Catalan parties strike deal to end stalemate

Barcelona:

Two Catalan separatist parties say they have reached an initial agreement to form a regional government in north-eastern Spain, ending a stalemate since elections were held.

The left-wing ERC party and the centre-right Together for Catalonia party are rivals for power at the local and regional levels but agree that the dynamic region should secede from Spain.

Their agreement will likely make Pere

Aragones the next chief in Catalonia, a region of 7.5 million. Divisions had reached a breaking point last week over how to proceed with the push for secession and what influence the new administration should allow former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who is now an MP in the European Parliament and a fugitive from Spanish justice.

Although former Spanish health minister and Socialist candidate Salvador Illa won the most votes in the

February 14 regional election, separatist parties together had more than half of the ballots. As the second most popular candidate, Mr Aragones tried but failed to form a government in March.

Queensland:

Australia’s oldest-ever man has said eating chicken brains has helped him live more than 111 years.

Retired cattle rancher Dexter Kruger has marked 124 days since he turned 111 – a day older than First World War veteran Jack Lockett was when he died in 2002.

Mr Kruger said in an interview in the rural town of Roma that a weekly poultry delicacy had contributed to his longevity. “Chicken brains. You know, chickens have a head.

And in there, there’s a brain. And they are delicious little things,” Mr Kruger said. “There’s only one little bite.”

Seattle:

Microsoft chiefs decided in 2020 that it was not appropriate for its co-founder Bill Gates to continue sitting on its board as they investigated his prior romantic relationship with a female employee that was deemed inappropriate, according to reports.

Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal said that board members hired a law firm in late 2019 to conduct an investigation after a Microsoft engineer alleged in a letter that she had a sexual relationship with Mr Gates. The Journal reported that Mr Gates had resigned before the board’s investigation was finished.

A spokeswoman for Mr Gates acknowledged to The Journal that there had been an affair almost 20 years ago, and that it ended “amicably”. Earlier this month, Bill and Melinda Gates said they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage.

Washington DC:

The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider a major rollback of abortion rights, saying it will decide whether states can ban abortions before a foetus can survive outside the womb.

The court’s order sets up a showdown over abortion with a more conservative court seemingly ready to dramatically alter nearly 50 years of rulings on abortion rights.

The court first announced a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion in the 1973 Roe vs Wade decision and reaffirmed it 19 years later. The case involves a Mississippi law that would prohibit abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.