WORLD

The nuclear-armed North has been reinforcing the border in recent months, adding tactical roads and laying more landmines, which has led to "casualties" among its troops due to accidental explosions, South Korea has said.

When Russian paramilitary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin sent his Wagner mercenaries charging towards Moscow last year in a short-lived rebellion, President Vladimir Putin looked weak and vulnerable.

The exercises in Srinagar, capital of the Indian-administered part of the disputed territory, marked the 10th international yoga day, Modi's own brainchild.

Putin also said this week that Moscow did not rule out military and technical cooperation with the North, or even sending weapons -- all of which would violate rafts of UN sanctions against Pyongyang.

If a compromise is not reached between Brussels and Beijing, the European Commission will impose extra tariffs of up to 38 percent on Chinese electric vehicles it says have benefitted from unfair subsidies.

The committee's report also urged the state obtain special rights over French energy giant TotalEnergies' strategic decisions and major changes in shareholders.

The blackout hit abruptly just after 3:00 pm local time, surprising subway riders in the capital Quito as trains came to a halt and hundreds of people were evacuated.

Putin travelled to Vietnam, a close ally of Moscow since the days of the Cold War, from a summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un where he won a pledge of "full support" on Ukraine and signed a mutual defense pact.

The clash took place Monday as Philippine forces attempted to resupply marines stationed on a derelict warship deliberately grounded atop the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, Manila said.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal FDP, who came to power in 2021, have until July 3, the end of the current parliamentary term, to reach a compromise.

The World Weather Attribution (WWA) group of scientists also said that extreme highs witnessed over that region in May and June were four times as likely to occur today as a quarter of a century ago.

Targeted missile and drone attacks over recent months have crippled Ukrainian electricity generation capacity, and forced Kyiv to impose blackouts and import supplies from European Union states.

Experts are divided on the prospect of wider war, almost nine months into Israel's vow to eradicate Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip.

Monday's incident was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to the disputed area.

Witnesses and the civil defense agency in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip reported Israeli bombardment in western Rafah, where medics said drone strikes and shelling killed at least seven people.

At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries' responses told AFP.

It comes at a particularly difficult moment for France, where both the far left and far right are piling up spending promises ahead of snap polls triggered by President Emmanuel Macron's crushing EU election defeat.

The move came as the governor of California, the most populous state in the US, voiced support for restrictions on the devices and as concerns grow about their impact on the mental health of young people.

Putin arrived in Kim Il Sung square, which was bedecked with Russian and North Korean flags along with large portraits of the two leaders, state media images showed, for a ceremony ahead of talks at the Kumsusan State Guest House, where a "strategic partnership" deal is likely to be signed.

Despite more than two years of Western punitive measures, Russia is still getting its hands on prohibited goods, with the help of cunning businesses that go to great lengths to dodge the embargo.

Blasts from the depot in the capital's Goudji area were heard miles away, AFP journalists said, adding that projectiles turned the sky red and black as they shot into the air at regular intervals and detonated.

The US Justice Department on Tuesday accused Chinese "underground bankers" of helping Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel launder more than $50 million in drug trafficking proceeds.

In recent years, Beijing has upped military and political pressure on the Taipei government, with the latest show of force coming three days after Lai's inauguration, when China conducted war games around the island.

Putin is scheduled to touch down on Tuesday night for his first trip to the isolated nation in 24 years, with a confrontation between North and South Korean troops on their shared border highlighting regional security tensions.

The Biden administration has been trying to walk a thin line on immigration, a key issue for many Americans ahead of November's presidential election.

The case against the 74-year-old billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 military putsch, is one of four before the courts that could unleash fresh political instability in the coup-prone kingdom.

Outlets including the New York Post and an official Republican social media account have shared several seemingly damning short videos in recent days of the 81-year-old president.

An Israeli announcement at the weekend of a daily "pause" of military activity to facilitate aid flows coincided with the Muslim holiday and has brought relative calm to parts of the besieged Gaza Strip after more than eight months of war.

The senate upper house is expected to approve the legislation, after which it will go to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for royal assent and come into force 120 days after publication in the official Royal Gazette.