The head of Niger’s military-run government on Saturday accused France of wanting to “destabilise” the country -- seven months after driving out French soldiers engaged in the fight against jihadism.

A French strategy to boost its medal count after years of sporting underachievement has begun to pay dividends at the Paris Olympics as rapturous home crowds propel its athletes up the medals table, although keeping up the pace may prove hard.

The Kremlin yesterday confirmed that Vadim Krasikov, freed by Germany in Thursday’s prisoner swap deal with the West, is an operative with Russia’s FSB security service.

The Kremlin said yesterday that any F-16s delivered to Ukraine would be shot down and have little impact on the battlefield, in response to reports that the first fighter jets have arrived.

Ukraine’s air force said yesterday it repelled one of Russia’s largest long-range drone attacks of the war overnight, shooting down all 89 drones launched at Kyiv, the surrounding region and other areas.

Italian researchers have noted the first case of “virgin birth”, or reproduction without fertilisation, in an endangered shark species, a scientific journal reported this week.

Russia yesterday began large-scale military drills involving every part of its navy not engaged in the Ukraine offensive, the defence ministry said.

Donald Trump on Monday called the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris a "disgrace," after its creators came under fire for what some said was a show gone too far

Fibre-optic cables in several parts of France have been “sabotaged”, police said yesterday, three days after the rail system was hit by attacks that halted trains across the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday threatened to relaunch production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States confirmed its intention to deploy missiles to Germany or elsewhere in Europe.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday he “does not listen” to what he called Ukraine’s contradictory statements on peace talks.

French rail officials warned of travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of people throughout the weekend after saboteurs following a meticulous plan paralysed much of the train network Friday as the Olympic Games started

Saboteurs struck France’s TGV high-speed train network yesterday in a series of pre-dawn attacks across the country, causing travel chaos and exposing security gaps ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony later in the day.

In the midst of its own political upheaval and rising global tensions, France is set to host an unprecedented Olympic showcase, marking a significant departure from traditional stadium settings for the first time since the Summer Olympics began in 1896.

The world’s richest one percent increased their fortunes by a total of $42 trillion over the past decade, Oxfam said yesterday, ahead of a G20 summit in Brazil where taxing the super-rich tops the agenda.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Armenia’s tilt towards Nato was a cause for regret and concern, and said Yerevan’s actions risked destabilising the wider South Caucasus region.

UK police yesterday arrested two pro-Palestinian demonstrators after a protest at Britain’s Cenotaph war memorial in central London.

Russia downed 22 Ukrainian drones overnight in the west of the country and over Crimea, Moscow’s defence ministry said yesterday.

France’s left-wing parties still plan to form a joint government after they emerged as the strongest bloc in parliament in a snap election, but any pact is unlikely to come this week, the head of the Socialist Party (PS) said yesterday.

The Kremlin yesterday said it did not believe the US administration was responsible for Saturday’s assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump, but that it had created an atmosphere that provoked the attack.