FIBA has banned the Russia and Belarus men’s basketball teams from the second-chance qualification tournaments for the 2024 Olympics. FIBA, or the International Basketball Federation, announced the development on Tuesday. Athletes from Russia and Belarus have faced sanctions from a multitude of sports since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. As Moscow’s assault on Ukraine stretches into a second year, the …

Finland has become the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the world’s biggest military alliance. On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg described the move as historic and said the Finnish flag would be raised at the NATO headquarters to signify full accession into the alliance. “We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at …

An explosion in a St Petersburg cafe has killed prominent Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, Russia’s Interior Ministry has confirmed. At least 16 people were injured in the Street Bar Cafe bomb blast, police say. Videos posted on social media show an explosion and injured people on the street. It is not clear who was responsible for the blast. Vladlen …

Russians on the front lines are mutinying, fighting among themselves, and getting lost in the chaos of a faltering offensive, videos and messages from inside Vladimir Putin’s army show. Recently mobilized soldiers are refusing orders to face “certain death” by joining “human wave” attacks that they say are destroying entire units at a time. Some are appealing directly to Putin …

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday suspended Moscow’s participation in a nuclear arms treaty with Washington, as United States President Joe Biden vowed in a rival speech that Russia would never win in Ukraine. In his state of the nation address ahead of the first anniversary of the campaign in Ukraine, Putin also accused the West of escalating the conflict …

The United States said on Tuesday that Russia was not complying with New START, the last remaining arms control treaty between the world’s two main nuclear powers, as tensions soar over the Ukraine war. Responding to a request from Congress, the State Department faulted Russia for suspending inspections and canceling talks but did not accuse its Cold War rival of …

The number of dead has risen to 25 after a Russian missile attack that hit a high-rise apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday, according to official figures. By Sunday afternoon, 73 injured people had been rescued from the rubble of the partially collapsed building, including 13 children, the Ukrainian Civil Defence announced on Telegram. More …

Two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that his main spy agency foiled a Western plot to kill a prominent Russian journalist. Putin told reporters on Monday: “This morning, the Federal Security Service stopped the activities of a terrorist group that planned to attack and kill one famous Russian TV journalist. “They have moved to …

The UN General Assembly has voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council in response to Russian forces’ alleged killings of civilians in Ukraine. Nigeria and 57 other member-states however abstained. The resolution received a two-thirds majority in the 193-member Assembly, with 93 nations voting in favour and 24 against. Fifty-eight abstained from the process. Thursday’s historical vote on …

Three hundred and six more Nigerians affected by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war arrived in the country from Budapest, Hungary on Sunday morning. This makes it the fourth batch of evacuees to return home since the rescue operation began on Friday. And the total figure of Nigerian safety back home has risen to 1,081. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that …