China and Russia kicked off their largest-ever joint naval drills today in the Sea of Japan.

Asia-Pacific nations including China, the US and Japan promised measures to boost growth yesterday and rejected limits on food exports to try to revive the flagging global economy.

Asia and Pacific leaders meeting in the Russian seaport of Vladivostok are hoping to push ahead with their agenda for free trade this weekend.

Vladimir Putin has said Russia can work with Mitt Romney if he is elected US president – even though the Republican candidate has called Russia the United States’ “number one geopolitical foe”.

Every few years the dark side of humanity reminds us of how bestial, how savage we can be when we put aside all the constraints of civilised behaviour.

Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in central Moscow to demonstrate against alleged voting fraud and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, in the largest public show of discontent since the end of the Soviet Union.

TENS of thousands took to the streets across the globe for May Day yesterday, to press for workers’ rights amid tough economic times and to back an array of other causes.

Widespread fear that Japan’s nuclear crisis could send radioactive fallout Russia’s way is proving a bonanza for shops selling everything from face masks and iodine to vodka and wine.

Frankfurt: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed closer economic links between Russia and the European Union that would lead to establishing a free-trade zone “from Lisbon to Vladivostok”. He is on a visit to Germany.

NATO’s secretary general urged member states yesterday to endorse a proposed anti-missile system that would protect Europe and North America, saying it is the alliance’s responsibility.

THE General Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Thousands of protesters held rallies in several cities across Russia to protest against the government’s economic policy and demand more political freedoms.

Irish bantamweight John Joe Nevin has a chance to reach the final of his weight division at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in Milan today.

Thousands of protesters rallied across Russia today to criticise the government’s economic course and its response to the global financial crisis.

IT had been brass monkeys weather all week in Manchester until the day Chelsea arrived, when the thermometer shot up eight degrees.

THE fire safety system on a Russian nuclear-powered submarine malfunctioned on a test run in the Sea of Japan, spewing chemicals that killed at least 20 people and injured 21 others.

The fire safety system on new Russian nuclear-powered submarine malfunctioned on a test run in the Sea of Japan, spewing chemicals that killed at least 20 people and injured 21 others, officials said today.

An accident aboard a nuclear-powered Russian submarine in the Pacific Ocean killed more than 20 people, the navy said today.

BILLY WALSH, head coach to the Irish boxing team in Beijing, has dismissed a report that their Olympic preparations were being hampered by the fact that they had elected not to train at the official training site for the boxers.

IRELAND’S five Olympic boxers have arrived in Bugeat, France, for the penultimate training camp in advance of the Olympic Games.

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.

HIGH Performance Director, Gary Keegan, will be awaiting the results of a meeting in Thailand this week when boxing’s world governing body, AIBA, could decide a new venue for the World Championships, which take place later this year.

IF A good start is half the work, what’s a bad start? A bad finish? A bad middle part? Just bad.

Two-time former champion Lleyton Hewitt was knocked out of the ATP Next Generation Adelaide International on Thursday after losing his round-robin encounter with Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn in three sets.

Russian authorities seized several fishing boats off the country’s north-east coast, but none of the boats were Japanese in origin, a news report said today.

A FIRE broke out in an office building in the Russian Pacific coast city of Vladivostok yesterday, killing nine people and injuring at least 15 others as trapped victims jumped from windows to escape the smoke and flames.

A fire broke out in an office building in the Russian Pacific coast city of Vladivostok today, killing nine people and injuring at least 15 others as trapped victims jumped from windows to escape the smoke and flames.

Christopher Bodeen, Shanghai

RUSSIA and China began unprecedented joint military exercises involving air, sea and land forces yesterday, as commanders from both nations insisted the war games weren’t meant to intimidate other countries.

Rescuers have recovered 10 more bodies today from the Sea of Japan, where Russian crews have been searching for more than a week for sailors from two ships that disappeared in a heavy storm.

SADDLE soreness will take on a new meaning for Stuart Mullion when he sets off on his 80-day round-the-world challenge on his trusty Harley Davidson in September.

Voter turnout in Russia’s presidential election exceeded the 50% threshold needed to make the vote valid, Russian news agencies quoted Central Election Commission chief Alexander Veshnyakov as saying hours before polls closed today.

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.

A Russian passenger jet has been forced to land with only two of its three engines running.

Russia's Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that everyone on board the airliner which crashed in Siberia has been killed.

All the 133 passengers and 10 crew on board a plane which crashed in Siberia are feared dead.