Catalonia’s regional government has announced it will hold a referendum on separating from Spain on October 1. The Spanish government, which sees the vote as illegal, has said it will block the referendum. Source Deutsche Welle
- Mainland China’s overall population continued to grow last year, up from 1.4 billion a year earlier
- Chinese mothers gave birth to 12 million babies last year, down from 14.65 million in 2019, marking an 18 per cent decline year on year Source South China Morning Post
“Fluctuations” at Iran’s Natanz plant pushed the purity to which it enriched uranium to 63%, higher than the announced 60% that complicated talks to revive its nuclear deal with world powers, a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday. Source Reuters
Austria on Tuesday rejected a plea for other European Union countries to accept migrants from Italy, following a surge in arrivals on Lampedusa that seems likely to expose deep-seated divisions across the bloc over migration. More than 2,000 mostly African migrants have reached the tiny island off Italy’s southern coast by boat since Sunday, overwhelming its reception centre. Source KFGO
