Spanish PM visits Catalan unionists
In his first visit to Catalonia since taking control of the restive region in Spain, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Barcelona on Sunday urged Catalans to vote in next month’s elections to defeat the independence movement and return the region to “normality.”
Mr. Rajoy, addressing Catalan supporters of his conservative Popular Party, rejected criticism of the jailing of separatist politicians, a day after hundreds of thousands of pro-independence demonstrators marched in Barcelona, the Catalan capital, to demand their release.
“In Spain, you can defend any idea,” Mr. Rajoy said, but only as long as it is done within the rule of law.
Mr. Rajoy’s government took charge of Catalonia on Oct. 27, using emergency powers under Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, shortly after separatist lawmakers voted for independence from Spain. He fired the Catalan government, dissolved the Catalan parliament and set new regional elections for Dec. 21.
After Mr. Rajoy imposed direct rule on Catalonia, the region’s former leader, Carles Puigdemont, arrived in Brussels. He is fighting an arrest warrant issued by Spain’s judiciary to force him and four other Catalan politicians to return to Madrid to stand trial on charges including rebellion. Other members of the former Catalan government were recently jailed without bail.
Far-right march in Poland
The official celebration of Poland’s 99th independence day proceeded innocuously, with ceremonies in the capital. There was even a visit from the European Council’s internationalist president, who insisted to Politico that Saturday’s festivities would proceed “with a smile on our face and with joy in our hearts.”
But for blocks and blocks and blocks beyond the central towers of Warsaw, a much larger crowd swelled beneath a cloud of red smoke. The tens of thousands of people came from across Poland and beyond, and reporters documented their signs:
“Clean Blood,” as seen by Politico.
“Pray for an Islamic Holocaust,” per CNN.
“White Europe” streaked across another banner, the Associated Press reported — as about 60,000 people chanted and marched through Warsaw in an annual gathering of Europe’s far-right movements, which now dwarfs the official version of Poland’s independence day.
$15.1B Boeing order
Long-haul carrier Emirates purchased 40 Americanmade Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners on Sunday at the start of the biennial Dubai Air Show, a $15.1 billion deal certain to please President Donald Trump, who has touted the plane’s sales as a job creator in America.
The deal appeared to surprise Boeing’s archrival Airbus.
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An Indonesian visual effects museum that encouraged visitors to take selfies with a waxwork of Adolf Hitler against a giant image of the Auschwitz extermination camp has removed the exhibit after protests.