists, German authorities believe.
Lights still out for 5.8 million U.S. customers after Irma
Some 5.8 million homes and businesses in Florida and nearby states still had no power on Tuesday after the pummeling from Hurricane Irma, as utility companies scrambled to get the lights back on in one of the biggest power restoration efforts in U.S. history.
Australia kicks off weeks-long same-sex marriage ballot
Australia on Tuesday launched a postal vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage as a widely watched poll indicated the country would be overwhelmingly in support.
Northern Command goes on offense in wide-scale exercise
The Northern Command began the next stage of its wide-scale training exercise in the Western and Lower Galilee on Monday, conducting offensive maneuvers in a simulation of an all-out war against the Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah.