The Taliban launched an attack on the capital of the western Afghan province of Farah, briefly overrunning the city.

At least 25 members of the Afghan security forces were killed in the attack on Tuesday.

Afghan provincial official Fared Bakhtawer said "security checkpoints around the city have collapsed into the hands of the Taliban, causing high casualties among security forces."

Turkey’s government ordered Israeli ambassador, Etan Naeh to leave the country in response to Israel’s killing of Palestinian protestors in the Gaza strip yesterday.

On June 20^th war crimes judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) will discuss whether to launch investigation into the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar. The decision was made after chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, asked the court whether deportations could be investigated as a crime against humanity.

Catalan parliament has completed negotiations within parties to allow for the selection of a pro-independence candidate to assume presidency of Catalan parliament and end the emergency direct rule imposed by Madrid.

The Catalan regional parliament is set to elect Quim Torra with a simple majority after the far left pro-independence Popular Unity Candidacy (cup) agreed to not block the vote.  

In the bloodiest single day for Palestinians since 2014, 55 protestors were killed with over 2,700 injured by live gunfire reports Reuters.

The Palestinian Authority said that at least 1,100 of those injuries were lower limb gunshot wounds.

Myanmar’s troops and government aligned paramilitaries have clashed with fighters from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army in the north of the country, leaving at least 15 people dead.

“Fighting took place since 5am this morning at three places: two military bases in Muse and one near a bridge on the way to Lashio town,” TNLA spokesman Major Mai Aik Kyaw told AFP.

Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), stated that the Libyan government has yet to arrest and surrender Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli – a Major in the Libyan National Army who was charged with committing war crimes.

Sweden’s Défense Minister Peter Hultqvist on Wednesday reiterated his government’s commitment to training and supporting Kurdish Peshmerga forces, reports Kurdistan24.net.

Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont announced his decision to renounce leadership of Catalonia on Wednesday.

Speaking from hi self-exile in Berlin, Mr Puigdemont, pointed to Catalan lawmaker Quim Torra as a strong candidate to take on the role of regional president.

UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa stated that the escalating violence in Gaza is exacerbating child suffering.

The US Statement Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert strongly criticised Turkish forces for preventing Kurdish displaced Kurdish residents in Syria’s Afrin region from returning to their homes.

Answering questions on Thursday the US Sate Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert, said,

“We’ve been watching the situation very carefully in Afrin. 140,000 people have been displaced from Afrin and as far as we can tell, they are not being allowed back into their homes.”

The British Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry attended the Palestninian National Council summit in Rammallah this week, to reiterate the Labour party’s support for the state of Palestine.

In a statement posted on facebook, Ms Thornberry said,

The Basque separatist militant group ETA formally announced its disbanding in Spanish papers on Wednesday reports Politico.

The Palestinian Authority and Norway signed an agreement worth $2.71 million to support the Palestinian statistical program of the Palestininan Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) for the period of 2018-2020, reports the International Middle East Media Center.

The agreement will see Norway provide financial and technical assistance to build the capacity of the Palestinian institution responsible for collating and producing statistics about the Palestinian state.