Editor's note

Catalonia’s independence referendum this weekend carries no political legitimacy or legal force, but the political fallout is proving to be immense. The Spanish government not only condemned it, but sent in police to dismantle polling stations, prevent people from voting, and break up protests with force. Andrew Dowling explains that while the independence movement is clearly getting nowhere, Madrid’s intense crackdown will damage Spain’s international image and further poison relations at home.

From enormous birds to giant kangaroos and sloths the size of houses, megafauna - terrestrial plant-eating mammals weighing more than 100kg - used to be fairly common on the Earth. Most of the world’s existing megafauna are threatened with extinction but, write Erick Lundgren, Arian Wallach, Daniel Ramp and William Ripple, the picture’s not all gloom and doom.

Andrew Naughtie

International Editor

Top Story

EPA/Quique Garcia

Spanish government crushes Catalan independence dreams – at a high price

Andrew Dowling, Cardiff University

The referendum that wasn't a referendum can't have a winner.

Environment + Energy

Politics + Society

Health + Medicine

  • Routine mammograms do not save lives: The research is clear

    Anne Kearney, Memorial University of Newfoundland

    October is breast cancer awareness month. Women should know there is no reliable evidence that routine mammograms reduce death from breast cancer, and there's good evidence that they cause harm.