Separatist Movements Face Defeats in Spain, Iraq

Separatist movements in Spain and Iraq begun actions over the past two months in attempts to achieve independence from their countries, though both are strongly opposed by the countries, leading to confrontation.

In Spain, Catalonian separatists pushed for a referendum asking whether the region, the wealthiest in Spain, should secede and become independent. The referendum as condemned as illegal by the Spanish government and boycotted by most pro-union people in the region. Because of this, the independence option was supported by just over 92% of the vote, but with only just over turnout. In addition, there were outbreaks of violence between Spanish police forces and pro-independence supporters during the vote.

Ignoring Spanish condemnations and threats to directly rule the region, Catalan leadership, led by pro-independence parties, recognized the results and declared independence on October 27, only to be taken over by the Spanish government shortly after with little resistance. Carles Puigdemont has left Spain for Belgium (though he claims he is not seeking asylum) and has called on Catalonians to accept the result of snap elections to replace the ousted Catalonian parliament on December 21.

In Iraq, the Kurdish referendum passed with nearly 93% of the vote, with nearly 73% turning out to vote. The result led to Iraq’s military pushing into Kurdish held land, taking back territory held since Kurdish forces took the land from the Islamic State. Iraqi forces have taken over border crossings between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey and Syria, and have taken back the city of Kirkuk.

Former Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort Indicted

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort turned himself in on Monday to the FBI after the probe by former FBI Director Robert Mueller pushed for charges related to Manafort’s lobbying work in Ukraine. The probe, which was directed to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, led to a raid on Manafort’s home in July and charges this week related to alleged money laundering. Manafort’s longtime associate Rick Gates was also charged.

Both have pled not guilty.

Mueller has also announced that Trump campaign staffer George Papadopoulos lied to the FBI about Russian attempts to contact the Trump campaign in 2016.

HHS Secretary Tom Price Resigns

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday, following reporting that revealed his travel expenses had added to over $1 million, often using private jets when cheaper modes of transportation likely would have sufficed. Price, who had the shortest tenure of any HHS secretary, adds to the list of Trump officials who have left the administration amid controversy, such as National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey, to whom Trump issued an abrupt dismissal. Price, an ardent opponent of Obamacare, was selected in part to begin dismantling the program amid GOP repeal efforts.

Roy Moore Wins Alabama Senate Primary

Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in the Republican primary in Alabama for the special election triggered by Jeff Session’s resignation to become US attorney general. Moore defeated Luther 55-45% in the runoff, after coming in first in the primary in August. Luther was an appointee to fill Sessions’s seat until an election could be held.

Moore, who was noted for his refusals to remove the Ten Commandments from a courtroom or recognize the legality of same-sex marriage during his previous terms as chief justice (for both he was suspended by Alabama’s judiciary board), ran with the support of many of Trump’s supporters (such as Steve Bannon, Seb Gorka, and Nigel Farage), but not from Trump himself, who supported Strange. Though Trum is popular in Alabama, his support for Strange was not enough for his victory.

Trump has promised support for Moore in the general, which Moore has said he welcomes, and will face Democrat Doug Jones on December 12.

Attack in Charlottesville Causes Tragedy, Political Headaches

A white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend turned violent Saturday as twenty year old man, James Fields, drove his car into a crowd filled with counter-protesters, killing a woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring 19 more. Fields was taken into custody shortly after.

The protests began last Friday, as marchers including white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue. A night march was led by Richard Spencer, a white nationalist and a self-proclaimed leader of the “at-right,” a movement which contains white supremacist elements. In the march, the demonstrators carried tiki torches and shouted chants, such as, “Jews will not replace us.”

The more violent clashes happened the next Saturday, as counterprotesters, including anti-racist demonstrators and far-left elements engaged in melee with the far-right. The police in Charlottesville has been criticized for not doing enough to ensure that the demonstrations did not give way to violence. While the cohort led by Spencer and his allies had a permit for the rally, the police attempted to disperse the protesters just prior to the car attack. The violence came to a head with the car attack, which is believed to been motivated by racism and likely a terrorist attack in itself. In addition, two Virginia State police officers died when their helicopter crashed while providing support to control the violence during the rally.

In response to the attack, President Donald Trump issued an initial statement, blaming the violence on both sides, saying “many sides” were at fault. Facing criticism from many, especially from fellow Republicans, he gave another statement the next day explicitly denouncing the “KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists.” Trump faced further criticism for a press conference on Tuesday, in which he implied there were good people on both sides of the demonstrations, and that the left-wing protesters, which he called the “alt-left,” shared as much blame for the violence as the far-right demonstrators.