Clashes broke out between Ukrainian troops and armed separatist in the country’s east, killing at least 6 people in Donetsk, despite the ongoing ceasefire.

According to reports, the Ukrainian military blamed rebels who launched an attack on the city’s airport.

The United Nations has officially taken over peacekeeping in the Central African Republic, as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon made a fresh call for an “immediate end” to the violence in the country.

African-led peacekeeping forces (MISCA) transferred authority to the United Nations mission (MINUSCA) on Monday, with 5,000 African and 2,000 French troops stationed in the country.

The UN Secretary General called for "all Central African stakeholders to sustain their commitment to an inclusive political process to ensure the successful completion of the country's transition."

Minusca chief Gen Babacar Gaye of Senegal said,

"Our mission can be summed up in a triptych: to protect the population, back the political process and contribute to the restoration of the authority of the state."

As many as 500 migrants are thought to have been killed off the coast of Malta, after their boat was rammed by traffickers last week, said the International Organisation for Migration on Monday.

IOM spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume said,

“Survivors have testified that the traffickers arrived aboard two boats and ordered the migrants to change vessels in the middle of the sea. The migrants said it was too dangerous and refused. There was a violent altercation and the traffickers used their boat to ram the migrants' boat.”

"Some 500 people were on board - Syrians, Palestinians, Egyptians and Sudanese. They were trying to reach Europe."

News of the incident comes after a boat carrying approximately 250 migrants sank off the Libyan coast on Sunday, killing at least 100 people.

Catalan’s regional parliament on Monday began the process of establishing new legislation that would allow for an independence referendum to be held on 9 November this year, reports the Guardian.

The Catalan leader argued that an independence referendum would exhibit an “impressive level of democracy” in Spain.

“This would mean that Spain would effectively bury the ‘old Spain’ and rediscover that it is a country made up of several nations,” said Artur Mas.

The Islamic State (IS) released a video, showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines.

The 44-year-old from Perth, was captured by militants in Syria last year. IS executed two American journalists in the last few weeks, saying it was in response to American air strikes on the group in Iraq. The militants had threatened to execute Haines in earlier videos, calling on the US and Britain to cease supporting the Iraqi and Kurdish armies.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the murder of an innocent aid worker was "despicable and appalling".

Pakistani police have arrested scores of opposition activists who have been staging sit-in protests in the capital of Islamabad, reports the Guardian.

The most recent arrests have stalled talks between the Pakistani government and opposition protesters.

Commenting on the latest arrests, the Interior Minister said,

“We arrested some people while they were leaving the protest site."

The parliament of Greece on Tuesday ratified a bill criminalising the denial of the Armenian genocide, last week.

The revised bill entitled “Fight Against Xenophobia,” adopted by parliament on Thursday, made the crime punishable by up to three years in prison and a 30,000 Euro fine.