2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis
Puigdemont's government announced that neither central Spanish authorities nor the courts would halt their plans and that it intended to hold the vote anyway, sparking a legal backlash that quickly spread from the Spanish and Catalan governments to Catalan municipalities—as local mayors were urged by the Generalitat to provide logistical support and help for the electoral process to be carried out—as well as to the Constitutional Court, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia and state prosecutors.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis
By 15 September, as pro-Catalan independence parties began their referendum campaigns, the Spanish government had launched an all-out legal offensive to thwart the upcoming vote, including threats of a financial takeover of much of the Catalan budget, police seizing pro-referendum posters, pamphlets and leaflets which had been regarded as illegal and criminal investigations ordered on the over 700 local mayors who had publicly agreed to help stage the referendum.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis
Tensions between the two sides reached a critical point after Spanish police raided the Catalan government headquarters in Barcelona on 20 September, at the start of Operation Anubis, and arrested fourteen senior Catalan officials. This led to protests outside the Catalan economy department which saw Civil Guard officers trapped inside the building for hours and several vehicles vandalized. The referendum was eventually held, albeit without meeting minimum standards for elections and amid low turnout and a police crackdown ended with hundreds injured. Also Spanish Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that up to 431 officers were injured bruised or even bitten.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis
On 10 October, Puigdemont ambiguously declared and suspended independence during a speech in the Parliament of Catalonia, arguing his move was directed at entering talks with Spain. The Spanish government required Puigdemont to clarify whether he had declared independence or not, to which it received no clear answer.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis
A further requirement was met with an implicit threat from the Generalitat that it would lift the suspension on the independence declaration if Spain "continued its repression", in response to the imprisonment of the leaders of pro-independence Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural, accused of sedition by the National Court because of their involvement in the 20 September events. On 21 October, it was announced by Prime Minister Rajoy that Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution would be invoked, leading to direct rule over Catalonia by the Spanish government once approved by the Senate.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis
On 27 October, the Catalan parliament voted in a secret ballot to unilaterally declare independence from Spain, with most deputies of the opposition boycotting a vote considered illegal for violating the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Spain, as the lawyers of the Parliament of Catalonia warned. As a result, the government of Spain invoked the Constitution to remove the regional authorities and enforce direct rule the next day, with a regional election being subsequently called for 21 December 2017 to elect a new Parliament of Catalonia. Puigdemont and part of his cabinet fled to Belgium after being ousted, as the Spanish Attorney General pressed for charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds against them.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Background
The recent increase in support for Catalan independence has its roots in a Constitutional Court ruling in 2010, which struck down parts of the regional 2006 Statute of Autonomy that granted new powers of self-rule to the region. The ruling came after four years of deliberation concerning a constitutional appeal filed by the conservative People's Party (PP) under Mariano Rajoy—then the country's second-largest party, in opposition to the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party—and was met with anger and street protests in Catalonia. Shortly afterward the PP took power in Spain, and after a massive independence demonstration took place in Barcelona on 11 September 2012—Catalonia's National Day—the Catalan government under Artur Mas called a snap regional election and set out to initiate Catalonia's process towards independence.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Background
After a pro-independence coalition formed by the Junts pel Sí alliance and the Popular Unity Candidacy won a slim majority in the Parliament in the 2015 regional election, Carles Puigdemont replaced Mas as President of the Generalitat. Puigdemont promised to organise a binding independence referendum based on results from a multi-question, non-binding vote in 2014, when about 80% of those who voted were believed to have backed independence for the region, and up to 91.8% supported Catalonia becoming a state—albeit on an estimated turnout around or below 40%.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Background
The Catalan government invoked the right of people to self-determination and Catalonia's political, economical and cultural background to back up its proposal for a referendum on Catalan independence. The Government of Spain, now with Mariano Rajoy as Prime Minister, opposed such a vote, arguing that any referendum on Catalan independence would go against the country's 1978 Constitution, as it made no provision for a vote on self-determination.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Background
On 9 June 2017, Puigdemont announced that the planned independence referendum would be held on 1 October the same year. The Catalan government criticised the attitude of the Spanish government in refusing to negotiate a referendum and accused it of behaving undemocratically.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
On 6 September 2017, the ruling Junts pel Sí (JxSí) coalition and its parliamentary partner, the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), passed the Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia in the Parliament of Catalonia that was to provide the legal framework for the intended independence referendum scheduled for 1 October. The way in which the law had been pushed through Parliament and the clear unconstitutionality of the law became an issue of controversy. Catalan opposition parties accused JxSí and CUP of fast-tracking the law through parliament, not allowing them to appeal the law before being put up to vote.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
In 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that the rights of the opposition where indeed undermined. Shortly after the parliamentary vote, in which most of the opposition MPs walked out from the chamber without voting on the bill, the Catalan regional government signed the decree calling the referendum.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
On 7 September and under a similar procedure as the previous day, pro-independence lawmakers in the Parliament of Catalonia passed the Law of transitional jurisprudence and foundation of the Republic, aimed at superseding the Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia with a new legal framework should a simple majority vote 'Yes' to the independence choice with no minimum participation required.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
Besides its unconstitutional character, the law was criticized for being approved with a simple majority, in contrast with the two thirds needed to reform the Statute of Autonomy or the Spanish Constitution, the generous control it afforded the executive power over the new judicial branch and the extensive degree of immunity offered to the president of the new republic.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
The People's Party-led Spanish government under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced that it would appeal the bill to the Constitutional Court, which agreed to hear all four of its unconstitutionality appeals and subsequently suspended the law and the referendum until it could rule upon the matter. Despite the referendum suspension, the Catalan government announced it would proceed with the vote anyway.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
This prompted Attorney General José Manuel Maza to ask security forces to investigate possible preparations from the Catalan government to hold the vote, as well as announcing he would present criminal charges against members of both the regional parliament and government for voting and signing off the referendum. The national government proceeded to deploy a series of legal measures intended to nullify the referendum, while also warning local councils in Catalonia to either impede or paralyse efforts to carry out the vote. Previously, local mayors had been given 48 hours by the regional government to confirm the availability of polling stations for 1 October.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
Within the next two days, nearly 74% of Catalan municipalities—comprising about 43% of the Catalan population—had agreed to provide the necessary polling stations for the referendum, whereas many of the most-populated urban areas—representing 24% of Catalan inhabitants—had voiced their opposition to the vote.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
The largest city and capital of Catalonia, Barcelona—accounting for about 20% of the region's population—was caught in the middle, with its local mayor, Ada Colau, refusing to make a statement whether the municipality would provide logistic support to the referendum or not while rejecting putting public servants at risk; she, however, voiced her support for the people's right to vote in a fair and legal referendum.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Referendum suspended
Concurrently, President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont, Vice-President Oriol Junqueras, the entire Catalan government as well as parliamentary officials allowing the referendum law to be put to vote in Parliament—including Parliament Speaker Carme Forcadell—faced charges of disobedience, misusing public funds and making deliberately unlawful decisions as elected officials as the High Court of Justice of Catalonia agreed to hear the criminal complaints filled by state prosecutors.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
On 8 September the Attorney General of Catalonia, José María Romero de Tejada, presented two complaints to the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) against him Government and the Bureau of Parliament for crimes of disobedience, prevarication and misappropriation of public funds, as announced the day before the Attorney General José Manuel Maza. These complaints included the guarantee request for the members of the Government as well as a request for a notification to all mayors of Catalonia to prevent any "personal or material resource, including local" resources being provided for the celebration of referendum. The court was also asked to notify the Catalan media managers of the prohibition of inserting institutional advertising or propaganda of the referendum.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
These complaints were admitted by the TSJC on 14 September without accepting the request for a deposit for the members of the Government.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
A decision on 13 September from Spain's public prosecutors to order a criminal probe of all local mayors who had publicly announced they would help stage the independence referendum—totalling over 700—came the day after the Constitutional Court had accepted the Spanish government's request to suspend the second of the two laws that had been approved by the secessionist majority in the Catalan parliament the previous week. The probe meant that prosecutors could choose to present criminal charges—or even arrest, if failing to answer the summons—local mayors who disobeyed the Constitutional Court's ruling.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
As part of a series of moves to block the Catalan referendum, prosecutors had also instructed police officials to seize ballot boxes, election flyers and other items that could be of use in the illegal vote, whereas the Constitutional Court had instructed regional government officials to show how they were preventing the vote from going ahead within a 48-hour deadline.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
In response, the Catalan government sent a letter to Treasury Minister Cristóbal Montoro announcing that it would stop sending weekly financial accounts to Spain's central government, a previously-established obligation that was meant to verify whether the region was using public money for the promotion of its independence drive as well as a requirement for the region's access to a funding programme to autonomous communities established in 2012. The Spanish government then proceeded to take direct control of most of Catalonia's invoice payments.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
In a search on 19 September, Spanish police seized significant election material which had been in store by referendum organizers at the offices of a private delivery company in Terrassa. These included voting cards contained in envelopes with the Catalan government's logo. The next day, the Civil Guard raided Generalitat offices and arrested fourteen senior officials from the Catalan government—most notably, these included Josep Maria Jové, deputy to regional Vice-President Oriol Junqueras. This came after mayors from towns supporting the referendum were questioned in court by state prosecutors.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
Regional premier Carles Puigdemont condemned the actions as "anti-democratic and totalitarian", accusing the Spanish government of 'de facto' imposing a state of emergency and of suspending Catalonia's autonomy after it took effective control over Catalan finances. Public protests occurred in Barcelona after news of the arrests emerged, with left-wing political party Podemos and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau joining the growing criticism of Mariano Rajoy's government crackdown on public servants, dubbing it as an "authoritarian regression".


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
The previous day, the Congress of Deputies had voted down a motion from Ciudadanos to support the Spanish government's response to the referendum, which was rejected by 166 votes to 158. Rajoy defended his government's actions in that "What we're seeing in Catalonia is an attempt to eliminate the constitution and the autonomous statute of Catalonia... Logically, the state has to react. There is no democratic state in the world that would accept what these people are trying to do. They've been warned and they know the referendum can't take place".


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
Rajoy also called for the Catalonia government to give up its "escalation of radicalism and disobedience", calling for them to "Go back to the law and democracy" and dubbing the referendum a "chimera", as tens of thousands gathered in the streets of Barcelona and other Catalan cities to protest police actions. The Spanish government did not rule out invoking Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which would allow the central government to adopt "the necessary measures to compel regional authorities to obey the law"—in practice, allowing for the autonomy's effective suspension and direct rule of the region.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
On 21 September, the Catalan government acknowledged that the raid and arrests in the previous day severely hampered the referendum's logistics by preventing any alternative election data centre to be established in time for the vote to take place. Nonetheless, Catalan Vice-President Junqueras called for people to turn out and mobilise on 1 October, turning the social response into a "censure motion to Rajoy", stating that "If there is any possibility of change in Spain, democracy must triumph in Catalonia".


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Start of crisis, Judicial and police action
As street protests continued throughout Catalonia, additional police reinforcements were sent by the Spanish government to block any moves to hold the referendum on 1 October. Spanish prosecutors formally accused some protesters in Barcelona of sedition, after several Civil Guard patrol cars had been vandalised on Wednesday night. By 23 September, the Spanish government announced that the Mossos d'Esquadra—the regional police force—were to be subordinated to a single command dependent of the Spanish government and that the Interior Ministry would assume co-ordination over all security forces in Catalonia. The previous day, several hundred students had announced a permanent occupation of the historic building of the University of Barcelona, protesting the state's actions.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
Despite the suspension, the Catalan referendum was held on 1 October 2017, as scheduled by the Generalitat. Over 12,000 officers from the National Police Corps and the Civil Guard were deployed throughout Catalonia in an effort to close off polling stations and seize all election material to prevent the vote from taking place. The Spanish government was forced to call off police raids after clashes with protesters resulted in two people seriously injured, one for a gum ball shot against the eye and the other one due to a heart attack.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
893 civilians and 111 agents of the Nacional Police and the Civil Guard were reported to have been injured. According to some Spanish media these previously reported figures may have been exaggerated. The Guardian's columnist, Peter Preston, said the number of injured "hadn't been independently checked" while he still described the police action as "violent and frightening".


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
However, the Official College of Doctors of Barcelona (Col·legi de Metges de Barcelona) stated that "professionalism and independence of doctors can not be questioned because they act under a deontological code to attend and diagnose patients". The judge who is currently investigating the accusations of police violence had already identified 218 people injured on 10 October, 20 of whom were police officers.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
The events of 1 October sparked a public outcry in Catalonia, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to protest Spanish police violence.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
On 3 October 2017, as huge protest rallies and a general strike took place in Catalonia, King Felipe VI delivered an unusually strongly worded televised address in which he condemned the referendum organizers for acting "outside the law", accusing them of "unacceptable disloyalty" and of "eroding the harmony and co-existence within Catalan society itself". He also warned the referendum could put the economy of the entire north-east region of Spain at risk. Reactions to the King's speech were mixed.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
Party officials from the PP and Ciudadanos praised the King's "commitment to legality", whereas leaders from Unidos Podemos and Catalunya en Comú criticised it as "unworthy and irresponsible", paving the way for a harsh intervention in Catalan autonomy. PSOE's leaders expressed support for the King's words in public, but were reported to be privately dissatisfied that the King had not made any call to encourage understanding or dialogue between the Spanish and Catalan governments. On 5 October the Constitutional Court of Spain suspended a future parliamentary session (scheduled for 9 October) that was planned in order to push for a Declaration of Independence.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
On 5 October, Banco Sabadell, the second-largest bank based in Catalonia, announced its decision to move its legal headquarters out of the region amid economic uncertainty over the future of Catalonia's political situation ahead of a projected unilateral declaration of independence the ensuing week, which had seen sharp falls in the group's share prices the previous day and rating agencies downgrading the region. Concurrently, CaixaBank, the biggest bank in the region and the third largest in Spain, also announced it was considering redomiciling outside Catalonia.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
This sparked a massive business exit in the ensuing hours, with companies such as Abertis, Gas Natural, Grifols, Fersa Energias Renovables, Agbar, Freixenet, Codorníu, Idilia Foods, San Miguel Beer and Planeta Group also announcing or considering their intention to move their HQs out of Catalonia. The Spanish government announced on Friday 6 October that it would issue a decree allowing companies based in Catalonia to move out of the region without holding a shareholders' meeting. On 11 October, Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art announced that it was repatriating its collection of Art & Language works on loan at Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) since 2010. Within two weeks, more than 1,000 business and firms would move out of Catalonia.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
On 7 October, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in Madrid and Barcelona dressed in white and without flags with the slogan 'Shall we talk? ', asking for a deescalation of the political conflict. On 8 October, the largest demonstration against Catalan independence in recent Spanish history took place in Barcelona, the local police estimating at about 400,000 the number of participants. Later High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell, Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa and several representatives of the opposition parties in the Catalan parliament delivered speeches against the independence process.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
Simultaneously, pro-unity groups increasingly took to the streets throughout Spain, with some gatherings leading to scuffles in Barcelona and Valencia. The Mossos d'Esquadra were put under investigation for disobedience, accused of not complying with a command from the High Court of Justice of Catalonia to prevent the referendum and with their passivity allowing polling stations to open.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
In an ambiguous speech during a parliamentary session in the Parliament of Catalonia on 10 October, Puigdemont declared that "Catalonia had earned the right to be an independent state" and that he defended "the mandate of the people of Catalonia to become an independent republic". However, he immediately announced that parliament would suspend a formal declaration of independence in order to pursue dialogue with the Spanish government. Puigdemont and other pro-independence deputies then signed a symbolic declaration of independence with no legal effect.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
Puigdemont's move came after pressure resulting from the business exit on the previous days as well as pleas from Barcelona's mayor Ada Colau and European Council President Donald Tusk urging him to step back from declaring independence. This was met with disappointment from thousands of pro-independence supporters who had gathered nearby to watch the session on giant screens, as well as criticism from the CUP, who voiced their discontent at Puigdemont's decision not to proclaim a Catalan republic right away and did not rule out abandoning the Parliament until the signed declaration of independence was effective.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
On 17 October, the National Court ordered Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart—leaders of pro-independence groups Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural—to be preventively put into jail without bail pending an investigation into alleged sedition for having played central roles in orchestrating massive protests aimed at hindering Civil Guard activity.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
They were accused of leading the protest of tens of thousands of people that surrounded the Catalan economy department offices on 20–21 September 2017 heeding a call made by Òmnium Cultural and ANC, during which three vehicles of the Civil Guard were vandalised and their occupants forced to flee into the Economy Department building, a court clerk remained trapped until midnight inside the building and had to flee by the roof, while several agents were trapped throughout the night as demonstrators shouted outside "You won't get out!".


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
The Civil Guard agents cornered into the building made 6 calls for help to the autonomous police force of Catalonia Mossos d'Esquadra which were ignored, the first of them performed at 9:14 am with the subject: "Urgent - Request for support to Mossos". According to the judge the actions of Sànchez and Cruixat are into the scope of sedition, a felony regulated by the article 544 and subsequents of the Spanish Criminal Code:


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
Conviction for sedition shall befall those who, without being included in the felony of rebellion, public and tumultuously rise up to prevent, by force or outside the legal channels, application of the laws, or any authority, official corporation or public officer from lawful exercise of the duties thereof or implementation of the resolutions thereof, or of administrative or judicial resolutions.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
Pro -independence politicians and organizations, including Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, have referred to Cuixart and Sànchez as political prisoners. The Spanish Justice Minister Rafael Catalá argued that they were not "political prisoners" but "imprisoned politicians". An article published in El País argued that according to the criteria established by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Sànchez and Cuixart could not be considered "political prisoners".


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Referendum and subsequent events
Amnesty International issued an official statement considering the charge of sedition and the preventive imprisonment as "excessive" and called for their immediate release, but several days later made it clear that it did not consider them "political prisoners". Some Catalan media, such as La Vanguardia, reported that footage from the incident showed Cuixart and Sànchez trying to call off the protests, contradicting that part of the judicial order imprisoning them which said that they had not tried "to call off the demonstration".


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
On 11 October, after an extraordinary cabinet meeting intended to address the events on the previous day, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced he was formally requiring the Catalan government to confirm whether it had declared independence before 16 October at 10 am, with a further 3-day deadline until 19 October to revoke all deemed illegal acts if an affirmative answer—or no answer at all—was obtained.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
This requirement was a formal requisite needed to trigger article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, a so-called "nuclear option" that would allow the Spanish government to suspend Catalonia's political autonomy and impose direct rule from Madrid. Pressure mounted within the pro-independence coalition as the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) demanded an unambiguous affirmation of Catalan independence, threatening to withdraw its parliamentary support from Puigdemont's government if he rescinded his independence claim.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
In his formal response to Rajoy's requirement hurrying the initial five-day deadline, Puigdemont failed to clarify whether independence had been declared and instead called for negotiations over the following two months. The Spanish government replied that this was not a valid response to its requirement and doubted that Puigdemont's offer for dialogue was sincere due to his lack of "clarity". The refusal from the Catalan government to either confirm or deny independence triggered a second deadline for them to backtrack before direct rule was imposed. The Spanish government subsequently offered to abort the incoming move to suspend self-rule if the Catalan government called for a regional election, but this was ruled out by the latter.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
If a self-governing community does not fulfil the obligations imposed upon it by the constitution or other laws, or acts in a way that is seriously prejudicial to the general interest of Spain, the government may take all measures necessary to compel the community to meet said obligations, or to protect the above-mentioned general interest.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
On 19 October, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy confirmed that the Spanish government would trigger Article 155 and move to suspend Catalonia's autonomy after a cabinet meeting scheduled for 21 October, following a letter from Puigdemont in which he said that the independence declaration remained suspended but that the Catalan parliament could choose to vote on it if Spain continued its "repression". Subsequently, Rajoy announced the Spanish government would take direct control over the Generalitat of Catalonia, proceeding to remove Puigdemont and the entire Catalan government from their offices and call a regional election within six months, pending Senate approval.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
On 26 October, one day ahead of the scheduled enforcement of Article 155 by the Spanish Senate, it was announced that Puigdemont had chosen to dissolve the Parliament of Catalonia within the coming hours and call for an emergency snap election on or around 20 December in order to prevent direct rule from Madrid. This move sparked an outcry within pro-independence ranks, as they wished to hold a vote for a unilateral declaration of independence in response to the Spanish government's move to trigger Article 155.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
In the end Puigdemont chose not to dissolve Parliament, allegedly because of the Spanish government's refusal to call off the Article 155 procedure even though an election was called by Puigdemont. A debate over a possible declaration of independence then went ahead as planned in the Parliament of Catalonia later that day and into the next morning, simultaneous to the Spanish Senate debating the enforcement of Article 155.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
At the end of the debate, the Catalan parliament voted for a unilateral declaration of independence, by secret ballot, which was backed 70–10, with two MPs casting a blank ballot, with all MPs from Citizens, the Socialists' Party of Catalonia and the People's Party boycotting the vote because of its illegality for violating the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Spain, as the lawyers of the Parliament of Catalonia warned.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
Subsequently, on 28 October, Mariano Rajoy dismissed the Executive Council of Catalonia, dissolved the Parliament of Catalonia and called a snap regional election for 21 December 2017, after obtaining the Senate endorsement to the invoking of Article 155, and handed coordination over Generalitat of Catalonia functions to Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. On 30 October, as Spanish Attorney General José Manuel Maza called for charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement against Puigdemont and other Catalan leaders, it transpired that the ousted President and five of his ministers had fled to Belgium.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
Puigdemont, however, declared that he was not in Belgium "to seek asylum" and that he would respect the 21 December election, but also noting that he would not return home until "a fair judicial process was guaranteed" in Spain. Concurrently, lack of civil unrest and work resuming as normal throughout Catalonia showed direct rule from Madrid taking hold, with Spanish authorities reasserting administrative control over Catalan territory with little resistance. On 31 October, the independence declaration was suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
Spain's National Court (Spanish: Audiencia Nacional) summoned Puigdemont and 13 other members of his dismissed government to appear on 2 November to respond to the criminal charges pressed against them. It was later ordered by the judge that eight members of the deposed Catalan government—including Puigdemont's deputy and ERC leader, Oriol Junqueras—be remanded in custody without bail after testifying for posing a flight risk, with a ninth—Santi Vila—being granted a €50,000 bail. Spanish prosecutors sought a European Arrest Warrant for Puigdemont and four other members who had remained in Belgium and refused to attend the hearing.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
The EAW demanding Puigdemont and his allies' arrest was officially issued to Belgium the next day, on 3 November, which Belgium said they would "study" before making any decisions. The detention of the former Generalitat members led to increased protests in Catalonia, with thousands calling for "freedom" for whom they viewed as "political prisoners". Puigdemont declared from an undisclosed location in Belgium that he regarded the detentions as "an act that breaks with the basic principles of democracy".


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
In contrast, a separate case against other Catalan lawmakers was adjourned by the Supreme Court (Spanish: Tribunal Supremo) after all six of them, including Catalan parliament speaker Carme Forcadell, showed up to the summons. Puigdemont and the four other cabinet members turned themselves in to Belgian authorities on 5 November, awaiting a decision by the federal prosecutor on whether to hand them over to Spain or decline the warrant.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Independence declaration and direct rule
They were released by the judge on the same day on conditions, such as they would not be able to leave the country without prior consent and would have to provide details to the police about their accommodation. On 5 December, six jailed members of the deposed government were freed on bail, while four others, including Oriol Junqueras, were required to remain imprisoned. The next day, Spain withdrew the EAW against Puigdemont just over a month after issuing it to Belgian authorities. On 18 November, while in office, Attorney General José Manuel Maza suddenly died and was succeeded ad interim by Luis Navajas until the appointment on 11 December of Julián Sánchez Melgar.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Regional election and investiture
The 21 December regional election called by Rajoy resulted in pro-independence parties retaining a reduced majority with 70 seats overall, with Puigdemont's coalition, Together for Catalonia, performing above expectations. With 36 seats, the main anti-independence party, Citizens, emerged as the largest in the Parliament, whereas Rajoy's People's Party was severely mauled after being reduced to 4.2% of the share and 4 out of 135 seats.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Regional election and investiture
Inés Arrimadas, Citizens' leader in the region, announced she would not try to form a government on her own, instead waiting and see how negotiations between pro-independence parties evolved, due to them commanding a majority against her hypothetical candidacy. As the candidate of the most-voted party within the pro-independence bloc, Puigdemont intended to be re-elected as President, but this was hampered by the fact he risked being arrested by Spanish authorities upon returning from Brussels. Further, pro-independence parties could only command 62 seats—six short of a majority—as in practice eight of their elected deputies were either in Brussels with Puigdemont or in preventive detention.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Regional election and investiture
After the Catalan parliament elected Roger Torrent as new speaker, Puigdemont was proposed as candidate for re-election as President of the Generalitat. However, facing arrest on possible charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds, the Catalan parliament delayed Puigdemont's investiture after Constitutional Court ruled that he could not assume the presidency from abroad.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Regional election and investiture
With other pro-independence leaders assuring the pro-independence movement should outlive Puigdemont in order to end the political deadlock, the former Catalan president announced on 1 March he would step his claim aside in order to allow detained activist Jordi Sànchez, from his Together for Catalonia alliance, to become President instead. However, as Spain's Supreme Court did not allow Sànchez to be freed from jail to attend his investiture ceremony, Sànchez ended up giving up his candidacy on 21 March in favour of former Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull, who was also under investigation for his role in the referendum.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Regional election and investiture
Turull was defeated in the first ballot of a hastily convened investiture session held on 22 March, with only his Together for Catalonia alliance and ERC voting for him and the Popular Unity Candidacy abstaining, resulting in a 64–65 defeat. The next day and less than 24 hours before he was due to attend the second ballot, the Supreme Court announced that thirteen senior Catalan leaders—including Turull—would be charged with rebellion over their roles in the 2017 unilateral referendum and subsequent declaration of independence.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Regional election and investiture
Llarena sent five of them, including Turull and Carme Forcadell, previous Catalan Parliament speaker, to preventive jail; being the others already in preventive jail or exile. In anticipation of this ruling and in order to avoid appearing in court, Marta Rovira—ERC's general secretary and deputy leader to jailed Oriol Junqueras—fled the country to Switzerland in self-exile. As a result, the Parliament speaker Roger Torrent cancelled Turull's second investiture ballot. Thousands took the streets of dozens of Catalan cities to show discomfort with the decision of the court.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Development, Regional election and investiture
The European Arrest Warrant against Puigdemont was reactivated just as he was in a visit to Finland, but he had already left the country for Belgium before Finnish authorities received it. On his way to Belgium on 25 March he was caught and detained in Germany while crossing the border from Denmark. On 4 April he was released on bail after the state court in Schleswig rejected extraditing him for rebellion, though he may still be extradited on corruption charges. Ultimately, though, Spain dropped its European arrest warrant, ending the extradition attempt. Puigdemont was once again free to travel, and chose to return to Belgium.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Alleged international interference
Many messages and operations that were seen via social networks come from Russian territory. And I use the correct expression: from Russian territory. That's not to say necessarily that we have determined that it is the Russian government. As such, we must act with extreme caution. We have to be clear on the origins. They are partly from Russian territory, partly from elsewhere, also outside the EU. We are determining this at the current time.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Alleged international interference
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned Catalonia's independence referendum as "illegal". However, an analysis by the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs of over five million social media messages found that some Russian media and accounts on social networks related to Venezuela allegedly collaborated on disseminating negative propaganda against the Spanish government days before and after the referendum. Russia's RT and Sputnik would use Venezuelan social bots that would typically promote the Bolivarian government in Venezuela to criticize the Spanish government and police violence against citizens in Catalonia.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Alleged international interference
Social bots, anonymous accounts and official state media accounts shared 97% of the anti-Spain messages while only 3% of the messages were shared by real social media members. Leaders of the George Washington University study displayed concern about the findings, stating that "democratic systems have the obligation to investigate these signs and implement systematic methods of monitoring and responding to alleged disruptions of foreign agents" and that it appeared the authors of the propaganda are the same as the ones who allegedly interfered in the 2016 United States presidential election and Brexit.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Alleged international interference
The Spanish Ministry of Defence and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation later said it had confirmed that Russian actors and Venezuela had attempted to destabilize the nation and Europe by means of propaganda, though it would not confirm if the Russian government was directly involved and warned that similar misinformation actions may take place in future elections. NATO officials also made comments stating that Russia has been attempting to undermine Western governments through disinformation campaigns.


2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, Alleged international interference
Members of Catalonia's separatist groups have denied allegations of foreign interference. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in response: "Probably they are arranging this kind of scandalous, sensational hysteria in order to distract the attention of their electorate from their inability to resolve their problems at home." Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 15 November: "The Spanish authorities, NATO, and the newspapers did not bring up a single worthwhile argument to back these claims. We consider these claims to be groundless, and more likely a deliberate or inadvertent continuation of the same hysteria that is now happening in the United States and a number of other countries."


2017–2018 Togolese protests
The 2017–18 Togolese protests are a significant representation of civil unrest in Togo and against the 50 year rule of the father-son combination of Gnassingbé Eyadéma and Faure Gnassingbé. The protesters demanded that the president honour the 1992 constitution, and demanding that he step down immediately. Gnassingbé offered the protesters the option of enacting the two-term limit set in the constitution effective from 2018, thus ensuring that he could stay in power until 2030. This has been rejected by the opposition. However, on 8 May 2019 the Togolese Parliament voted unanimously to accept this amendment and imposed this non-retroactive term limit on the president's office.


2017–2018 Togolese protests
As the protests continued, the opposition started focusing more on protesting Gnassingbé's rule. Starting in August 2017, the opposition held protests on a near-weekly basis. The scale of the protests have been enormous, with some estimates claiming 800,000 present at one protest in a country of 6.6 million. The demonstrations are also taking place all over the country, even in the north, the traditional power base for the Gnassingbé family. The Togolese government has responded to these protests by shutting down the internet. The protesters utilised social media, with the hashtag #togodebut for publicity. The protests and police response have resulted in the deaths of at least 16 people, including two soldiers. In response to the protests, Gnassingbé offered some concessions to the opposition, but held onto power due to his crackdown on activists.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, August 2017
On 19 August, thousands of protesters took to the streets, mostly in the city of Sokodé. Some protesters chanted "50 years is too long". Protests also occurred in Lomé, Bafilo, Anié, and Kara. Security forces shot and killed two civilians while dispersing protesters. Other civilians burned security vehicles and killed seven security men. Photographs of the violence spread on social media. About 27 people were arrested, and 15 protesters identified as supporters of the Pan African National Party were given jail sentences of 5–9 months. Some of those arrested later said they were tortured at the headquarters of Togo's secret police, and placed in Lomé's central prison.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, August 2017
Opposition parties called for a general strike to take place on 25 August, which slowed business and caused Lomé to enter a security lockdown. Togolese minister Gilbert Bawara criticized the strike, calling it "the campaign of terror, intimidation and threats". Togolese Prime Minister Komi Sélom Klassou led a pro-government counter-protest in Lomé on 29 August. Ghanaian immigration officers increased security of the Ghana–Togo border for Togolese fleeing to Ghana because of the unrest.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, September 2017
On 5 September, in an effort to disrupt planned protests, the Togolese government cut off the internet, blocked the use of WhatsApp, and filtered international calls. Despite this, the opposition parties CAP 2015 and the Pan-African National Party started a large three-day protest in Lomé. Amnesty International estimated that about 100,000 people participated in a protest on 6 September. At least 80 protesters were arrested on 7 September for "preparing to commit violent acts, vandalise shops." Security forces in Lomé fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Normal access to the internet was restored on 11 September. The United Nations urged the Togolese government to address the "legitimate expectations" of the protesters.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, September 2017
Togo's National Assembly introduced a bill meant to reform the country's electoral system and introduce presidential term limits of two five-year terms. The opposition objected to the bill's wording, saying that the term limits would not be retroactive. The opposition boycotted the National Assembly's vote on the bill on 18 September, making it subject to a referendum. The next day, the Togolese government slowed down the country's internet as the opposition prepared for more protests. According to Amnesty International, security forces used batons, bullets, and tear gas against protesters in Mango, killing a 9-year-old boy.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, September 2017
Security minister Damehane Yark blamed the opposition for the boy's death, saying the protesters were using weapons. A picture of a cow killed by the military in the village Kparatao spread online and became a symbol of the protests. The next day, opposition leaders blamed the government for repressing protests in Northern Togo, and thousands of Togolese participated in anti-government demonstrations.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, October 2017
On 3 October, the United States embassy in Togo issued a security warning concerning transportation issues that could arise because of upcoming protests. On 4 and 5 October, thousands of protesters marched through Lomé and some created barricades. In response, the Togolese government shut down internet communication and mobile access to the internet. The Togolese government announced a ban on weekday protests on 10 October, though opposition parties said they would defy this ban.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, October 2017
Alpha Alassane, an imam affiliated with the opposition movement, was arrested in Sokodé on 16 October for allegedly inciting violence with his followers. The arrest fueled tension between the Togolese government and the opposition. A two-day protests started on 18 October throughout Togo. On the first day, four people—one in Lomé and three in Sokodé—were reportedly killed during clashes between protesters and security forces. Yark Damehame, Togo's security minister, denied the reported deaths, saying that nobody was killed in Sokodé on this day. Some protesters in Lomé formed barricades, and police fired tear gas to disperse them. About 300 Togolese nationals attempted to participate in a protest in Accra, Ghana, but the police ruled the demonstration was unlawful and arrested 26 protesters.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, October 2017
Gambia's Foreign Minister Ousainou Darboe called on Gnassingbe to resign, although he retracted the statement a few days later and said it was a matter for the Togolese people. U.S. Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert called on the Togolese government to protect its citizens' rights and engage in dialogue with the protesters.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, November 2017
The Togolese government lifted its ban on weekday protests on 4 November. On 7 November the Togolese government released 42 of the protesters who were arrested in September and dropped arson charges against opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre. Opposition parties saw this as an attempt to appease their demands. Thousands of protesters participated in three protests during this week, with the last one on 10 November.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, November 2017
Gnassingbé blamed the opposition for violence at its protests. Opposition leaders called this a "declaration of war" against the Togolese people. Gnassingbé visited Sokodé in late November 2017, saying, "My exchanges with the imams and senior figures left me reassured that our country remains indivisible."


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, December 2017
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held its 2017 summit on 16 December in Abuja, Nigeria instead of in Togo, likely because of political tension between the government and opposition. Around the time of this summit, thousands of protesters held anti-government marches. In Accra, Ghana, police arrested twelve members of the Ghana–Togo Solidarity movement, including Bernard Mornah, the chairman of the People's National Convention, for protesting the situation in Togo.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, December 2017
The opposition held demonstrations on 28 December, and the police arrest of a young man was filmed. Tens of thousands of opposition supporters protested peacefully in Lomé on 31 December.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, January 2018
On 3 January 2018, Gnassingbé called for the opposition to participate in government talks to resolve their differences. Thousands of people in Togo participated in an anti-government protest on 13 January 2018, the 55th anniversary of the Sylvanus Olympio's assassination. Counter-protesters held demonstrations in support of the government. Supporters of the Togolese opposition also protested in Berlin and Washington, DC.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, January 2018
On 20 January 2018, the same day as the 2018 Women's March, the opposition held an anti-government demonstration focused on female involvement. During the protest, thousands of Togolese women mostly dressed in black marched through Lomé, accompanied by male opposition supporters. Starting on 31 January 2018, Togolese healthcare workers went on a two-day strike to demand that the government provide better health services.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, February 2018
On 15 February, Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders and Africans Rising issued a joint statement criticising Togo's treatment of activists involved in the protests.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, February 2018
In early February 2018, the opposition agreed to stop holding protests while mediators from Guinea and Ghana visited Togo. However, on 4 February 2018, the day after these mediators suggested that Togo hold talks on constitutional reform, thousands of protesters marched through Lomé. Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and Guinean President Alpha Condé started mediating talks between the Togolese government and opposition on 19 February in Lomé. The next day, Ghanaian mediators announced that the Togolese government would release 45 of the 92 people imprisoned for participating in the protests.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, March 2018
On 6 March, Togo's opposition coalition announced it would resume protests, despite the previous agreement to suspend protests while government talks were underway. Eric Dupuy, the coalition spokesman, said this was because the Togolese government failed to prepare for upcoming parliamentary elections. Ghanaian President Akufo-Addo met with 14 Togolese opposition leaders on the next day at The Flagstaff House in Accra, Ghana. Two days later, this opposition coalition accepted the Akufo-Addo's request to continue suspending protests for the next week while the talks continued. These talks resumed on 23 March.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, April 2018
The opposition coalition planned protests in Lomé and other towns on 11–12 April, and the Togolese government said this would violate their agreement with Akufo-Addo. On the first day of this demonstration, the police fired tear gas on the protesters. On 14 April 2018, security forces in Lomé fired tear gas near the headquarters of the Democratic Convention of African Peoples About 25 people were injured during these three days of protest, and one person died from his injuries. Security forces also prevented people from protesting in Kpalimé. Heads of state in ECOWAS held talks in Lomé on this day, and they called on Akufo-Addo and Condé to step up their reform efforts and end political violence.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, May 2018–December 2018
The opposition coalition parties announced on 8 May that they were calling off protests planned in the coming days, citing the lack of security and progress with their objectives. On 17 June, the coalition called for its supporters to participate in a sit-at-home general strike the next day, and the government urged people to boycott this protest.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, May 2018–December 2018
The Togolese government and opposition coalition held talks on 27 June, and Akufo-Addo and Condé, the co-facilitators of these talks, called for continued dialogue and suspended street protests. The government banned street protests from 23 July to 1 August while Togo hosted an ECOWAS summit. On 3 November 2018, over a thousand people protested in Lomé to demand the release of imprisoned protesters.


2017–2018 Togolese protests, History, May 2018–December 2018
On 6 December, ahead of planned protests against the Togolese parliamentary election, 2018, the government again banned demonstrations.


2017–2018 United States flu season
The 2017–2018 United States flu season lasted from late 2017 through early 2018. The predominant strain of influenza was H3N2. During the spring months of March–May, influenza B virus became dominant.


2017–2018 United States flu season
In all states except Hawaii and Oregon, the distribution of influenza was indicated as widespread, including 32 states that had high flu activity. The flu season was exacerbated by a shortage of IV bags caused by IV bag plant closures in Puerto Rico following Hurricane María. The CDC estimates that 61,000 Americans died due to influenza during the 2017-2018 flu season.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began counting the 2017–2018 "flu season" as October 2017, and by early February 2018, the epidemic was still widespread and increasing overall. By February 2018, the CDC said that the circulating virus strains included both B strains (Yamagata and Victoria), H1N1 and H3N2. On 10 February 2018, Bloomberg reported that influenza in the United States was killing up to 4,000 Americans a week, likely to far outstrip the rate of deaths in the 2009–2010 season.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects
An expert from the CDC, Anne Schuchat, said that the main type of the flu that year had not "changed enough from previous seasons to be considered a novel strain." In the first week of February, deaths from influenza and pneumonia were responsible for one of every ten deaths in the US, with 4,064 from pneumonia or influenza recorded in the third week of 2018, according to CDC data. The CDC also reported 63 child deaths at that point, half of which were not considered medically high risk, and only about 20 percent who were vaccinated. Only two of those deaths were babies under six months old.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects
The 2017–2018 flu season was severe for all US populations and resulted in an estimated 959,000 hospitalizations and 61,099 deaths. This is the highest number of patient claims since the 2009 flu season. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the 2017-2018 season the percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was at or above the epidemic threshold for 16 consecutive weeks. Nationally, mortality attributed to P&I exceeded 10.0% for four consecutive weeks, peaking at 10.8% during the week ending January 20, 2018.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects
Another estimate (September 2018) attributed more than 80,000 US deaths to this strain of influenza. While 186 pediatric deaths were reported to the CDC, it is estimated that there were in reality more than 600 total pediatric deaths nationwide related to influenza. This estimation of three times the reported pediatric deaths was arrived at based on the observation that about two-thirds of children who died with a suspected viral background were not tested for influenza.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects, New York
On 10 February 2018, officials in New York City confirmed the third pediatric flu death for the 2017–2018 season. The week prior, 43 states reported high patient traffic for the flu, with flu remaining widespread in each state except Hawaii and Oregon.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects, California
California was hit especially hard. In California as of 6 January 2018, twenty-seven people under the age of 65 died from flu since October, nine times as many as the prior year. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center emergency room, which often caters to about 140 patients daily, had more than 200 patients on one of those days. By 19 January, seventy-four people under the age of 65 had died in California, with thirty-two of those deaths occurring in the preceding week, making it the deadliest week of the flu season so far.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects, California
By 9 February 2018, the national rate for flu-like symptoms for patients visiting clinics had reached "well above" seven percent, a rate last seen during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic of 2009. According to the Los Angeles Times, 163 people under the age of 65 had died of the flu since October 2017, compared to 40 deaths during the same time period the previous year. Of those 163 deaths, 36 had died during the first week of February; the same article also noted that the peak of the flu season has apparently passed as reports of new cases have declined.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects, Washington state
On 11 February 2018, the Seattle Times reported that "things [were] improving" in Washington state. At the time, the state had seen 151 flu-related fatalities, lower than the total of 214 that time the year before.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects, Delaware
On 12 February 2018, Delaware announced that it had seen six deaths and 995 confirmed flu cases in seven days, making it the state's highest weekly total on record.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Effects, Minnesota
On 11 February 2018, United States Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota announced a new bill called the Flu Vaccine Act, calling for further research on a better vaccine at the US National Institutes of Health. At the time, there had been 400 outbreaks of flu that season in Minnesota's schools, and 130 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, with one child in the state dying. Additionally, Klobuchar continued to push the US Food and Drug Administration to fix the national IV bag and saline shortage, for adversely affecting the treatment of flu symptoms.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Analysis
According to the director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's influenza branch in January 2018, it was the first flu season where "we've had the entire continental US" show the same "widespread" flu activity, excluding the District of Columbia and Hawaii. Twenty-six of those states were classified by the CDC as having "high" activity in January 2018.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Analysis
In January 2018, analyzing the reason for the spike, The Atlantic noted that the flu season was possibly worse because the dominant circulating strain was the H3N2 strain, which for unknown reasons tends to hit humans harder than other strains and result in worse flu seasons when dominant. Also, the H3N2 strain, according to the CDC, affects elderly and young children more than other strains, resulting in more severe hospitalizations and deaths.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Analysis
The Atlantic also noted that the 2017 vaccine for the flu was only ten percent effective against H3N2 in Australia. As the typical practice of studying and creating the current vaccines in chicken eggs tends to result in mutations, 2017 was the first year that researchers used dog cells rather than chicken eggs to create the H3N2 component of the vaccine Flucelvax. However, due to cost, most Americans did not get Flucelvax in 2017 and 2018 and likely received vaccines grown with chicken eggs. The Atlantic noted that the vaccine still protected against other strains such as the H1N1 and B virus, and did provide at least some immunity to H3N2.


2017–2018 United States flu season, Analysis
In January 2018, The Atlantic also noted that the severity of the flu season in the United States may have been increased by a shortage of IV bags in hospitals. The shortage resulted from the Hurricane Maria blackout in Puerto Rico, where a large amount of medical supplies are manufactured. The article noted that  hospitals normally go through hundreds of IV bags a day to replenish fluids and give drugs, but during the shortage, some hospitals had resorted to directly injecting drugs into the vein via an IV push. Time also published an article in 2018 arguing that the United States had become complacent concerning the flu, and that more needed to be done.


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race
The 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race was the 13th edition of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. It started in Alicante, Spain, and concluded in The Hague, Netherlands. GAC Pindar provides logistic support for the race. At the stopovers, teams had premium bases for better fan interaction.


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race
Volvo made a number of changes to this edition. Sailors were able to provide social media updates, new male/female ratios were introduced, Onboard Reporters rotated between teams, a new scoring system was used, the yachts were upgraded with Hydro generators for back-up power and all teams sailed the 2017 Fastnet Race.


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race
During Leg 7 of the race, John Fisher, 47, a British citizen who lived in Adelaide, was swept overboard from Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag and lost at sea 1400 miles west of Cape Horn.


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race, Yachts
For the second edition running, the race was one-design, racing the Volvo Ocean 65. The VO65 was designed by Farr Yacht Design to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the ageing and expensive Volvo Open 70.


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race, Yachts
All Volvo 65's have undergone repairs and refits by The Boatyard. This ensured that all the yachts are the same. The estimated cost of the refit was 1 million euros per boat.


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race, Participants
Despite an eighth boat being produced for this edition, only seven teams participated, as in the previous edition:


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race, Route
The full route for this edition was announced in June 2016, with the announcement of the addition of Melbourne in January 2017.


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race, Route
This edition of the race included "Leg 0", a set of 4 offshore races to help generate interest. They included the 2017 Round the Island Race, and the 2017 Fastnet Race.


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race, Route
Notes (134 sailing days for race winners and 10 In-port racing days):


2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race, Results
As opposed to the previous edition, scoring was based on a high-points system, with the winner of every leg scoring one bonus point (7+1 bonus point for a win, 6 for second, 5 for third, etc.). The two Southern Ocean legs – from Cape Town to Melbourne, and Auckland to Itajaí, plus the North Atlantic leg near the end of the race, Newport to Cardiff – all scored double points. There was a bonus point for the first team to round Cape Horn in a nod to the historic significance of this turning point in the race. A further bonus point was awarded for the team with the best total elapsed time overall in the race. The In-Port Series didn't count in the overall points but remained the tiebreaker should teams be tied on points at the finish in The Hague.


2017–2018 protests in France
The 2017-2018 protests in France is mass protests and a popular movement in France as part of the Protests against Emmanuel Macron, Emmanuel Macron is new president, against his labour reform law in September 2017 and Rail laws in March 2018, leading to two months of protests.


2017–2018 protests in France, Background
France has seen widespread protest rallies, uprisings since the 2005 French riots, mainly the 2010 French pension reform strikes and Nuit Debout. Amid the protests, the government of François Hollande managed to pass the new reforms, especially the El Khomri law, which sparked the Nuit Debout uprising. After the new reform program was announced, workers and employers and employees participated in demonstrations against the laws.


2017–2018 protests in France, Wine Producer protests
Languedoc-Roussillon is a name given to the wine producers protests  in southern France, where protesters have been taking to the streets since 2016 in protest at Cheap Wine Imports, attacking shops, lorries in Burgundy. The protests would be held in the south, as where most of the production takes place.


2017–2018 protests in France, Labour Reform Protests
In September, president Emmanuel Macron announced a new labour reform program and a series of budget cuts, sparking nationwide protests and street demonstrations against him and his new labour laws, consisting of almost 4000 strike actions and protest rallies in weeks of protests (the biggest being in Marseilles). Thousands of workers, slackers and employees went on strike, calling for the resignation of president Emmanuel Macron and the withdrawal of the new labour plans.


2017–2018 protests in France, Labour Reform Protests
Thousands protested and participated in demonstrations and large street rallies in protest at the bill, however, the government did not make concessions with protesters, labour protests and union-led strikes turned out to be larger, leading to the government to step in and prevent the protests, but their demands were not heard. Protesters marched in the largest and final protest on 10 October, but was met with violence.


2017–2018 protests in France, Rail Union Protests
Tens of thousands of workers to up to 200,000 civilians participated in demonstrations from March to June in 2018 in protest against a new labour rail system law, and triggered massive anti-rail system strikes and provoked humongous anti-government demonstrations across France in Paris, Belfort, Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseilles. Hundreds of thousands marched in Paris on 23 May, the biggest protest yet, in rallying over the government, sparking small fights and scuffles with police.


2017–2018 protests in France, Rail Union Protests
Many were arrested during the wave of protests and stations had to shut down, with travellers rescheduling their trips despite daily protest rallies. Huge anti-government crowds marched alongside groups of protesters from all around Paris and Lyon to demonstrate but demonstrations were banned and were quelled by the security forces over the next month. University students had also marched alongside the workers staging the weekly rallies against proposed reforms which they say would cut jobs and make it harder to seek jobs.


2017–2018 protests in Niger
The 2017–2018 protests in Niger was a wave of unprecedented demonstrations and violent protests that erupted nationwide in Niger in October 2017–March 2018 against a new social law that hurts the economy, according to protesters. Massive protests demanding the withdrawal of the law remained nonviolent, peaceful and the rallies and marches was held by thousands of civilians.


2017–2018 protests in Niger
Citizen-led protests by thousands of protesters occurred in March, after months of small protests (also the biggest since the 2009–2010 Nigerien constitutional crisis), tens of thousands of demonstrators marched and chanted slogans in Niamey against the law, calling for better conditions and the withdrawal of the anti-social finance law, and soon, clashes broke out. After 5 months of nonviolent and largely-bloodless demonstrations, protesters ended the protest movement with violence.


2017–2019
2017–2019 is the fourth studio album by American electronic music artist Nicolas Jaar, under the moniker Against All Logic. It was released on February 7, 2020, by Other People.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal
The investigation, also known as Operation Zero officially and Operation Clean Hands informally (Dutch: Operatie Propere Handen), is conducted by the examining magistrate of Limburg, on behalf of the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor's Office. The investigation is concerned with organized crime, money laundering and private corruption (bribery) in Belgian football, division 1A and division 1B specifically. Started in late 2017, the investigation rose to national prominence on October 10, 2018, when 44 house searches were carried out across Belgium and 14 more house searches internationally. 29 suspects were arrested in Belgium, and 4 more abroad. Of the 29 arrested in Belgium, 20 were charged with one or more crimes. During the weeks following the raids, 3 additional suspects were arrested and criminally charged.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Background
Following the Ye affair in 2005, the Belgian federal police launched the Sports Fraud Cell, a department of the Central Office for the Repression of Corruption (OCRC). Jointly managed by the Federal Public Prosecutor and the OCRC, the main task of the department is to gather and corroborate intelligence concerning sports fraud, corruption and match-fixing. If deemed necessary, an investigation is launched by the federal police.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Background
In early 2017, the Sports Fraud Cell received a report from the Belgian Financial Intelligence Unit concerning suspicious activity through tens of bank accounts in bank office in Genk. As these transactions were connected to the Belgian First Division A, the Sports Fraud Cell launched an investigation. In late 2017, the report of the investigation was passed to the federal police and the Federal Public Prosecutor.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Investigation
The investigation broadly consists of three components: two parts relating to money laundering and fraud, and a third relating to potential match-fixing. Two player agent|player agents, Mogi Bayat and Dejan Veljkovic, would have set up, independently of each other, a scheme to hide commissions from Belgian authorities. These payments included commissions on player transfers, player and manager wages, and other payments. During the investigation of these schemes, indications of possible match-fixing arose. The match-fixing pertains to at least two relegation matches in competition season 2017-2018.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Investigation
On November 12, after the high-profile arrests were made, the court of appeal of Antwerp removed examining magistrate Joris Raskin from the investigation. The recusal was requested by Hans Rieder, the lawyer of referee Bart Vertenten. Rieder argued that Raskin could not be impartial and independent because he was part of the Licensing Commission of the Royal Belgian Football Association until March 2018, months after the investigation started. Although Raskin himself and the Public Prosecutor disagreed, the court of appeal did find Rieder's request compelling. Following the verdict of the Court, Rieder argued for the immediate release of his client Vertenten. Indeed, 4 days after the Court ordered the recusal, Vertenten was released on conditions and he resumed his main job as radiologist at the University Hospital UZ Brussel.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Investigation
On November 20, Dejan Veljkovic, widely regarded as a key suspect in the investigation, signed a plea deal with the prosecution. As part of the plea deal, Veljkovic will serve a suspended sentence of 5 years and pay a (suspended) fine of 80,000 euros. Additionally, all illegally acquired assets will be seized by the government. Although informal plea deals were used before, Veljkovic was the first to sign a deal where specific sentence reduction is assured by prosecutors.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Investigation
A law allowing these formal agreements was instated only months before the arrests, in August 2018, meaning Veljkovic is the first official spijtoptant in Belgian history. According to the law, a spijtoptant is suspect able to provide "substantial, revealing, sincere, and complete information" about serious crimes, e.g. organized crime or terrorism. In exchange for this information, the spijtoptant can get a more lenient sentence. Following the deal, Veljkovic was released on strict conditions.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Investigation
Three months after Veljkovic's plea deal, on February 19 and 20, 16 more people were questioned by investigators. Additionally, 3 buildings were searched. Among those questioned were Peter Maes, already charged in the investigation, Roger Lambrecht, chairman of Lokeren, Erwin Lemmens, Herbert Houben, former chairman of KRC Genk, and Patrick Janssens, former CEO of KRC Genk.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Investigation
From June 25 until June 28, additional people including Georges Leekens, François De Keersmaecker, Ivan Leko, Herman Van Holsbeeck, and Steven Martens, were interrogated, confronting them with Dejan Velkovic's statements.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, October 10, 2018 searches
On October 10, 2018, the federal police searched 44 buildings across Belgium, mostly focused on football club headquarters and suspect's residences. The headquarters of RSC Anderlecht, Club Brugge, KRC Genk, KV Kortrijk, KV Mechelen, KV Oostende, Sporting Lokeren, AA Gent, and Standard de Liège were searched. During these searches, documents and contracts pertaining to player agents Mogi Bayat and Deljan Veljkovic were seized. 3 luxury watches were seized as well. Simultaneously, residences of club board members, player agents, referees, a former lawyer, journalists and a manager were searched. Further raids occurred at an accountancy bureau and 2 jewelry stores. During these raids, empty luxury watch boxes valued at 8 million euros, jewels, luxury watches, and cash were seized. As a result of these searches, 28 people were arrested, most of them very early in the morning.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, October 10, 2018 searches
Internationally, 14 locations were searched in 6 other countries: France, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Montenegro, Serbia, and Macedonia. During these searches, coordinated by Eurojust, documents and assets on bank accounts and in safes worth a total amount of 3.6 million euros were seized. No arrests were made during the searches at banks and a company in Luxembourg. In Cyprus, a 52-year-old man was arrested on a European arrest warrant, with extradition procedures underway.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, October 10, 2018 searches
More than 15 Cypriot police officers, and two Belgian investigators were involved in the searches of four properties in Nicosia and Famagusta, where four computers, two laptops, two iPads, and documents were seized. Six locations in the cities Belgrade and Niš, Serbia, were searched, resulting in the seizure of up to €800,000 which allegedly originated from organized crime in Belgium. Uros Jankovic, business associate of Dejan Veljkovic, was also arrested Wednesday in Belgrade and ordered to be extradited. 4 people were arrested during these international searches, and 2 European arrest warrants were issued.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, October 10, 2018 searches
In total, 184 Belgian and 36 foreign police officers participated in the searches, in Belgium and abroad.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, October 10, 2018 searches
Because of the size and scope of the investigation, as well as the number of suspects arrested after the searches, up to 3 examining magistrates were working concurrently to process those arrested. Multiple examining magistrates being assigned to a single investigation is very unusual in Belgium, with the exception of terrorism cases.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Charges
Throughout the investigation, 23 people were accused of one or multiple crimes. 17 were released on conditions and 6 were released without conditions. Among those charged are player agents, referees, club executives and board members, journalists, players, and managers.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Royal Belgian Football Association investigation
On 23 April 2019, the Investigating Commission of the Royal Belgian Football Association completed its investigation into possible match-fixing during the matches KV Mechelen v. Waasland-Beveren (2-0) and K.A.S. Eupen v. Royal Excel Mouscron (4-0), both on the final matchday of the 2017–18 Belgian First Division A. KV Mechelen and Waasland-Beveren, as well as 13 persons were summoned before the Disputes Appeals Commission. On 30 April 2019, public hearings started before the Commission. While the hearings were ongoing, KV Mechelen asked the Business Court in Brussels to suspend the proceeding until the criminal investigation completed; this request was denied.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Royal Belgian Football Association investigation
After a month of hearings, the verdict was announced on 1 June 2019 which ruled that Mechelen was guilty of match-fixing and forced to relegate to the Belgian First Division B and start the coming season with a 12-point penalty. Waasland-Beveren was cleared of charges. KV Mechelen appealed the verdict to the Belgian Arbitration Court for Sports, which ruled on 17 July 2019 that KV Mechelen was indeed guilty of match-fixing, but couldn't be punished with relegation to the Belgian First Division B as the match-fixing occurred during a previous season. Mechelen was however stripped of its right to play in the UEFA Europa League and not allowed to participate in the 2019–20 Belgian Cup. The final verdict is as follows:


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Civil Parties
In Belgian criminal law, a civil party (nl) is a person or entity claiming to be injured by a crime, to be awarded damages following the proceedings.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Civil Parties
As of November 2018, 4 entities have claimed to be a civil party to the investigation: the Royal Belgian Football Association, the Pro League, the association of all the Belgian professional football teams, and KFCO Beerschot Wilrijk.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Reactions
On October 11, 2018, the Pro League announced that the tenth match day for the First Division B, planned for October 13 and October 14, would be postponed.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Reactions
Johan Verbist, arbitration coordinator for the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), announced on October 11 that Bart Vertenten and Sébastien Delferière were suspended following the investigation, with the RBFA aiming to make this suspension permanent. Delferière was supposed to referee a Nations League match on October 13, but was quickly replaced by the UEFA at the request of Verbist.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Reactions
Several politicians, including deputy prime minister Kris Peeters, finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt, Flemish sports minister Philippe Muyters, and social affairs minister Maggie De Block, announced their intentions to re-evaluate the financial benefits professional players receive following news of the scandal. Since 1978, professional sports players are taxed at a reduced RSZ (Social security) rate, designed to promote the type of employment at the time.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Reactions
On October 17, 2018, the Pro League announced it will set up a commission consisting of three independent experts, tasked with proposing reforms to the board of directors. This commission will consist of renowned jurist Melchior Wathelet, Wouter Lambrecht, and Pierre François, CEO of the Pro League.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Reactions
On October 19, a week after 2 sports journalists working for Het Laatste Nieuws were charged, the newspaper announced that its top sports journalist would be taking a leave of absence, to analyze whether any deontological rule was breached. Although the journalist was not charged, he came under scrutiny because of his close ties to one of the involved player agents.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Reactions
During an interview on De Ochtend, a Radio 1 programme, Sports Fraud Cell coordinator Eric Bisschop called for regulations for player agents in coordination with European directives, federal and regional laws, as well as collaboration with the RBFA, UEFA and FIFA.


2017–2019 Belgian football fraud scandal, Reactions
On November 6, almost a month after the news of the raids broke, Marc Coucke and Pierre François, chairman and CEO of the Pro League respectively, testified before the Chamber of Representatives. During a session held by the Finances and Budget committee, Coucke defended the RSZ "tax shelter" for professional sports players. Politicians from all major Flemish parties announced intentions to revise these reductions, however Coucke mitigated this, saying the Belgian professional football industry could not afford the loss of this favorable rate and would need a different kind of subsidy.


2017–2019 ICC World Cricket League
A series of ICC World Cricket League tournaments were played between 2017 and 2019 and were the last tournaments of the World Cricket League. There were four divisions, numbered two to five. The divisions were played in roughly consecutive order, with the lower divisions played first. The top two from each division will gain promotion to the following, higher division, meaning that some teams will play in more than one division during the tournament.


2017–2019 ICC World Cricket League
Following the conclusion of these tournaments, the World Cricket League was replaced by the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 and the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League. This tournament was used to determine which teams qualified for which of these two competitions, which are a direct part of the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualification process. It was the fourth and last time the World Cricket League was used for Cricket World Cup qualification.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab
Girls of Enghelab Street (Persian: دختران خیابان انقلاب) was a series of protests against compulsory hijab in Iran. The protests were inspired by Vida Movahed (Persian: ویدا موحد), an Iranian woman known as the Girl of Enghelab Street (Persian: دختر خیابان انقلاب), who stood in the crowd on a utility box in the Enghelab Street (Revolution Street) of Tehran on 27 December 2017, tied her hijab, a white headscarf, to a stick, and waved it to the crowd as a flag. She was arrested on that day and was released temporary on bail a month later, on 28 January 2018.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab
Some people believe that Movahed's action was based on Masih Alinejad's call for White Wednesdays, a protest movement that the presenter at VOA Persian Television started in early 2017. Other women later re-enacted her protest and posted photos of their actions on social media. These women are described as the "Girls of Enghelab Street" and "The Girls Of Revolution Street" in English sources. Some of the protesters claim that they didn't follow Masih Alinejad's call.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Islamic Republic's Penal Code
In the Islamic law of Iran imposed shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, article 638 of 5th book of Islamic Penal Code (called Sanctions and deterrent penalties) women who do not wear a hijab may be imprisoned from ten days to two months, and/or required to pay fines from 50,000 up to 500,000 rials. Fines are recalculated in the courts to index for inflation. This has been translated and published by the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Islamic Republic's Penal Code
Article 639 of the same book says, two types of people shall be sentenced one year to ten years' imprisonment; first a person who establishes or directs a place of immorality or prostitution, second, a person who facilitates or encourages people to commit immorality or prostitution.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Islamic Republic's Penal Code
These are some of the laws under which some protesters were charged.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Background
Before the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 (during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran), the hijab was not compulsory, though some Iranian women during this period wore headscarfs or chador.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Background
After the 1979 Islamic revolution, the hijab gradually became compulsory. In 1979, Ruhollah Khomeini announced that women should observe Islamic dress code; His statement sparked demonstrations, which were met by government assurances that the statement was only a recommendation. Hijab was subsequently made mandatory in government and public offices in 1980, and in 1983 it became mandatory for all women.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Background
In 2018, a government run survey dating back to 2014, was released by President Hassan Rouhani, showing that 49.8% of Iranians were against compulsory or mandatory hijab. The report was released by the Center for Strategic Studies, the research arm of the Iranian President's office, and was titled "Report of the first hijab special meeting" in July 2014 in a PDF format.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Background
On 2 February 2018, a poll conducted by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) showed that a few Iranians agreed with "changing Iran's political system or relaxing strict Islamic law".


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Background
Iran is the only country in the world that requires non-Muslim women to wear a headscarf. For example, in January 2018, a Chinese female musician was forcibly veiled in the middle of her concert performance.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, December 2017, 27 December
On 27 December 2017, pictures and videos of Movahed waving her scarf went viral through the hashtag "Where_is_she?" (#دختر_خیابان_انقلاب_کجاست, "Where is the girl of Enghelab Street" in Persian) on social media. While at first she was unknown, days later, Nasrin Sotoudeh (Persian: نسرین ستوده), the human rights activist and lawyer who has also been arrested, found out that the woman is 31 years old and was arrested on the spot with her 19-month-old baby.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, January 2018, 28 January
On 28 January 2018, according to Nasrin Sotoudeh, the lawyer investigating the case, Vida Movahed was released; temporary on bail.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, January 2018, 29 January
On 29 January 2018, a woman was arrested in Tehran after reenacting Movahed's protest by standing on the same utility box in Enqelab Street, taking off her white Hijab, and holding it up on a stick. Photos has been posted on social media show that at least three other women reenacted Movahed's protest in Tehran on 29 January, including one near Ferdowsi Square.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, January 2018, 30 January
According to Nasrin Sotoudeh on 30 January 2018, the second woman who was arrested on 29 January 2018 was Narges Hosseini (Persian: نرگس حسینی); her age is 32.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, January 2018, 30 January
On 30 January 2018, several more women, but also men, protested against the compulsory hijab law by reenacting Movahed's protest. This took place in Tehran, as well as other cities as well including Esfahan and Shiraz.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 1 February
On 1 February 2018 the Iranian Police department announced they had arrested 29 women for taking off their hijab.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 2 February
According to Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian lawyer, Narges Hosseini known as the second girl of Enghelab street, who is 32 years old was unable to pay the US$135,000 bail set by the judge presiding over her case, facing a possible 10 years in prison and up to 74 lashes on charges including openly committing a sinful act.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 15 February
New photos and video shared on social media shows another woman re-enacting Movahed's protest on the same street, Enghelab Street (Revolution Street) on 15 February 2018 was identified as Azam Jangravi (Persian: اعظم جنگروی), videos shows that the police took her down aggressively. According to her latest Instagram picture, she said that she a part of Iranian women Reformists and Executives of Construction Party and has taken no orders from neither someone from inside nor outside the country, she said she has done that to protest against compulsory hijab.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 17 February
Narges Hosseini and Azam Jangravi were released from the custody temporary on bail.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 21 February
Another female protester named Shaparak Shajarizadeh (Persian: شاپرک شجری زاده) was arrested protesting with a white scarf on Wednesday, 21 February 2018 in a Gheytarieh street; eyewitnesses said that the police attacked her from behind and took her in custody.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 21 February
Photos shared on social media shows that the government was placing an inverted v-shaped iron structure on the utility boxes so as to inhibit anyone standing on top of the boxes. She was sentenced to two years in prison in addition to an 18-year suspended prison term. In addition, she stated that she left Iran.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 22 February
Another woman named Maryam Shariatmadari (Persian: مریم شریعتمداری) was protesting compulsory hijab in the afternoon on a utility box; the police asked her to come down and the woman refused and questioned the police what's her crime, "disturbing the peace" the police replied. Then, as she was violently ejected by the police, she was injured and her leg was broken.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 22 February
Shaparak Shajarizadeh was beaten up in custody. She was released later temporary on bail.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2018, 24 February
Eyewitnesses said that another women named Hamraz Sadeghi (Persian: همراز صادقی) was protesting compulsory hijab on Saturday, 24 February 2018 when suddenly she was attacked by an unknown security force, her arm was broken and was arrested.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, July 2018, 8 July
On 8 July 2018, Iranian teenager Maedeh Hojabri was arrested after she posted videos of herself dancing to Western and Iranian music on her Instagram account without her headscarf. She was among several popular Instagram users, with more than 600,000 followers. Her videos were shared by hundreds of people. Several Iranian women posted videos of themselves dancing to protest her arrest.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, October 2018, 27 October
On 27 October 2018, students in Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch protested after a morality police van entered the campus and attempted to arrest several women for improper hijab. Videos showed a student standing in front of the van, attempting to block its exit, which lead to the driver of the van attempting to run her over.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, October 2018, 29 October
On 29 October 2018, an Iranian woman stood on the dome of Enghelab square in Tehran, and removed her headscarf in protest to the compulsory hijab. She was arrested minutes later by the police. On 14 April 2019, it was revealed that she was Vida Movahed, the original Girl of Enghelab Street, that was protesting for the second time.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, February 2019, 15 February
On 15 February 2019, the morality police attempted to arrest two girls for improper hijab in the Narmak area of Tehran and were met with resistance from bystanders. A group of people gathered around the van, breaking the windows, tearing the door off, and freeing the two girls inside. A video from the incident shows police firing shots into the air to disperse the crowd. Tehran police later confirmed the incident.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, March 2019, 7 March
On 7 March 2019, two women were arrested in Kangavar after they protested the compulsory hijab by walking the streets of the city without their hijab on.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, March 2019, 8 March
On International Women's Day (8 March), groups of women in Tehran appeared unveiled and protested the oppression of women. A video showed two unveiled women holding a red sign, which read "International Women's Day is a promise of a just world for all of humanity", on a Valiasr Street. Another video showed a group of unveiled women on a Tehran Metro car handing out flowers to passengers.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, March 2019, 11 March
On 11 March 2019, a man stood on a box on Enghelab street and waved a white scarf on a stick. He was arrested on the scene by the security forces.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, May 2019, 13 May
On 13 May 2019, students at the University of Tehran gathered to protest the increasing pressures to obey the mandatory headscarf rule. Plainclothes vigilantes attacked students who were protesting. Students also carried signs demanding freedom and free elections.


2017–2019 Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, Timeline, August 2019
In August 2019, Iranian civil rights activist Saba Kord Afshari was sentenced to 24 years behind bars, including a 15-year term for taking off her hijab in public, which Iranian authorities say promoted "corruption and prostitution".