The Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday rejected the notion of a referendum on independence for Catalonia, responding to the Catalan's government's proposal to hold a referendum before September 2017. 

"It is not possible to hold a referendum that will do away with national sovereignty and the equality of Spaniards," he was quoted by Reuters as saying at a news conference. 

"This is not going anywhere, I'm offering something which is a lot more reasonable - dialogue," Mr Rajoy he added. "I ask that no more steps are taken in the opposite direction."

A former Bosnian police commander and then interior minister, Dragan Vikic has been charged for war crimes committed in 1992. 

Mr Vikic, along with three former officers is accused of killing eith Yugoslav People's Army prisoners of war who were captured after their vehicle broke down in Sarajevo in April 1992. 

“After that, the prisoners were taken to the Great Park, near the police headquarters building in the centre of Sarajevo, where they were killed with a burst of gunfire,” the indictment states. 

Mr Vikic has denied all the allegations.

Germany is to hold discussions with the Namibia government regarding an official apology and possible reparations for the genocide of the Herero and Namaqua people by German troops at the beginning of the 20th century, The Guardian 

Tens of thousands of Herero and Namaqua men, women and children were shot dead by troops or starved to death in camps. The  genocide is considered the first of the century. 

An official apology is expected to be finalisted before June 2017, the paper reported. 

See more here. 

US federal authorities have arrested a Serbian man, after it was reported he lied about his involvement in war crimes to immigration officials.

Alexander Kneginich was arrested in Michigan this week after he failed to inform authorities about both the time he served in the Bosnian Serb military and his subsequent conviction for the killing of two Muslim civilians in 1994.

Mr Kneginich faces up to 10 years imprisonment as well as deportation to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The European Court of Justice ruled that a recently signed trade deal with Morocco would not cover Western Sahara, in a ruling that has been hailed by pro-independence activists.

The court ruling, related to two trade deals from 2000 and 2012, said that for the purposes of the trade agreement the term "territory of the Kingdom of Morocco" did not include Western Sahara.

"It does not appear that this people has consented to the agreement being applied to Western Sahara," the court said.

UN Security Council votes affirmatively towards resolution demanding the halt of settlement activity by Israel on occupied Palestinian territory – with 14 votes in favor of the resolution and the United States abstaining.

The resolution is the first adopted on Israel and Palestine in approximately eight years. While the US’s decision to abstain serves a great rebuke against Israel in recent history.

"This is not a resolution against settlements, it is an anti-Israel resolution, against the Jewish people and the state of the Jews. The United States tonight has simply abandoned its only friend in the Middle East," said Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz.

More than 500 people have been arrested in West Papua after protests on the 55th anniversary of the Indonesian military occupation of the region last week.

TeleSUR English reported that a total of 528 people were arrested by Indonesian authorities, with at least one report of a protester being tortured by security forces. Several children are also thought to be amongst those detained.

West Papua independence leader Benny Wenda said in a statement that in “this year alone over 4,800 people have been unlawfully arrested and many others killed and tortured by the Indonesian military and police”.

Bosnian authorities have arrested two people this week over alleged war crimes committed more than 20 years ago.

The State Investigation and Protection Agency arrested Bosiljko Kraljevic, a former member of the ‘Klis’ First Battalion of the Third Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council, over allegations over his involvement in war crimes committed in 1993.

The prosecution added that it seized weapons used during the war, “as well as some military documentation and other evidence related to the war period”.

Meanwhile a former Bosnian Army soldier was arrested on suspicion of committing war crimes against Serbs in 1992.

The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish an investigative body to “collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence,” as well as prepare cases on war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the conflict in Syria, reports the Telegraph.

The resolution, tabled by Liechtenstein, passed with a vote 105 to 15 with 52 abstentions, with objections from Syria and Russia.

International organisations are calling for an investigation after security forces killed at least four people during protests in Anglophone regions of Cameroon.  

Amnesty International describes actions taken by the state to be excessive – as security forces fired live ammunition and teargas at a market despite the lack of evidence that protests were in fact taking place.

Unrest in two English-speaking regions has developed over the past month due to claims of discrimination. A protester in Kumba states, “Southern Cameroonians do not benefit anything from the French Cameroon. We want this to end this year.”