Jonathan Rugman , Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Well with their leader out of the country, has Catalan independence turned into a cause without a rebel?  Spain’s high court has just demanded that Carles Puigdemont returns from Brussels to appear in court on Thursday.  

The sacked Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, and five other senior colleagues, have driven undetected across the French border and caught a flight to Brussels. The EU may not have recognised their independent state but a Flemish minister in the Belgian government has offered the ousted leadership political asylum. While they were on the run Spain’s chief prosecutor today…

Real Madrid played Girona today, amid the political tensions in Catalonia. Jonathan Rugman was at the match.

The Catalan separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, has called for “democratic opposition” after Madrid imposed direct rule on the region. Mr Puigdemont – who’s been sacked along with the rest of his cabinet by the Spanish government – gave a televised address from an undisclosed location.  

The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been giving his government’s response to the Catalan declaration.

Alfred Bosch, a member of Barcelona City Council, talks about what he believes will happen after the independence declaration.

Huge crowds have been celebrating on the streets of Barcelona, as the Catalan parliament voted to establish an “independent and sovereign state” – a declaration met with an immediate response from Spain: direct rule. And as for Europe, a big no too,as the head of the EU parliament declared no-one in the bloc would recognise Catalan independence.

The crisis in Catalonia is deepening after its president Carles Puigdemont ruled out calling early elections. Tomorrow the Spanish Senate is now expected to go ahead and endorse the government’s announcement of direct rule.

The headlines about the demise of IS forces in Syria have taken attention away from the ongoing humanitarian crisis. About 3.5 million people in Syria are thought to live in besieged areas, surrounded and trapped by troops loyal to the Assad government. A warning: there are extremely distressing images of sick children from the very…

The parliament in Catalonia says it will move to declare independence from Spain as early as next Monday. EU leaders have again urged both sides to calm down and talk to one another. But the Spanish King has been accused of inflaming the situation by failing to condemn the weekend’s violence. Jonathan Rugman has been…

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans have taken to the streets in Barcelona and other cities in protest at police violence during Sunday’s referendum on Catalan independence. Amid rising tensions, King Felipe is due to address the Spanish people this evening.

The Catalan leader has called for international mediation over the independence dispute with Spain, saying that after almost 900 people were injured in clashes with Spanish police, the EU “cannot look the other way”. Crowds occupied squares and blockaded streets across Catalonia at midday today to protest against the police violence during yesterday’s referendum.

More than 460 people have been hurt – including 11 police officers – as Spanish security forces tried to stop people voting in Catalonia’s independence referendum. Jonathan Rugman reports from Barcelona.

Supporters of Catalan independence say they’re determined to go ahead with tomorrow’s referendum – despite Spain’s efforts to stop it happening. Our foreign affairs correspondent, Jonathan Rugman, reports from Barcelona.

In Barcelona, the hugely controversial referendum on Catalonia’s independence looks set to go ahead this weekend, despite the Spanish government insisting that it won’t. Thousands of police officers have been sent to the region to try to stop the poll going ahead.