NEWS
TICKER
Suit against
gunmaker
goes forwardA lawsuit brought by
relatives of the victims
and a survivor of the
2012 Sandy Hook
shooting, against
Remington Arms,
will proceed after
the Supreme Court
rejected a defense
appeal on Nov. 12. A
2005 law has shielded
gunmakers from suits
over crimes involving
their weapons.Violence
escalates in
Hong KongPolice warned that
the rule of law in Hong
Kong was “on the brink
of collapse” Nov. 12,
after a week in which
one pro-democracy
protester was shot
by security forces
and a pro-Beijing
demonstrator was
set on fire. Both were
hospitalized. Pro-
democracy protests in
the territory have been
ongoing for half a year.Bloomberg
prepares to
enter raceOn Nov. 8, former New
York City mayor Michael
Bloomberg sent filings
to join Alabama’s
presidential primary,
signaling an intention
to make a late entry
into an already
crowded Democratic
field. Former two-term
Massachusetts
governor Deval Patrick
has also recently made
moves suggesting he
may run.for 44 years, far-righT parTies were
anathema in Spain, thanks to the memory of
Francisco Franco’s fascist dictatorship. But
after elections on Nov. 10, ultra conservative
Vox became the third largest party in the
country’s legislature. Center-left Prime
Minister Pedro Sánchez hoped the election,
Spain’s fourth in four years, would break
a parliamentary deadlock. But voter fa-
tigue and nationalist clashes over the semi-
autonomous Catalan region gave Vox a boost
and further fragmented the legislature—
leaving Sánchez little to celebrate.
SURGE TO THE RIGHT Vox politicians en-
tered Spain’s parliament for the first time
only in April, but the party more than dou-
bled its seats this round, winning 52. That
leaves them behind only the main center-
right People’s Party (PP), with 88, and Sán-
chez’s Socialists (PSOE), at 120. Vox re-
sembles other hard-right parties that have
surged across Europe in recent years: under
the slogan “Spaniards first,” its leader San-
tiago Abascal has pledged to deport undoc-
umented migrants, called for the repeal of
Spain’s gender-violence law and urged the
end of public funding for abortions.
CATALAN CRISIS The main driver of Vox’s
success is its firm opposition to Catalan in-
dependence. The region of 7 million voted
to secede in a 2017 referendum considered
illegal by Madrid. In October, Spain’s Su-
preme Court sentenced nine Catalan leaders
to up to 13 years in prison for their role in
the poll; mass protests ensued. Vox has long
called for a ban on political parties advocat-
ing regional independence, and after the
protests, Abascal cast himself as the protec-
tor of “national unity”—a priority of Spain’s
right wing since the Franco days.RISING PROSPECTS The Catalan question
is likely to only grow in importance as Sán-
chez now attempts to form a government. On
Nov. 12, the PSOE struck a preliminary coali-
tion deal with far-left Podemos, which has
35 seats. But Sánchez remains 21 law makers
short of a majority, which may leave him no
choice but to ask for support from small re-
gional independence parties. They will want
concessions on Catalonia—but with Vox now
establishing itself as a major force in parlia-
ment, resistance to that will be stronger than
ever. Governing Spain just got even harder.
—ciara nugenTTHE BULLETIN
Spain’s new far right rides
nationalist wave to greater power
CROSSING PATHS Mercury passes between Earth and the sun on Nov. 11. From parts of the
Americas, Greenland and West Africa, the solar system’s smallest planet—and the one closest to
the sun—was visible as a tiny black dot (near bottom left). Mercury was first observed making this
transit in 1631, confirming that planets orbit the sun in elliptical paths rather than circles. The event
takes place only 13 or 14 times a century.