Catalonia's regional Parliament voted overwhelmingly Friday in favor of independence from Spain, taking the country's political crisis into uncharted territory. The vote came as the Spanish Senate debated the Madrid government's unprecedented plans to seize control of the autonomous region in a bid to quash its independence bid. Lawmakers voted in secret in the Catalan Parliament chamber after a heated debate on a motion "to form the Catalan Republic as an independent and sovereign state." The outcome: 70 votes in favor, 10 against and two blanks. Opposition parties walked out of the chamber ahead of the vote. The ... (full story)