WSJ.com What's News - Worldwide News Briefs for Sep 29

CATALAN SEPARATISTS DEFIANT BEFORE INDEPENDENCE VOTE

Catalan separatists vow to press on with an independence referendum despite government efforts to block the ballot, setting the ground for a potentially chaotic vote and bringing to a head a confrontation that has been looming for years.

U.S. TO REDUCE STAFFING AT CUBA EMBASSY

The State Department is cutting more than half of its staff from the U.S. embassy in Havana and warning Americans against traveling to Cuba as Washington investigates a mysterious rash of illnesses.

NATO FACES UP TO NORTH KOREA, RUSSIA WITH NUCLEAR SUB VISIT

NATO's secretary-general and council toured a Trident missile-capable submarine base in Scotland, in a high-level bid to highlight the military alliance's nuclear capabilities.

MYANMAR REFUGEES TELL OF ATROCITIES; 'A SOLDIER CUT HIS THROAT'

Witnesses in refugee camps describe Myanmar military's massacre of minority Rohingya Muslims that has sparked a humanitarian crisis.

EU LEADERS LOOK FOR GREATER UNITY AHEAD OF BREXIT

The European Union is officially out of crisis mode, EU leaders signaled at a summit in the Estonian capital, where they addressed overhauls to reshape the bloc once Britain leaves.

INFLATING WITH MAGMA: THE SIGNS THAT BALI'S VOLCANO IS ABOUT TO BLOW

Mount Agung, a giant stratovolcano that dominates northern Bali's landscape, is likely to blow, according to Indonesia's national volcano monitor. But nobody knows when.

SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS AT LEAST SIX NEAR SHIITE MOSQUE IN AFGHANISTAN

A man wearing an explosives vest blew himself up near a crowded Shiite mosque in central Kabul, killing at least six people and wounding 14 others.

IRAQ IMPOSES FLIGHT BAN ON KURDS AFTER INDEPENDENCE VOTE

Iraq imposed a flight ban on its semiautonomous Kurdish region on Friday, retaliating against a landmark referendum this week in which the Kurds voted overwhelmingly to secede from the rest of the country.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 29, 2017 17:40 ET (21:40 GMT)