World briefs

SPAIN’s government yesterday set in motion plans to take away Catalonia’s local powers after its defiant regional president refused to give up his demands for Catalan independence. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont sent a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (pictured) just minutes before the deadline threatening to go ahead with a unilateral proclamation of independence if the government refuses to negotiate. 

MYANMAR A fire gutted a luxury teakwood hotel popular with foreigners in Myanmar’s biggest city of Yangon before dawn yesterday, causing one death. A woman from Macau was hospitalized in critical condition.

NEW ZEALAND Jacinda Ardern will be New Zealand’s next prime minister and hopes to take the country on a more liberal path following nine years of rule by the conservatives.

INDIA’s famed monument of love, the white marble Taj Mahal, is finding itself at the heart of a political storm, with some members of the country’s ruling Hindu right-wing party claiming that the mausoleum built by a Muslim emperor does not reflect Indian culture.

TURKEY-NIGERIA Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged cooperation with Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram but said he expected the African nation’s support against a movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating last year’s failed coup.

MALTA The sons of slain investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia have called on the Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign, saying he should take political responsibility for “failing to uphold our fundamental freedoms.”

VENEZUELA’s opposition boycotted a swearing-in ceremony Wednesday for governors held by the all-powerful, pro-government constitutional assembly following disputed elections largely won by ruling party candidates.