The International Criminal Court on Thursday approved plans for prosecutors to launch an investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by government forces in Burundi between 2015 - 2017. 

The judges said there was "a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation in relation to crimes against humanity," in a statement. 

The decision comes just weeks after Burundi opted to remove itself from the international court. 

Myanmar on Wednesday criticised a statement released by the UN Security Council expressing “grave concern over reports of human rights violations and abuses in Rakhine State”, stating that it could harm negotiations with Bangladesh. 

The Council had also urged Myanmar to “ensure no further excessive use of military force."

Myanmar's leader, Aung Sang Suu Kyi criticised the Council for not making reference to the negotiations with Bangldesh. 

Roads in Catalonia were brought to a standstill on Wednesday as pro-independence demonstrators striked in protest against the Spanish government's arrest and detention of Catalan leaders. 

The strike was called by the CSC union and was supported by the Asamblea Nacional Catalana (ANC) and Omnium Cultural, Reuters reported. 

A United Nations report said the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has committed “international crimes” during the battle for Mosul in Iraq, and called for the prosecution of perpetrators.

The report, compiled by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UN assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), was released following a nine-month military campaign by the Iraqi government and coalition forces to capture Mosul.

The United Nations Security Council should refer Burma to the International Criminal Court because of its failure to investigate mass atrocities against ethnic Rohingya, said Human Rights Watch on Friday.

The rights organisations further called on Member state of the UN to pursue processes for gathering criminal evidence to advance prosecutions in the ICC and other courts.

Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited the Rakhine state this week, where the military is accused of carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, as US lawmakers proposed sanctions against the country.

Ms Suu Kyi made the brief trip for the first time since violence erupted in the state and was accompanied by the Burmese military.

A Spanish judge has issued an international arrest warrant for Catalonia’s president Carles Puigdemont and four other Catalan leaders as they were in Belgium on Friday.

The move, comes after the judge took nine other members of the regional government into custody after the Spanish central government removed them from their posts.

The leader of Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government on Monday is to end his term of office on November 1 after his request not to renew his term was approved by parliament.

The decision comes just weeks after a referendum on independence, which was led by President Masoud Barzani.

The Catalan government voted on Friday to declare independence from Spain, following a referendum earlier this month. 

The decision came as over 2000 pro-indpendence supporters gathered outside the regional parliament in Barcelona. 

“Catalonia is and will be a land of freedom. In times of difficulty and in times of celebration. Now more than ever”, the Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont tweeted. 

Kurdish Peshmerga forces continued to fight against Iraqi security forces into Thursday, reports Rudaw news.

Iraqi forces alongside Shiite paramilitary forces attached the Kurdish Peshmerga on several fronts. Commenting on the developments during the day the Kurdish Region Security Council  called on the international communtiy to denoucne Iraq's actions, stating,

The Kurdistan Regional Government offered to ‘freeze’ the independence referendum results in favour of a ceasefire and talks with Baghdad reports BBC News.

The Kurdistan Regional Government condemned the Iraqi Security force’s offensive on Kurdish regions, stating

The United States is discussing accountability measures to hold Myanmar’s military leadership responsible for the ongoing rights violations against the Rohingya community and will consider targeted sanctions.

In a statement released Wednesday, the state department said,

Rome said it was ready to hold discussion with the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, after Italians in the northern regions voted overwhelmingly in favour of greater autonomy at a referendum held over the weekend. 

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said he was open to negotiations on how Lombardy and Veneto "wanted to proceed", Reuters reported. 

Two of Kurdistan’s main political parties announced their willingness to enter into unconditional talks with Baghdad centred around the Iraqi constitution, reports Rudaw news.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) called for Baghdad to enter into unconditional following a meeting with 30 other parties in  the Kurdistan Region on Sunday.