World briefs

SPAIN Catalonia’s regional parliament will hold a debate this week on Spain’s plan to take direct control of the northeastern region — a session many fear could become a cover for a vote on declaring independence. The Spanish government says no dialogue is possible with independence on the table and is maneuvering to fire all Catalan top officials and call an early regional election.

INDONESIA Three days of clashes between Indonesian police and gunmen near a U.S.-owned gold and copper mine in easternmost Papua province have killed one officer and wounded six others.

PHILIPPINES Soldiers have captured a building where pro-Islamic State group militants made their final stand in southern Marawi city and found about 40 bodies of suspected gunmen inside, two security officials told The Associated Press yesterday.

SYRIA The bodies of at least 67 Syrian civilians, many summarily killed by the Islamic State group, have been discovered in a central town in Syria that government forces retook from the extremists over the weekend. 

EGYPT-LIBYA Egypt’s military targeted an arms convoy crossing the border from Libya, destroying vehicles loaded with weapons and explosives, and killing militants, a military spokesman said yesterday.

MALTA Several thousand Maltese citizens rallied Sunday to honor an investigative journalist killed by a car bomb, but the prime minister and opposition leader who were chief targets of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s reporting did not attend. Participants at the rally in Malta’s capital, Valletta, placed flowers at a memorial to the journalist.

BRITAIN Prime Minister Theresa May says she has “a degree of confidence” that Brexit talks will be able to move to their decisive second phase by December.

US-AFGHANISTAN U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said yesterday there is a place for moderate elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan’s government as long as they renounce violence and terrorism. Speaking on an unannounced trip to Afghanistan, Tillerson said the Taliban must understand that they will never win a military victory and should prepare to negotiate with the government.

BRAZIL Military police say officers killed a Spanish tourist when the vehicle she was traveling in came under fire after ignoring a police checkpoint. The incident followed a firefight between police officers and suspected drug traffickers yesterday in Rocinha, one of Brazil’s largest slums.