Spain moved on Thursday to suspend Catalan's autonomy after the Catalan leader refused to meet the deadline Madrid imposed on the to abandon independence. 

Madrid said in a statement on Thursday that it would invoke article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which would begin stripping the region of its autonomy. 

Spain reiterated its intention to implement direct rule over Catalonia if Catalan president Carles Puigdemont failed to abandon secession plans by 8:00 GMT on Thursday, reports the BBC.

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said,
“All I ask of Mr Puigdemont is that he acts sensibly to put the interest of all citizens first.”

Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria added if the deadline was not met Spain “will provoke the application of Article 155,” which lays out the path for direct rule from Madrid.

The Chinese president Xi Jinping on Wednesday warned that his country was ready to defeat Taiwan separatism. 

China has "the resolve, the confidence, and the ability to defeat separatist attempts for Taiwan independence in any form",  he told a gathering of the Communist Party in Beijing. 

"We will never allow anyone, any organisation, or any political party, at any time or in any form, to separate any part of Chinese territory from China," he was added. 

Iraq’s army says it has taken full control of Kirkuk following a major advance, reports Al Jazeera.

The federal government in Baghdad told AL Jazeera that Iraqi forces had captured the governing building in the centre of Kirkuk and moved in to take control of of oil fields, a refinery and military base from Kurdish control.

Iraq’s military offensive was met with no opposition from Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who co-ordinated a withdrawal from their positions with Iraqi forces.

Over 300 people are now believed to have been killed by two truck bomb attacks in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu on Saturday. 

"We have confirmed 300 people died in the blast. The death toll will still be higher because some people are still missing," Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of the city's ambulance service, was quoted by Reuters as saying. 

On Saturday a truck bomb exploded near government offices, just outside the Safari Hotel at the K5 intersection. A second bomb exploded at Medina district two hours later. 

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack to date. 

Britain’s former prime minister Tony Blaire said that he and other world leaders were wrong to yield to Israeli pressure to impose an immediate boycott of Hamas after the militant group won Palestinian elections in 2006, reports the Guardian.

Interviewed for a new book ‘Gaza: Preparing for Dawn’, Mr Blair said,

Baghdad accused Kurdistan of making a “declaration of war” by moving extra Peshmerga troops to the disputed regions of Kirkuk.

Iraq’s National Security Council, on Sunday,  said it viewed the movements as a “dangerous escalation” and “declaration of war” adding that “ the central government and regular forces will carry out their duty of defending the Iraqi people in all its components including the Kurds, and defending Iraq’s sovereignty and unity” reports the Telegraph.

The Kurdistan Regional Government said it has placed thousands of troops in Kirkuk following a build-up of Iraqi forces to the south of the disputed city, reports the Financial Times.

A top aide to the KRG President Masoud Benzani said,

“Thousand’s of heavily armed Peshmerga units are now completely in their positons around Kirkuk. Their order is to defend at any cost.”

Kurdish authorities accused the Iraqi government of placing forces south of Kirkuk in readiness for an offensive to seize Kurdish oil fields around Kirkuk.

A Bosnian Muslim commander who defended Srebrenica during the 1992-95 war was acquitted of war crimes on Monday over charges of war crimes. 

Naser Oric, who is a considered a hero by Bosnian Muslims for defending them against Bosnian Serbs was found to be not guilty in the case of the killing of three Serb prisoners of war. 

"The accused Naser Oric and Sabahudin Muhic have been acquitted of charges of violating provisions of the Geneva Conventions," the judge, Saban Maksumic, told court. 

Sabahudin Muhic was a fellow soldier along side Mr Oric. 

Fatah and Hamas have signed a deal today aimed at bringing the two Palestinian organisations together. 

The deal, which was brokered by Egypt and signed in Cairo, comes after Hamas announced last month it would dissolve its administration of the Gaza strip in view of holding general elections and forming a unity government with Fatah. 

The agreement is believed to include transfering administration of the border crossing between Gaza strip and Egypt to a unity government. 

Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas told AFP on Thursday, "I welcome the agreement."