Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny has been barred by the Russian Election Committee from contesting the Presidential elections in 2018. In a unanimous 12-0 ruling with one person abstaining, the committee cited a conviction for fraud as the reason Navalny could not take part as a presidential candidate next year.

 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has described the latest UN sanctions imposed on the country as an "act of war".

In a statement by the foreign ministry, Pyongyong described the latest UN sanctions "as a violent breach of our republic's sovereignty and an act of war that destroys the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and a wide region."

Another North Korean soldier has defected to South Korea by crossing the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) under the cover of thick fog. According to Al Jazeera, South Korean soldiers fired about 20 warning shots at border guards from North Korea who appeared to be searching for the defected soldier.The report quoted political analyst and publisher of Korea Expose, a news magazine, Se-Woong Koo as saying that the economic situation is prompting soldiers and citizens to risk their lives by leaving the country.

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Tzipi Hotovely on Monday said her government was meeting with representatives of ten countries over a potential relocation of their embassies to Jerusalem. The Deputy Prime Minister's statement is coming after Guatemala announced plans to move its embassy to Jerusalem, following a similar decision by the US earlier this month which sparked widespread international condemnation and mass rallies across the Middle East.

More than 100 people are reported to have been killed as a tropical storm swept through the southern Philippines, with dozens more missing.

Storm Tembin brought flash flooding and mudslides to parts of Mindanao island.

Two towns badly hit were Tubod and Piagapo, where a number of homes were buried by boulders.

Tembin, with winds of up to 80km/h (50 mph), has now passed across Mindanao and is heading towards the southern tip of Palawan before moving further west.

As many as 19 people have been injured after a car deliberately drove into a crowd of pedestrians in central Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, police have said. The driver of the sport utility vehicle and another man were arrested at the scene after the vehicle crashed into a signal pole outside a cable car stop.