Spain’s former Prime Minister says the constitution may need to be reformed to accommodate the demands of Catalans. Speaking on the sidelines of the TRT World Forum, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told The Newsmakers that Spain will stay united at all costs.

It's a powerful symbol of protest. For weeks, American football players have been kneeling during the national anthem. They're protesting the killings of black men by police. Donald Trump says they're unpatriotic and should be forced to stand or be banned. The NFL hasn't gone that far yet.

Austria is set to have a new chancellor: 31-year old Sebastian Kurz. His conservative People's Party won the most votes in Sunday's election but not an outright majority, which means he has to choose a coalition partner. There are two dramatically different options. But it's widely expected Kurz will go with the far right Freedom Party, leading Austria down a path that is more euro-skeptic, Islamophobic and anti-refugee.

Anti-corruption blogger and journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed after posting online, "There are crooks everywhere. The situation is desperate." She was best known for publishing reports that linked the Maltese Prime Minister to the Panama Papers; leaked documents that exposed the offshore accounts of the world’s rich and powerful.

The political maneuverings of Xi Jinping could drastically change the makeup of China's Communist leadership. The political elites are gathering in Beijing for a twice a decade party congress. And at the end of the week, we could see Xi throw his rivals out, and install a small group of loyalists who could elevate him to the heights of Mao Zedong.

The Igbo people in Southern Nigeria are pushing to break away from Abuja and form a separate state called Biafra. But the government has labelled the group a terrorist organisation. The movement's leader is on trial for treason. But on Tuesday's hearing, he failed to show up at court. In fact, he's been missing for weeks and his lawyer says the government took him following a military operation in his home city.

The United States announced they'll be leaving the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at the end of the year, along with Israel. Washington says it's costing them too much money and it no longer wants to support a group that has what it calls an anti-Israel bias. Earlier this year UNESCO labelled Israel an occupying power in Jerusalem. What impact is the US's withdrawal likely to have?

After two decades the United States has removed sanctions against Sudan. Washington says the nation has taken steps towards addressing terrorism and human rights abuses. But critics say the Trump administration has made the wrong call. Sudanese President Omar al Bashir is still wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide. And rights groups say Sudan is still plagued by violations against civilians. So how much progress has the government actually made? And could there be other reasons for Washington's kindness?

Top US tech firms are investigating how Russia may have harnessed social media to sway the 2016 presidential election.

Iraq's central government launched a major offensive to retake the northern city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces. The fighting was sparked voters overwhelmingly supported a referendum to form their own state. The advance was swift. Within a day, residents say troops loyal to Baghdad entered the city, seized airport, oil fields and nearby industrial towns.