The nine separatists had been sentenced to long prison terms for their role in organizing a 2017 independence referendum. PM Sanchez says they are the first step in resolving the crisis between Madrid and Catalonia.

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of a Biafran pro-independence group has been returned to Nigeria years after fleeing a trial. The spectre of full-scale civil war hangs over recent violence in the region.

A French court did not find enough evidence to uphold Josu Ternera's conviction for membership of ETA between 2011 and 2013. The former separatist leader still has another case to answer to.

The death of separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani raised tensions in Kashmir, with authorities slapping charges on his family members. Geelani's relatives accuse the police of stealing his body.

Fans of European giants Real Madrid and Inter Milan will see their teams face unusual competition this autumn: a club from a tiny separatist region in one of Europe's least known countries, Moldova. After a couple of failed attempts, Sheriff FC is making its debut in the group stage of Europe's top football competition this year, becoming the first team ever from the ex-Soviet country to reach the Champions League itself. Sheriff FC hails from Transnistria, a Russian-speaking region which broke away from Moldova after a brief civil war following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Nigeria's separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu should stand trial and answer to charges that include terrorism and broadcasting falsehoods, a High Court judge ruled on Friday, April 8.

The Russian military has said it wants "another way" to access Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region. Ukraine has warned Russia seeks to establish new "republics" in occupied areas.

Mohammed Yasin Malik told the court that the charges of terrorism against him were "concocted, fabricated and politically motivated."

Badjie, his three wives, children and extended family are among more than 690 people that crossed into Gambia after the Senegalese military launched an operation on March 13 against rebels in Casamance fighting for independence. They are now hosted by Gambians while waiting to return home.

With the war in Ukraine now in its 100th day, we focus on the situation in Transnistria, a small breakaway region of Moldova on Ukraine’s south-western border. Western countries suspect the region of acting as a rear base for the Russian military. The separatist enclave, which has claimed its independence since the fall of the Soviet Union, is located near the strategic Ukrainian port city of Odesa on the Black Sea. Our reporter Lauriane Dherbecourt gained rare access to Transnistria, which for now refuses to take part in the conflict in Ukraine. She discovered a land whose people are torn between East and West.

A report by Human Rights Watch has accused Anglophone rebels of "kidnapping, terrorizing and killing civilians" in parts of the country.

The prominent Kashmiri separatist had been suffering from kidney cancer. His family allege he was denied proper medical treatment while in police custody.