A year long period of mourning in Thailand came to an end this Thursday. The late king of Thailand, King Bhumibol, was cremated in a public ceremony involving a 164 foot funeral pyre. Thousands of black clad mourners took to the streets to see the funeral procession. King Bhumibol was the longest reigning monarch in history, until the Queen of England, Elizabeth II recently overtook that title. During his seven decades of rule, Bhumibol came to be revered by his people and his passing has invoked emotion from all walks of life in Thailand.

The Spanish region of Catalonia failed to meet the deadline set by Madrid to back down from their independence bid. In response, Madrid enacted Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution which would allow the Spanish Parliament to suspend the autonomy of Catalonia. The Spanish Prime Minister’s plan with this was to hold snap elections in Catalonia in the hopes of getting pro-independence ministers voted out of office and replaced with those who would prefer to stay. This plan has, however, since changed; On the morning of Friday, October 27th, the Spanish Prime Minister asked the Spanish Senate to grant the central government direct control over Catalonia. This is an unprecedented move in Spain, which is comprised of largely autonomous states. At the same time, the parliament of Catalonia was meeting and the secessionist leaders threatened to declare independence.

There was recently a bombing in the city of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The blast was meant to kill far-right MP Igor Mosiychuck; however, Mosiychuck survived the assassination attempt, though injured, but one of his security detail did not. Four people, including Mosiychuck, were injured by the bomb. From his hospital bed, Mosiychuck has claimed that Russia is behind the attempted assassination, but Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has denied the accusations.

In far brighter news, the travel guide company Lonely Planet has named the South American nation of Chile as the best place to visit in 2018 Lonely Planet has an incredible amount of criteria taken into account before placing a country on the Top 10 list, never mind giving them the number one spot. It would seem that Chile’s campaign to make their country appealing to tourists has paid off.