Catalonian independence would cause a domino effect, says Marco Bassani, professor of Politics, at the University of Milan. The current European order may be replaced by a confederation in 10-15 years with dozens of new countries appearing, he adds.

Two major regions in the north of Italy, Lombardy, and Veneto, overwhelmingly voted on Sunday for greater autonomy. According to the leaders of the areas, more than 90 percent of the electorate voted "yes."

Despite the fact the referendums were non-binding, the two regions may now request greater economic independence from Rome. Both Lombardy President Roberto Maroni and Luca Zaia are members of the Northern League and say that the north is subsidizing the southern regions. Veneto and Lombardy are two of Italy's economic powerhouses, accounting for about 30 percent of the country's GDP.

Catalan authorities will not follow orders from Madrid, but will only listen to the will of the Catalan people, Catalonia's Foreign Affairs spokesman told BBC Radio.

All institutions, including police, need to follow instructions from the democratically-elected Catalan government, the region's foreign affairs spokesman, Raul Romeva, told BBC radio.

According to the official, EU democracy cannot be trusted if it allows Madrid to impose direct rule on Catalonia.

As The Free Thought Project has predicted on numerous occasions, Harvey Weinstein's demise is allowing for the era of secrecy and silence involving pedophilia in Hollywood to finally be exposed - forcing change.

On Friday, youth talent agent Tyler Grasham was fired from APA talent agency following sexual abuse allegations from many of the actors he represented. According to the Daily Mail, the allegations first surfaced on social media and expanded to include many high-profile actors. Grasham is a veteran of the industry and has represented child actors for decades.

Former child star Blaise Godbe Lipman posted a "#MeToo" open letter on Instagram and Facebook accusing Grasham of abusing him and leveling allegations that the APA knew about it, yet chose to do nothing. Following Lipman's revelation, the allegation ran its own course, a route that has now led to Grasham's firing.

Lipman said that he was a minor when, while attempting to get him to sign with APA, the talent agent got him drunk and then sexually assaulted him:

In the Hollywood dream factory, trauma surfaces as light entertainment. In 2013, introducing the list of best supporting actress nominees at a pre-Oscars event, comedian Seth MacFarlane quipped: "Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein." What was chilling about this was not just that MacFarlane followed it up at the Oscars with a stream of "edgy" jokes, including the line that nine-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis had "16 years before she's too old for Clooney" and the nauseating We Saw Your Boobs song. What is really disturbing is that everyone - even people who had no idea of what has now emerged about Weinstein's behaviour - got the joke. The idea that female stars and aspiring stars are required to accept the attentions, at the very least, of older male studio executives and producers, is as old as the Hollywood hills.

Why are those of us who don't attend breakfast meetings in Beverly Hills familiar with the phrase "the casting couch"? Why is there even a euphemism for this extreme form of sexual harassment? The power imbalance between female stars and older male executives is so well broadcast that it features in Hollywood films and awards ceremonies, as a plot device or as a joke, and nobody takes the trouble to hide it.

In this weighted system, historic horror stories abound of executives taking advantage of starlets. Shirley Temple recalled that Arthur Freed, a producer at MGM, exposed himself to her when she was 12 years old. Louis B Mayer insisted that his protege Judy Garland sit on his lap - she was one of a number of "juvenile stars" at the MGM studio, whose punishing schedule, she said, required amphetamines to get through the day, and sleeping pills to rest at night. Ginger Rogers said that Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia, chased her around a desk making passes. Marilyn Monroe compared Hollywood to an "overcrowded brothel". Joan Collins, who was warned about "wolves" by Monroe, says she missed out on the lead in Cleopatra because she refused to be "nice" to the head of 20th Century Fox, Buddy Adler, who also reportedly harassed a 19-year-old Rita Moreno.

Israeli authorities raided the SIlwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, where bulldozers demolished two Palestinian homes under the pretext that they were built without a permit.


Locals told Ma'an that Israeli bulldozer escorted by armed forces raided and surrounded the neighborhood, closing all roads to the area before forcing residents of the two homes to evacuate prior to the demolition.

The homes belonged to Murad Abu Rajab and his son Raed. Raed told Ma'an that the two homes were built 14 months ago, and that there was a valid court decision postponing the demolition.

He added that he informed the officer in charge of Tuesday's demolition of the postponement, but the Jerusalem Municipality crews carried out the demolition anyways.

Raed said that nine family members lived in the two homes.

Two of Italy's wealthiest northern regions on Sunday voted overwhelmingly in favour of greater autonomy in the latest example of the powerful centrifugal forces reshaping European politics.

Voters in the Veneto region that includes Venice, and Lombardy, home to Milan, backed more powers being devolved from Rome in votes that took place against the backdrop of the crisis created by Catalonia's push for independence.

Veneto President Luca Zaia hailed the results, which were delayed slightly by a hacker attack, as an institutional "big bang". But he reiterated the region's aspirations were not comparable to the secessionist agenda that has provoked a constitutional crisis in Spain.

Turnout was projected at around 58% in Veneto, where support for autonomy is stronger, and just over 40% in Lombardy. The presidents of each regions said more than 95% of voters who had cast ballots had, as expected, voted for greater autonomy.

Fifteen members of the radical Jewish group Lehava suspected of attacking and threatening Arab men dating Jewish women have been arrested in Israel, including the group's controversial leader, Ben-Tzion Gopstein.

The raids and arrests were carried out simultaneously in Jerusalem, northern and southern Israel and in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"Fifteen suspects known to the police as active in the Lehava organization were arrested or detained for questioning during the night as part of a police investigation on suspicion that they acted to locate and threaten [Arab] minority members with connections to Jewish young women or girls," read a police statement, as quoted by AFP.

The raids, the police said, were the result of an undercover operation that uncovered evidence of "organized and pre-meditated activity believed to have been carried out by the suspects, known members of Lehava."

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says that the National Football League (NFL) is suffering serious damage due to the ongoing national anthem protests that have swept the league in recent months.

"There is no question the league is suffering negative effects from these protests," Jones told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram following the Cowboys' 40-10 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

He also stressed that some of the Cowboys' sponsors have raised "concerns" about the anthem protests.

"All times, I want to do the right thing by them and their customers. I have a great responsibility to the people who support us. We all get great benefits from having a lot of people watch our games. All of us do," Jones said.

The protests have reportedly led to a decline in TV ratings and ticket sales, with the total viewership of NFL games plummeting 7.5 percent compared with last season.

The Cowboys are one of six NFL teams that don't have protesting players on their roster.

However, their absence could be a result of Jones' promise to bench athletes who "disrespect the flag."

German federal prosecutors are overstretched with more than 900 terrorism cases - a fourfold increase from 2016, according the federal prosecutor's office.

So far this year, prosecutors have had to deal with over 900 terrorism-related cases, around 800 of which involve radical Islamists, the federal prosecutor's office told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. These cover not only plots to attack Germany but also cases of jihadists leaving the country to fight in Iraq and Syria. According to the German intelligence agency BfV, some 950 people have left Germany for warzones in the Middle East. Women and children, including those taken by their families, make up around a quarter of this group, while 150 of those who traveled there have died.

Four people were arrested after a group of protesters opposed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clashed with counter-demonstrators in Toronto, Ontario. Police say both sides bear responsibility.

The aim of the protest, held at Nathan Phillips Square outside the city hall, was to "allow Canadians of all different political affiliations to come together and express their disapproval with Justin Trudeau's performance during his time as Prime Minister of Canada thus far," read the event's page on Facebook.

"From soaring taxes to out of control spending, to the paying of a convicted terrorist in Omar Khadr to the sum of $10.5 million, Justin Trudeau has given us all plenty of reason to let him know he's gotta go!"

But despite these claims of non-partisanship, "Let Trudeau Know He Has To Go!" attracted a number of right-wing supporters, including members of the Proud Boys and Northern Guard, some of whom were chanting or waving anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant slogans. Other protesters wore Donald Trump masks, chanting "build that wall!" and "Deus vult!" - a rallying cry during the Crusades.