Vladimir Putin says he will seek re-election as Russian president in 2018
If he completes the next term in full, Putin will have been Russia’s de facto ruler for 24 years
The suspense is finally over: Vladimir Putin has declared his intention to seek re-election as Russian president in 2018.
It was hardly a secret that he would run, but the announcement came a week earlier than many had expected.
Speculation had been mounting about the timing and ways he would make his announcement more than the question of whether he would or not. Most had posited a date in the middle of December – that would limit the election campaign to three months while giving enough time for the President to register as an independent candidate. The assumption was that it would happen some time after his marathon annual press conference, which takes place next Thursday, and before the conference of the ruling United Russia party on 22-23 December.
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In the end, the President decided a visit to a car factory in Nizhny Novgorod on Wednesday offered the best background shot. Naturally enough, it was left to the most ordinary of factory workers to elicit an answer to a question thousands had already asked.
Everyone on the factory floor supported the President, said the man; would he be so kind as to give them all a present?
“There is… umm… probably no better place, and no better reason to declare,” Mr Putin replied, to cheers. “I will put my candidacy forward for presidential elections.”
Earlier in the day, Mr Putin had teased a young audience at the Volunteer Russia forum. Surrounded by smiling youngsters and a palette of purple and crimson, the President hinted he would be making a decision in “the near future”.
The motivation for such a decision would only by a “desire to improve the lives of people living in Russia,” he assured his audience. Would the youngsters support his candidacy, he asked?
“Ye-ee-ss,” came the resounding reply.
More cheers.
World news in pictures
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World news in pictures
1/50 31 December 2018
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney
AP
2/50 30 December 2018
Bangladeshi army personnel drive a military vehicle through a street adorned with election posters near a polling station in Dhaka. Bangladesh headed to the polls following a weeks-long campaign that was dominated by deadly violence and allegations of a crackdown on thousands of opposition activists.
AFP/Getty
3/50 29 December 2018
Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli speaks to journalists as he arrives at the hospital where Vietnamese victims of an attack on a tourist bus where taken, in Al-Haram district in the Egyptian capital Cairo's western twin city of Giza. - Three Vietnamese holidaymakers and an Egyptian tour guide were killed on December 28 when a roadside bomb blast hit their bus as it travelled close to the Giza pyramids outside Cairo, officials said.
AFP/Getty
4/50 28 December 2018
Bright blue light is seen after a transformer explosion at an electric power station in the New York City borough of Queens
Reuters
5/50 27 December 2018
The Opal Tower at Sydney Olympic Park, Australia. Residents of the tower have been told to leave for a second time in four days to enable the company and investigators to conduct a 'comprehensive investigation' into a crack on the tenth floor of the building. Emergency services were called on the afternoon of the 24 December after residents of the building had heard cracking sounds throughout the morning
EPA
6/50 26 December 2018
A young man dressed in a Father Christmas suit distributes gifts to children in the old city of Mosul
AFP/Getty
7/50 25 December 2018
A participant in a Santa Claus costume jumps into the water during the 109th edition of the 'Copa Nadal' (Christmas Cup) swimming competition in Barcelona's Port Vell. The traditional 200-meter Christmas swimming race gathered more than 300 participants on Barcelona's old harbour
AFP/Getty
8/50 24 December 2018
US President Donald Trump speaks on the telephone as he answers calls from people calling into the NORAD Santa tracker phone line in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington
AFP/Getty
9/50 23 December 2018
An aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Carita after the area was hit by a tsunami on December 22 following an eruption of the Anak Krakatoa volcano. The volcano-triggered tsunami has left at least 222 people dead and hundreds more injured after slamming without warning into beaches around Indonesia's Sunda Strait. Officials voiced fears that the toll was set to rise
AFP/Getty
10/50 22 December 2018
Protesters wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) stand next to a burning barricade as they demonstrate against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes at the A9 highway toll of Le Boulou, southern France. The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing
AFP/Getty
11/50 21 December 2018
A Palestinian man wearing a Santa Claus outfit hands a flower to man in a wheelchair during a demonstration near the border between Israel and Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip
AFP/Getty
12/50 20 December 2018
Moroccan authorities investigate the scene of the grisly murder of two Scandinavian women at the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. The suspects in the killings have pledged alleigance to ISIS
AP
13/50 19 December 2018
Supporters of Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Martin Fayulu gesture number four (the candidate number on the electoral list) as they protest in Kinshasa after campaigning was called off by the authorities on security grounds
Getty
14/50 17 December 2018
Pyongyang residents prepare to lay flowers at the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il during National Memorial Day on Mansu Hill. North Korea is marking the seventh anniversary of the death of Kim Jong II
AFP/Getty
15/50 16 December 2018
Firefighters work on site where a large explosion occurred at a restaurant in Sapporo. According to local media reports, an explosion that triggered a fire occurred at a restaurant in Sapporo in the evening of 16 December. At least 20 people have been reported injured and taken to hospitals.
EPA
16/50 15 December 2018
A supporter wears a cast on her broken wrist with 'I (heart) Obamacare' written on it . A federal judge in Texas ruled that the US health care law known as Obamacare is unconstitutional -- a ruling that opposition Democrats vowed to appeal. US District Judge Reed O'Connor's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by several Republican state attorneys general and a governor opposed to the federal government health plan, known officially as the Affordable Care Act
EPA
17/50 14 December 2018
A Palestinian carries a flaming tyre amid clashes with Israeli forces. Israel carried out raids in the West Bank today in search of a Palestinian who shot dead two soldiers yesterday
AFP/Getty
18/50 13 December 2018
Yemen's foreign minister Khaled al-Yamani (L) and the head rebel negotiator Mohammed Abdelsalam shake hands during peace talks in Sweden that are being overseen by the UN
AFP
19/50 12 December 2018
Baby monkeys play on a wall of India's parliament in New Delhi. Macaque monkeys have swarmed the parliament, destroying important documents, attacking government officials and generally menacing the state
Reuters
20/50 11 December 2018
German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes British Prime Minister Theresa May at the chancellery in Berlin. May postponed the Brexit deal Meaningful Vote, on 11 December due to risk of rejection from Members of Parliament. She is currently on a whistle stop tour of Europe calling on the leaders of the Netherlands, Germany and EU in Brussels looking for new guide lines for her Northern Ireland backstop
EPA
21/50 10 December 2018
Police investigate after an empty school bus crashed in the North Point district of Hong Kong. Two people were killed when a school bus mounted a pavement in a crowded Hong Kong neighbourhood, trapping passers-by underneath and injuring 13, police said
AFP/Getty
22/50 9 December 2018
A Boca Juniors' fan cheers at a viewing in Buenos Aires for the Copa Libertadores final against rivals River Plate. The match is being held in Madrid, a neutral ground, after it was twice delayed due to violence
AP
23/50 8 December 2018
Protestors wearing "yellow vests" (gilets jaunes) clash with riot police near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris during a protest against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes. - Paris was on high alert with major security measures in place ahead of fresh "yellow vest" protests which authorities fear could turn violent for a second weekend in a row.
AFP/Getty
24/50 7 December 2018
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer reacts after being elected to leader of the Christian Democratic Union, succeeding the 18 year reign of Angela Merkel
Getty
25/50 6 December 2018
Police use tear gas against protesters during a demonstration in Athens to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a fatal shooting of a teenager which sparked major riots in Greece in 2008
AFP/Getty
26/50 5 December 2018
The flag-draped casket of former US President George HW Bush is carried by military pallbearers past US President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter as it arrives at his state funeral at Washington National Cathedral
Reuters
27/50 4 December 2018
High school students burn a barricade in front of their high school during a demonstration against French government Education reforms
AFP/Getty
28/50 3 December 2018
Sully, the service dog of former US President George HW Bush in his final months, lays in front of Bush's casket at the George H Lewis & Sons funeral home in Houston, Texas
Courtesy Office of George HW Bush/Reuters
29/50 2 December 2018
Demonstrators march in Brussels to 'claim the climate' as world leaders meet in Poland to discuss the Paris climate agreement targets
AP
30/50 1 December 2018
A protester moves to lob a tear gas canister during a protest in Paris today against rising fuel prices
Reuters
31/50 30 November 2018
US President Donald Trump, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wave hands in front of other leaders during a family photo at the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Reuters
32/50 29 November 2018
Firefighters battle a blaze on Fingerfield road at the Deepwater National Park area of Queensland. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in northeastern Australia as bushfires raged across the state amid a scorching heatwave
AFP/Getty
33/50 28 November 2018
A child waits to receive free bread by a local charity bakery amid a severe shortage of food in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, nearly 22 million people of Yemen's 26-million population are in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of increased food insecurity. The impoverished Arab country is experiencing a humanitarian crisis due to an ongoing brutal conflict that has lasted more than three years that has driven millions to the brink of famine
EPA
34/50 27 November 2018
A petrol bomb was thrown towards the Ajax fans during their Champions League away match against AEK Athens in the Greek capital. Home supporters threw flares into the stands also
Reuters
35/50 26 November 2018
Ukrainian activists burn flares during their rally in front of the Russian Consulate in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, on 25 November, announced the decision to introduce martial law in Ukraine for a period of 60 days. Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels amid their leaving the Kerch Strait. The two small-sized 'Berdiansk' and 'Nikopol' armored artillery boats had come under enemy fire and are now dead in the water. The 'Yany Kapu' tugboat was forcibly stopped and captured by special forces of the Russian Federation
EPA
36/50 25 November 2018
Women's rights activists gather to march through Taksim Square to protest against gender violence in Istanbul on the International Day for the elimination of violence against women
AFP/Getty
37/50 24 November 2018
River Plate's fans clash with riot police after the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final match against rivals Boc Juniors was postponed
Reuters
38/50 23 November 2018
Elias Lopez, a three-year-old Honduran migrant, plays in between the shields of a line of Mexican riot police, when the group he was part of tried to cross the Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. Elias Lopez is part of a group of Central American migrants that marched peacefully to the border crossing to demand better conditions and push to enter the US
AP
39/50 22 November 2018
Lebanese army soldiers march during a parade to mark the 75th anniversary of Lebanon's Independence Day, in Beirut, commemorating the liberation from the French Mandate on 22 November 1943
EPA
40/50 21 November 2018
Indian Muslim devotees wave flags as they parade atop vehicles along a street during Eid-Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations in Varanasi in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
AFP/Getty
41/50 20 November 2018
At least 50 people were killed and dozens more injured when a suicide bomber targeted a group of Muslim religious scholars in Kabul, officials in Afghanistan say.
Hundreds of clerics had gathered to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed at a large wedding hall in the capital before the blast happened, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.
Wahi Majroh, of Afghanistan’s public health ministry, said a further 83 people had been wounded by the bomber.
“The victims of the attack unfortunately are all religious scholars who gathered to commemorate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad,” said Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief
Reuters
42/50 19 November 2018
A view of the Fuego volcano eruption at sunrise, seen from El Rodeo, Escuintla, Guatemala. More than 2,000 people were evacuated from several villages due to the strong eruption, located 50 kilometers west of the Guatemalan capital
EPA
43/50 18 November 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron is applauded after speaking before the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) as the German parliament commemorates victims of wars and dictatorships in Berlin. The leaders of France and Germany jointly remember the victims of European wars, presenting also a united front in countering global turmoil stoked by US President Donald Trump
AFP/Getty
44/50 17 November 2018
People wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers' nationwide protest against higher fuel prices, block the Paris-Brussels motorway in Haulchin, France
Reuters
45/50 16 November 2018
People hold banners of Jamal Khashoggi during a symbolic funeral prayer for the Saudi journalist, killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October, at the courtyard of Fatih mosque in Istanbul. Turkey has more evidence contradicting the Saudi version of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi including a second audio recording, revealing that the murder had been premeditated, a Turkish newspaper reported on November 16, a contradiction to the statement of the Saudi prosecutor who said that five Saudi officials faced the death penalty on charges of killing Khashoggi but exonerated the country's powerful Crown Prince of involvement in the murder
AFP/Getty
46/50 15 November 2018
Alexei Navalny leaves the European Court of Human Rights today. The court has ruled that Russia's repeated arrests of Navalny were politically motivated
AP
47/50 14 November 2018
A crew member escorts a migrant child out of a plane transporting a group of 51 migrants from Niger, entitled to international protection, after its landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome
AFP/Getty
48/50 13 November 2018
Palestinians gather in front of damaged buildings in Gaza City following Israeli air strikes targeting the area overnight. Israel's aircraft struck Gaza on November 12, killing three Palestinians and wounding nine after a barrage of rocket fire into its territory from the enclave. The flare-up came after a deadly Israeli special forces operation in the Gaza Strip, at the weekend, that left Hamas vowing revenge
AFP/Getty
49/50 12 November 2018
Floral tributes outside Melbourne's Pellegrini's Cafe for Sisto Malaspina, after he was stabbed to death last Friday in an attack police have called an act of terrorism, in Australia
Reuters
50/50 11 November 2018
Heads of states and world leaders attend ceremonies at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Over 60 heads of state and government were taking part in a solemn ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the mute and powerful symbol of sacrifice to the millions who died from 1914-18
AP
1/50 31 December 2018
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney
AP
2/50 30 December 2018
Bangladeshi army personnel drive a military vehicle through a street adorned with election posters near a polling station in Dhaka. Bangladesh headed to the polls following a weeks-long campaign that was dominated by deadly violence and allegations of a crackdown on thousands of opposition activists.
AFP/Getty
3/50 29 December 2018
Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli speaks to journalists as he arrives at the hospital where Vietnamese victims of an attack on a tourist bus where taken, in Al-Haram district in the Egyptian capital Cairo's western twin city of Giza. - Three Vietnamese holidaymakers and an Egyptian tour guide were killed on December 28 when a roadside bomb blast hit their bus as it travelled close to the Giza pyramids outside Cairo, officials said.
AFP/Getty
4/50 28 December 2018
Bright blue light is seen after a transformer explosion at an electric power station in the New York City borough of Queens
Reuters
5/50 27 December 2018
The Opal Tower at Sydney Olympic Park, Australia. Residents of the tower have been told to leave for a second time in four days to enable the company and investigators to conduct a 'comprehensive investigation' into a crack on the tenth floor of the building. Emergency services were called on the afternoon of the 24 December after residents of the building had heard cracking sounds throughout the morning
EPA
6/50 26 December 2018
A young man dressed in a Father Christmas suit distributes gifts to children in the old city of Mosul
AFP/Getty
7/50 25 December 2018
A participant in a Santa Claus costume jumps into the water during the 109th edition of the 'Copa Nadal' (Christmas Cup) swimming competition in Barcelona's Port Vell. The traditional 200-meter Christmas swimming race gathered more than 300 participants on Barcelona's old harbour
AFP/Getty
8/50 24 December 2018
US President Donald Trump speaks on the telephone as he answers calls from people calling into the NORAD Santa tracker phone line in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington
AFP/Getty
9/50 23 December 2018
An aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Carita after the area was hit by a tsunami on December 22 following an eruption of the Anak Krakatoa volcano. The volcano-triggered tsunami has left at least 222 people dead and hundreds more injured after slamming without warning into beaches around Indonesia's Sunda Strait. Officials voiced fears that the toll was set to rise
AFP/Getty
10/50 22 December 2018
Protesters wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) stand next to a burning barricade as they demonstrate against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes at the A9 highway toll of Le Boulou, southern France. The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing
AFP/Getty
11/50 21 December 2018
A Palestinian man wearing a Santa Claus outfit hands a flower to man in a wheelchair during a demonstration near the border between Israel and Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip
AFP/Getty
12/50 20 December 2018
Moroccan authorities investigate the scene of the grisly murder of two Scandinavian women at the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. The suspects in the killings have pledged alleigance to ISIS
AP
13/50 19 December 2018
Supporters of Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Martin Fayulu gesture number four (the candidate number on the electoral list) as they protest in Kinshasa after campaigning was called off by the authorities on security grounds
Getty
14/50 17 December 2018
Pyongyang residents prepare to lay flowers at the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il during National Memorial Day on Mansu Hill. North Korea is marking the seventh anniversary of the death of Kim Jong II
AFP/Getty
15/50 16 December 2018
Firefighters work on site where a large explosion occurred at a restaurant in Sapporo. According to local media reports, an explosion that triggered a fire occurred at a restaurant in Sapporo in the evening of 16 December. At least 20 people have been reported injured and taken to hospitals.
EPA
16/50 15 December 2018
A supporter wears a cast on her broken wrist with 'I (heart) Obamacare' written on it . A federal judge in Texas ruled that the US health care law known as Obamacare is unconstitutional -- a ruling that opposition Democrats vowed to appeal. US District Judge Reed O'Connor's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by several Republican state attorneys general and a governor opposed to the federal government health plan, known officially as the Affordable Care Act
EPA
17/50 14 December 2018
A Palestinian carries a flaming tyre amid clashes with Israeli forces. Israel carried out raids in the West Bank today in search of a Palestinian who shot dead two soldiers yesterday
AFP/Getty
18/50 13 December 2018
Yemen's foreign minister Khaled al-Yamani (L) and the head rebel negotiator Mohammed Abdelsalam shake hands during peace talks in Sweden that are being overseen by the UN
AFP
19/50 12 December 2018
Baby monkeys play on a wall of India's parliament in New Delhi. Macaque monkeys have swarmed the parliament, destroying important documents, attacking government officials and generally menacing the state
Reuters
20/50 11 December 2018
German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes British Prime Minister Theresa May at the chancellery in Berlin. May postponed the Brexit deal Meaningful Vote, on 11 December due to risk of rejection from Members of Parliament. She is currently on a whistle stop tour of Europe calling on the leaders of the Netherlands, Germany and EU in Brussels looking for new guide lines for her Northern Ireland backstop
EPA
21/50 10 December 2018
Police investigate after an empty school bus crashed in the North Point district of Hong Kong. Two people were killed when a school bus mounted a pavement in a crowded Hong Kong neighbourhood, trapping passers-by underneath and injuring 13, police said
AFP/Getty
22/50 9 December 2018
A Boca Juniors' fan cheers at a viewing in Buenos Aires for the Copa Libertadores final against rivals River Plate. The match is being held in Madrid, a neutral ground, after it was twice delayed due to violence
AP
23/50 8 December 2018
Protestors wearing "yellow vests" (gilets jaunes) clash with riot police near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris during a protest against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes. - Paris was on high alert with major security measures in place ahead of fresh "yellow vest" protests which authorities fear could turn violent for a second weekend in a row.
AFP/Getty
24/50 7 December 2018
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer reacts after being elected to leader of the Christian Democratic Union, succeeding the 18 year reign of Angela Merkel
Getty
25/50 6 December 2018
Police use tear gas against protesters during a demonstration in Athens to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a fatal shooting of a teenager which sparked major riots in Greece in 2008
AFP/Getty
26/50 5 December 2018
The flag-draped casket of former US President George HW Bush is carried by military pallbearers past US President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter as it arrives at his state funeral at Washington National Cathedral
Reuters
27/50 4 December 2018
High school students burn a barricade in front of their high school during a demonstration against French government Education reforms
AFP/Getty
28/50 3 December 2018
Sully, the service dog of former US President George HW Bush in his final months, lays in front of Bush's casket at the George H Lewis & Sons funeral home in Houston, Texas
Courtesy Office of George HW Bush/Reuters
29/50 2 December 2018
Demonstrators march in Brussels to 'claim the climate' as world leaders meet in Poland to discuss the Paris climate agreement targets
AP
30/50 1 December 2018
A protester moves to lob a tear gas canister during a protest in Paris today against rising fuel prices
Reuters
31/50 30 November 2018
US President Donald Trump, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wave hands in front of other leaders during a family photo at the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Reuters
32/50 29 November 2018
Firefighters battle a blaze on Fingerfield road at the Deepwater National Park area of Queensland. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in northeastern Australia as bushfires raged across the state amid a scorching heatwave
AFP/Getty
33/50 28 November 2018
A child waits to receive free bread by a local charity bakery amid a severe shortage of food in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, nearly 22 million people of Yemen's 26-million population are in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of increased food insecurity. The impoverished Arab country is experiencing a humanitarian crisis due to an ongoing brutal conflict that has lasted more than three years that has driven millions to the brink of famine
EPA
34/50 27 November 2018
A petrol bomb was thrown towards the Ajax fans during their Champions League away match against AEK Athens in the Greek capital. Home supporters threw flares into the stands also
Reuters
35/50 26 November 2018
Ukrainian activists burn flares during their rally in front of the Russian Consulate in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, on 25 November, announced the decision to introduce martial law in Ukraine for a period of 60 days. Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels amid their leaving the Kerch Strait. The two small-sized 'Berdiansk' and 'Nikopol' armored artillery boats had come under enemy fire and are now dead in the water. The 'Yany Kapu' tugboat was forcibly stopped and captured by special forces of the Russian Federation
EPA
36/50 25 November 2018
Women's rights activists gather to march through Taksim Square to protest against gender violence in Istanbul on the International Day for the elimination of violence against women
AFP/Getty
37/50 24 November 2018
River Plate's fans clash with riot police after the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final match against rivals Boc Juniors was postponed
Reuters
38/50 23 November 2018
Elias Lopez, a three-year-old Honduran migrant, plays in between the shields of a line of Mexican riot police, when the group he was part of tried to cross the Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. Elias Lopez is part of a group of Central American migrants that marched peacefully to the border crossing to demand better conditions and push to enter the US
AP
39/50 22 November 2018
Lebanese army soldiers march during a parade to mark the 75th anniversary of Lebanon's Independence Day, in Beirut, commemorating the liberation from the French Mandate on 22 November 1943
EPA
40/50 21 November 2018
Indian Muslim devotees wave flags as they parade atop vehicles along a street during Eid-Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations in Varanasi in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
AFP/Getty
41/50 20 November 2018
At least 50 people were killed and dozens more injured when a suicide bomber targeted a group of Muslim religious scholars in Kabul, officials in Afghanistan say.
Hundreds of clerics had gathered to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed at a large wedding hall in the capital before the blast happened, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.
Wahi Majroh, of Afghanistan’s public health ministry, said a further 83 people had been wounded by the bomber.
“The victims of the attack unfortunately are all religious scholars who gathered to commemorate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad,” said Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief
Reuters
42/50 19 November 2018
A view of the Fuego volcano eruption at sunrise, seen from El Rodeo, Escuintla, Guatemala. More than 2,000 people were evacuated from several villages due to the strong eruption, located 50 kilometers west of the Guatemalan capital
EPA
43/50 18 November 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron is applauded after speaking before the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) as the German parliament commemorates victims of wars and dictatorships in Berlin. The leaders of France and Germany jointly remember the victims of European wars, presenting also a united front in countering global turmoil stoked by US President Donald Trump
AFP/Getty
44/50 17 November 2018
People wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers' nationwide protest against higher fuel prices, block the Paris-Brussels motorway in Haulchin, France
Reuters
45/50 16 November 2018
People hold banners of Jamal Khashoggi during a symbolic funeral prayer for the Saudi journalist, killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October, at the courtyard of Fatih mosque in Istanbul. Turkey has more evidence contradicting the Saudi version of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi including a second audio recording, revealing that the murder had been premeditated, a Turkish newspaper reported on November 16, a contradiction to the statement of the Saudi prosecutor who said that five Saudi officials faced the death penalty on charges of killing Khashoggi but exonerated the country's powerful Crown Prince of involvement in the murder
AFP/Getty
46/50 15 November 2018
Alexei Navalny leaves the European Court of Human Rights today. The court has ruled that Russia's repeated arrests of Navalny were politically motivated
AP
47/50 14 November 2018
A crew member escorts a migrant child out of a plane transporting a group of 51 migrants from Niger, entitled to international protection, after its landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome
AFP/Getty
48/50 13 November 2018
Palestinians gather in front of damaged buildings in Gaza City following Israeli air strikes targeting the area overnight. Israel's aircraft struck Gaza on November 12, killing three Palestinians and wounding nine after a barrage of rocket fire into its territory from the enclave. The flare-up came after a deadly Israeli special forces operation in the Gaza Strip, at the weekend, that left Hamas vowing revenge
AFP/Getty
49/50 12 November 2018
Floral tributes outside Melbourne's Pellegrini's Cafe for Sisto Malaspina, after he was stabbed to death last Friday in an attack police have called an act of terrorism, in Australia
Reuters
50/50 11 November 2018
Heads of states and world leaders attend ceremonies at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Over 60 heads of state and government were taking part in a solemn ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the mute and powerful symbol of sacrifice to the millions who died from 1914-18
AP
Mr Putin, 65, who this year passed Leonid Brezhnev’s record of 6,602 days in office, has placed the future at the centre of his now official campaign pitch. If he completes the next term in full, he will de facto have ruled Russia for 24 years. Both figures include an interregnum between 2008 and 2012, when Dmitry Medvedev was notionally in charge as President and Mr Putin served as his Prime Minister.
With little in the way of political competition, Mr Putin is expected to win the election comfortably. According to a poll published earlier this week by RBC, no other candidate is expected to break through the 10 per cent barrier.
It is understood that Mr Putin’s team is angling for a result of at least 70 per cent support with a turnout of 70 per cent. With growing ambivalence to the political process amid squeezed living conditions, the second target may prove ambitious.
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