Did US airstrikes in Iraq hit their mark?  – Catalonia votes on independence today – A former Soviet leaders warns of a new Cold War – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Those US Airstrikes on a reported Islamic State (IS) leadership conference in Mosul, Iraq “might” have seriously injured or even killed the group’s self-appointed Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.  We say “might” because US officials won’t even confirm that he was there.  Al-Arabiya TV reported Baghdadi had been wounded, while a local Iraqi channel said one of his aides was killed.

The Federal government is trying to confirm reports that an Australian fighting for Islamic State has been killed in a Syria.  This could be the third Australian IS fighter killed in the past month, but getting concrete facts is a difficult process, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Spain’s Catalan region today is holding a referendum on independence, in defiance of the government in Madrid and the Supreme Court.  The ballot asks two questions:  Do you want Catalonia to be a state?  And should that state be independent?  Pro-independence forces hope for a large turnout to prove they have a mandate, with which they will negotiate with the central government.

Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev is warning the world is on the brink of a new Cold War.  At an event in Berlin to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall, Gorby accused the West of succumbing to “triumphalism” and urged an end to economic sanctions against Russia brought on after Moscow’s involvement in the strife in Ukraine.  Gorbachev is credited with loosening political, media, and economic restrictions in the USSR in the late 1980s, which led to an end to several community regimes throughout Europe.

Who knocked on the door of the Tardis?  (Warning:  Spoilers)

Bolivia says it broke up a gun smuggling operation.  Police seized dozens of weapons from the United States, including several machine guns.  Interior Minister Jorge Perez says the cache was to be smuggled into Brazil for sale to drug gangs.  According to the minister, several weapons have silencers and are similar to those used by elite teams of the army and the police.