RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has retained its parliamentary majority election officials confirmed today.

Preliminary results indicated that it would have 355 out of 450 seats in the lower house State Duma, the Central Election Commission said, which, if confirmed, would be a record high for the the ruling party.

The turnout was just over 59 per cent, the most for a parliamentary election in over a decade. 

PAKISTAN: Fighter jets carried out air strikes today on sites in eastern Afghanistan that Pakistani officials described as suspected militant hideouts. They said 28 militants had been killed.

The strikes near the Pakistani-Afghan border marked a renewed escalation in tensions between the neighbours.

UNITED STATES: The three national news outlets banned from the White House, CNN, MS Now and Politico, filed a first amendment lawsuit today to restore their access.

In a joint statement, the organisations said: “This morning we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit to protect our first amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.

“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Amnesty International has accused the M23 militia in the country’s east of carrying out abuses and unlawful killings of miners which could amount to war crimes while trafficking critical minerals to neighbouring Rwanda.

The human rights watchdog said it had documented abuses by the rebels including “summary killings,” torture, arbitrary detention, forced labour and pillage.