Catalonia’s parliament declared independence from Spain on Friday in defiance of the Madrid government, which at the same time was preparing to impose direct rule over the region. The independence motion passed in the Catalan assembly with 70 votes in favour, 10 against and 2 blank ballots, according to Reuters.

German police seized guns and a huge stockpile of ammunition in a series of early morning raids on 25 October targeting suspected Islamic extremists in Berlin. They arrested a 40-year-old German citizen at one of the addresses. He had been on their radar for some time.

A police spokesman said they found rifles, handguns and around 30 boxes of ammunition at the addresses in Reinickendorf and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Pictures issued by the force show what appear to be two assault rifles on a table.

Catalan authorities will not follow orders from the Spanish government if Madrid moves to reassert control over the region, a senior official says.

A regional government spokesman told the BBC that the central government was acting against the will of Catalans.

North Korea was probably behind the devastating cyber-attack that derailed Britain's state-owned health service's IT systems, the U.K. government publicly claimed on Friday. "I think we should perhaps remember that this attack, we believe quite strongly, that this came from a foreign state," U.K. Security Minister Ben Wallace said.

Cambridge University English academics will be forced to replace white authors with black writers after agreeing to 'decolonise' the curriculum for students.

English Literature professors will now be required to 'ensure the presence' of Black and Minority Ethnic writers (BME) in their courses.

The World Health Organization has revoked the appointment of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador following a widespread outcry. "I have listened carefully to all who have expressed their concerns," WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.