President Vladimir Putin yesterday tightened media conditions for election coverage in Russia, ahead of a March 2024 presidential vote expected to prolong his rule until 2030.

Russia has signed a contract to supply Igla-S hand-held anti-aircraft missiles to India and allow production of the Igla there under licence, the Russian state news agency TASS quoted a top arms export official as saying yesterday.

Images of faces generated by artificial intelligence (AI) can now appear more real than pictures of real people -- as long as they are white, a study said on Monday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak brought back former leader David Cameron as foreign minister yesterday in a reshuffle triggered by his firing of interior minister Suella Braverman after her criticism of the police threatened his authority.

Russian forces have killed 34 fighters and wounded more than 60 in air strikes on targets in Syria’s Idlib governorate, Russia’s Interfax reported late on Sunday, citing deputy head of Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria.

In his fresh remarks on the diplomatic face-off with India, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that the world will become “more dangerous” for everyone “if bigger countries can violate international law without consequences”.

The Ocean Viking rescue vessel has picked up 128 stranded migrants in three operations off the coast of Libya, the Marseille-based SOS Mediterranee which runs the ship said on Saturday.

Half of the world’s 2,000 biggest listed companies have set a target to get to net-zero emissions by mid-century, but just a fraction meet tough United Nations guidelines for what constitutes a quality pledge, a report yesterday showed.

A Ukrainian military brigade said yesterday 19 of its soldiers were killed last week in a Russian air strike that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as “a tragedy that could have been avoided”.

Vladimir Putin has decided to run in the March presidential election, a move that will keep him in power until least 2030, as the Kremlin chief feels he must steer Russia through the most perilous period in decades, six sources told Reuters.

The Group of Seven (G7) bloc of wealthy democracies risks eroding its relevance as a force to tackle major geopolitical crises over an apparent struggle between its member nations to agree on a firm, united approach to Israel’s war in Gaza.

Russia said yesterday it had successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads from one of its submarines.

Ukraine fired cruise missiles at a shipyard on the east coast of the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, damaging a ship and causing debris to fall on a dock, Russia said yesterday.

Thousands took to the streets of Berlin yesterday in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid ongoing bombardments by Israel after the deadly Hamas attack on its territory on October 7.

Italian police yesterday said they had arrested a Bangladesh citizen suspected of belonging to a Pakistani Al-Qaeda-linked group who was studying military tactics and publishing incendiary videos online.

A group of UN-mandated human rights experts, including the special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, said Thursday “time is running out to prevent genocide and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”, which Israel called Hamas “propaganda”.

Scientists has proposed a novel idea that could solve two of the world’s mysteries at once -- one that passes over our heads every night, and one that sits far below our feet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed a law revoking Russia’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Countries including the UK, United States and China yesterday agreed the “need for international action” as political and tech leaders gathered for the world’s first summit on artificial intelligence (AI) safety.

Plastic litter in rivers might be allowing dangerous pathogens to hitch-hike downstream, a new study published yesterday found.