COLU @ CONCEPTS

M Tens of thousands have gathered in Barcelona for a candlelit protest after two leaders of the Catalan separatist movement were jailed. Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart are being held without bail while they are under investigation for sedition. The men were leading figures in the disputed 1 October independence vote, which Madrid has branded illegal. Spain's Constitutional Court appeared to back central government's position on Tuesday, ruling the vote void. It had initially suspended the law used by Catalan authorities to call the referendum. However, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull suggested neither the court decision nor the imprisonment of Mr Sánchez and Mr Cuixart was going to stop the drive for independence, telling reporters "surrender is not something this government is considering". Catalan crisis in 300 words The man who wants to break up Spain The air of defiance carried into Tuesday evening, when separatists car...

Image copyright AFP Image caption Actress Marie Trintignant pictured on the set of French TV series Colette, less than a month before she was killed A leading French music magazine has responded to criticism for making a rock star who killed his girlfriend its cover star. Les Inrockuptibles placed Bertrand Cantat, who beat actress Marie Trintignant to death in 2003, on its front page last week. In a statement, it said its choice was "debatable", and expressed "sincere regrets" to "those who felt hurt". France's Elle magazine responded with a editorial tribute to Ms Trintignant. Under the headline "In the name of Marie", it said its words were for "all women victims of violence" carried out by men. Cantat, who was released from prison in 2007, is trying to relaunch his music career with a new solo album. Les Inrockuptibles said it had been covering Cantat since the 1980s and its history was built on his old band, Noir...

Media caption Daphne Caruana Galizia was a pillar of Malta's democracy, her friend says The son of an investigative journalist killed in a car bomb attack in Malta has denounced what he called the country's "mafia state". Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, died in an explosion shortly after she left her home in Bidnija, near Mosta, on Monday. She was known for her blog accusing top politicians of corruption. "My mother was assassinated because she stood between the rule of law and those who sought to violate it," said her son Matthew, who was close to the blast. The head of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajini, called for a full investigation. "To kill a journalist it is incredible in 2017 with a bomb, it is incredible," he told the BBC. "Why kill a journalist? Probably because the journalist was close to one important point." Caruana Galizia: Malta's anti-corruption warrior In a lengthy Facebook post p...