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Article snippet: (Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: • In an unusually forceful move, Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, is seeking to take control of Catalonia’s administration and remove its separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont. The Senate could grant him the authority under Article 155 of the Constitution, a broad but ill-defined tool that has never before been used, by Friday. Mr. Puigdemont could still ask lawmakers to vote for a unilateral declaration of independence or call elections. Both sides share blame for allowing the dispute to spin dangerously out of control, our correspondent writes. Barcelona, home to many migrants from other parts of Spain, has found itself divided. _____ • In the Czech Republic, the billionaire oligarch Andrej Babis defeated mainstream parties in parliamentary elections and is almost certain to lead a coalition government. Meanwhile in Italy, voters in the northern regions of Veneto and Lombardy endorsed negotiations for greater autonomy from the central government in Rome. Slovenia’s presidential election is headed for a runoff next month. And in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s victory in parliamentary elections raised the possibility that he would move swiftly to try to change the country’s pacifist Constitution. _____ • In Syria, U.S.-backed militia fighters seized the country’s largest oil field from the Islamic State, narrowly beating pro-government forces to it. Our... Link to the full article to read more