Lawyers

• Taiwan president: Meeting with China's Xi unrelated to elections

  Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said on Thursday his upcoming meeting with President Xi Jinping was about further normalizing ties with China and had nothing to do with trying to revive his party's fortunes ahead of the island's elections in January.

• Taiwan, China leaders to hold historic meeting in Singapore on Saturday

  Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks with his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore on Saturday in the first such meeting of leaders from the two rivals since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949.

• Victorious Catalan separatists claim mandate to break with Spain

  Separatists on Sunday won a clear majority of seats in Catalonia's parliament in an election that sets the region on a collision course with Spain's central government over independence.

• Taiwan's new political voices want more openness on China ties

  Taiwan is spinning away from China's idealized model of "one country, two systems" as a renewed spirit of democracy sweeps across its political sphere, rousing a new cadre of grassroots leaders critical of a shared future with China.

• Myanmar police beat students, journalists, monks, detain about 100

  Myanmar police beat students, monks and journalists with batons and detained about 100 people on Tuesday as they broke up protesters calling for academic freedom who had been locked in a standoff with security forces for more than a week, a Reuters witness said.

• China's No. 3 leader warns HK activists against 'crossing a line'

  China's third-ranked leader warned advocates of Hong Kong independence on Friday that they were "crossing a line", local media reported.

• China No. 3 leader says more attention needed for Hong Kong young

  China's third-ranked leader wants greater attention paid to young people in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, after they staged pro-democracy protests last year that shut down parts of the city for two and a half months.

• Taiwan envoy admits U.S. kept in the dark over controversial flag raising

  Taiwan's top envoy to the U.S. on Wednesday said that Taiwan did not let U.S. officials know about a flag-raising ceremony on American soil, indicating that by leaving the U.S. in the dark it would give Washington deniability about the controversial matter with China.

• French parliament votes for recognition of Palestinian state

  French lawmakers on Tuesday urged their government to recognize Palestine, a symbolic move that will not immediately affect France's diplomatic stance but demonstrates growing European impatience with a stalled peace process.

• Spain says will seek to block watered-down Catalan vote on independence

  Spain will seek to block in the courts a watered-down version of a Catalan vote on independence planned for Nov. 9 in the same way it stopped a non-binding referendum, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said on Friday.

• UK's Cameron shifts tack on constitutional shake-up to mollify Scots

  Scotland will get more autonomy with no "ifs or buts", Prime Minister David Cameron's office said on Sunday, after Scottish leader Alex Salmond accused him and other politicians of tricking Scots out of independence.

• Scots spurn independence, vote to stay in the United Kingdom

  Scotland has chosen to stay in the United Kingdom, spurning independence in a historic referendum that had worried allies and investors, results showed on Friday with more than two thirds of the vote declared.

• Scots vote against independence in four small constituencies

  Scotland voted against breaking apart the United Kingdom in four small constituencies, early referendum results showed on Friday, as Scots agonized over the fate of their country following a divisive independence campaign.

• Scots independence polls close, UK's future in the balance

  Scotland has voted on whether to stay within the United Kingdom or declare independence to break the 307-year-old union in a finely balanced referendum with global consequences.

• Divided, Scots prepare to vote on fate of the United Kingdom

  Just hours before Scotland's independence referendum, the fate of the United Kingdom rests on hundreds of thousands of wavering Scottish voters, as opinion polls showed supporters of the 307-year union just a whisker ahead of secessionists.

• Ignored and fed up, UK regions call for Scottish-style devolution

  Scotland's chance to vote for independence has lit hopes in other regions of Britain that a reworking of political ties might boost their chances of self-rule too.

• Ahead of independence vote, Britain pledges state funding to Scotland

  Britain promised to guarantee Scotland high levels of state funding, granting Scots greater control over healthcare spending in a last-ditch attempt to shore up support for the United Kingdom before Thursday's vote on independence.