NEWS OF THE DAY
Volcano evacuation: Thousands of villagers on the Indonesian resort island of Bali huddled Saturday in temporary shelters, sports centers and with relatives, fearing Mount Agung would erupt for the first time in more than half a century. Authorities raised the volcano’s alert status to the highest level Friday after a “tremendous increase” in seismic activity. Its last eruption in 1963 killed 1,100 people. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said more than 15,000 villagers have been evacuated. The mountain, 45 miles northeast of the tourist hot spot of Kuta, is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
Gay rights: About 200 people gathered Saturday at an LGBT pride event in Montenegro urging more rights and zero tolerance for violence against gay people in the conservative Balkan country. Participants marched through the capital of Podgorica. Police sealed off the area for protection. An organizer of the event, Danijel Kalezic, said LGBT rights activists want stricter punishments for antigay attacks that he says currently are treated as “ordinary fistfights.”
Independence vote: Spain’s central government and regional Catalan authorities tussled Saturday over who controls the regional police force that is considered key to the success of a planned Oct. 1 independence vote for the northeastern region. The Catalan government has already pledged to push ahead with the referendum, which the Spanish government considers illegal. The Interior Ministry announced Saturday that it will begin coordinating all police efforts in Catalonia to crack down on preparations for the vote, including sending direct orders to the Mossos d’Esquadra — the region’s largest police force. On Saturday, several hundred students remained inside a Barcelona university after spending the night there protesting the Spanish government’s efforts to block the vote.
Uber license: London’s mayor said Saturday that people angry about the decision by transit authorities to strip Uber of its license to operate in the city should blame the ride-hailing company itself. “I have every sympathy with Uber drivers and customers affected by this decision, but their anger really should be directed at Uber,” Mayor Sadiq Khan said. The city’s transportation agency said Friday that it will not renew Uber’s license when it expires Sept. 30, citing a lack of corporate responsibility. The agency said the factors it considered included Uber’s “approach to reporting serious criminal offenses” and its use of software designed to evade the authorities. Uber said it plans to appeal.
Congo election: Congo President Joseph Kabila said Saturday that a timeline for his country’s delayed and highly anticipated presidential election should be released soon. Kabila said at the U.N. General Assembly that Congo is moving toward elections with “undeniable tenacity.” The government and opposition had agreed to hold the vote by the end of 2017. The opposition has accused Kabila of delaying the vote to stay in power. His mandate ended in December.
NAFTA negotiations: A third round of NAFTA talks began Saturday with chief negotiators from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico meeting in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. Canada’s chief negotiator, Steve Verhuel, said he doesn’t expect this round to see any new U.S. proposal to increase American content requirements for autos. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said he wants to see an increase.