China has signed a long-awaited, 30-year deal to buy Russian natural gas worth $400bn.

Russian voters were expected to endorse Vladimir Putin’s choice of a successor in today’s presidential election, allowing Mr Putin to retain a measure of power in his nation whose wealth and global voice have grown even as democratic freedoms diminished.

Russians were voting today in a presidential poll that incumbent Vladimir Putin is expected to win in a landslide after a lacklustre campaign that gave most people little chance to hear from his challengers.