Catalan leadership claims it won the right to independence

Political leaders in Catalonia are claiming the right to statehood after “a contentious referendum that was marred by violence,” BBC reports. Some 800 people were injured in clashes with police yesterday as they attempted to block the ballot for Catalonia’s independence, which the Spanish constitutional court had declared illegal. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont reached out to EU officials through the media, saying they “could no longer continue ‘to look the other way.’”