Why every election gets its own crisis

October is a tense month in American in politics. The closer a political campaign gets to election day, the more vulnerable it is to an “October Surprise” -- a late-breaking scandal or controversy that influences voters in the final days of an election. “October Surprises” are typically thought of as unexpected events that surprise both sides of an election -- natural disasters, terrorist attacks, etc.. But more recently, it's come to describe an intentional campaign strategy, wherein political operatives exploit late-breaking news stories to try to damage their opponents at the last-minute. Trump’s fixation on the migrant caravan traveling to the United States is a clear example of that strategy -- an attempt to shift the media’s

Catalan parliament declares independence from Spain

Catalonia: tracking independence movements across Europe

The Catalan parliament has voted to declare independence from Spain.

Seventy lawmakers voted in favour, 10 voted against, while two cast blank ballots. 

The decision was made during a secret vote in Barcelona on Friday afternoon.

The names of those who voted for independence was withheld, as the Spanish attorney general promised to charge those who voted in favour of independence with “rebellion”.

The declaration comes as the Spanish government is set to vote on the application of Article 155 of the Constitution, which allows Madrid to directly administer the breakaway region.

Dozens of members of the Catalan Socialist party (PSC) walked out of the chamber before the vote, as did MPs from the centrist Ciutadans party and the conservative People’s party. Some left Spanish and Catalan flags on their empty seats.

Opponents of independence accused the regional president, Carles Puigdemont, and his allies of ignoring the views of the majority of Catalans who wish to remain part of Spain.

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