Catalonia’s regional government has announced it will hold a referendum on separating from Spain on October 1. The Spanish government, which sees the vote as illegal, has said it will block the referendum. Source Deutsche Welle
The German government is considering scrapping a scheme that supports companies operating in Turkey. The move comes after reports surfaced that Turkey had issued a blacklist of German companies it accuses of supporting terrorism. Source Deutsche Welle
A former Chinese diplomat, who was earlier Consul General in Mumbai, told Chinese state media on Wednesday that Indian troops faced three options at Doklam as the stand-off entered one month: withdrawal, capture or an attack by China “should the dispute escalate”. Source India Today
When Islamic State fighter Marat Nurmagomedov escaped from Syria to Turkey after becoming disillusioned with the militant group, he was unable to return home to Russia for fear of arrest. Instead, he managed to obtain a passport under another name and flew from Istanbul to Ukraine, whose ability to identify him as a terrorism suspect was hindered by a lack of intelligence sharing between Moscow and Kiev. Source Reuters
