RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin’s bid for re-election won unanimously backing from ruling-party delegates at a conference in Moscow today.

United Russia chairman Dmitry Medvedev, a former president and prime minister, called on fellow party members to “mobilise all activists and supporters” in support of Mr Putin before the vote scheduled for March 15-17.

SOUTH KOREA: The military said today that it had detected at least one ballistic missile fired by North Korea towards its eastern waters, adding to a torrent of weapons tests in recent months that has raised tensions.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not immediately say what type of missile it was or how far it had flown.

SERBIA: Right-wing President Aleksandar Vucic sought to further tighten his grip on power in an election today that was marred by reports of major irregularities during a tense campaign.

The main contest in the parliamentary and local elections was expected to be between Mr Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, in power since since 2012, and a centrist opposition coalition.

MIDDLE EAST: A US warship shot down 14 suspected attack drones over the Red Sea on Saturday, while a Royal Navy destroyer downed another drone that was targeting commercial ships, the British and US militaries said.

Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, and launched drones and missiles targeting Israel, as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to spread.