President Vladimir Putin yesterday warned that Russia was prepared to take “military-technical measures” in response to “unfriendly” Western actions over the Ukraine conflict, in a sharp escalation of rhetoric.

Hundreds of dinosaur footprints, so well-preserved that even the scaly skin can be seen, have been found in Poland, giving an insight into a complex ecosystem around 200 million years ago, geologists said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was left reeling yesterday after his Brexit minister resigned, ending a difficult week during which his Conservative party suffered a humiliating defeat in a local by-election and his own MPs rebelled over new coronavirus curbs.

Britain reported a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant which government advisors said could be just the tip of the iceberg, and London’s mayor declared a “major incident” to help the city’s hospitals cope.

Al 128 miners were evacuated from a Siberian coal mine on Sunday after fire sensors were triggered, Russia's emergencies ministry said, just weeks after a blast at a mine in the same region killed 51 people.

Countries taking part in UN talks on autonomous weapons stopped short of launching negotiations on an international treaty to govern their use, instead agreeing merely to continue discussions.

Western powers on Friday reported some progress in talks to save the landmark Iran nuclear deal, but European diplomats warned that they were “rapidly reaching the end of the road”.

A one-year-old boy believed to have been sent by his parents to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing alone has made it safely to the island of Lampedusa, Italian media reports said yesterday.

Russia has unveiled proposals to contain the United States and Nato in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, calling for urgent negotiations with Washington as it amasses forces near Ukraine.

I think we did not hit the lowest point, thank God, and there is a progress in some aspects at the very least and not everything is hopeless. The situation can be stabilized and improved with the help of such agreements.

The Netherlands yesterday became the latest country to announce stricter measures as Europe braced for more curbs to rein in the spread of the new strain of the coronavirus fuelling a resurgence in Covid-19 cases worldwide.

Nations across Europe are moving to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of COVID-19 infections spurred by the highly transmissible omicron variant, triggering calls for protests from Paris to Barcelona.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex on Friday likened the spread of the Omicron variant in Europe to “lightning”, adding it would be the dominant strain in France from the start of 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wished Pope Francis a happy 85th birthday yesterday, telling the Catholic leader they could jointly protect Christians.

Last week India signed a pact with Russia to produce more than 600,000 Kalashnikov AK203 rifles in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The $675m deal may be relatively insignificant in dollar terms compared to the standard of complex missiles and submarines that are typical of defence deals. But it is the latest iteration of the strategic value that the country gets with its defence orders, say analysts.

Ukraine yesterday said that one of its soldiers was killed in fighting with pro-Russia separatists in the east of the country, as tensions with Moscow soar. 

Several European supermarket chains are dropping Brazilian beef products linked to destruction of the Amazon rainforest and tropical wetland, the US activist group Mighty Earth said Thursday. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday faced questions about his leadership after weeks of controversy culminated in a crushing by-election defeat in a constituency never previously lost by his Conservative Party. 

European Union leaders were to consider yesterday what economic sanctions they could impose on Russia if Moscow were to launch a new attack on Ukraine, Slovenia’s prime minister said, warning that the bloc was prepared for Russian “surprises”.

Under-fire British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday faced a crucial test of his leadership as polls opened in a by-election in a constituency his party has never lost, where defeat would intensify calls for a new leader.