Live: Voting begins in Russia's parliamentary elections
· France 2418/09/2026 - 05:18
Trump says 'major progress' towards US base in Poland
US President Donald Trump said that Washington and Warsaw were making 'major progress' toward establishing a US military base in Poland, potentially giving the United States a permanent military foothold on NATO's eastern flank even as his administration reviews its broader troop presence in Europe.
18/09/2026 - 05:18
Russians begin voting in controlled election as war drags
Polling stations opened early Friday in Russia's Far East, kicking off a three-day election that President Vladimir Putin's party is all but guaranteed to win in the fifth year of war with Ukraine.
It will be Russia's first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022. The conflict has since killed hundreds of thousands.
Only parties that support Putin and the Kremlin's dragging military campaign have been registered to run. Moscow has also organised voting in occupied Ukraine.
Yesterday's key developments:
- President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed Anton Kovalskyi as Ukraine's acting prosecutor general, a presidential decree has shown.
- The US House of Representatives passed a broad package of sanctions targeting Russian officials and key pillars of its economy as lawmakers look to deprive President Vladimir Putin of the financial resources needed to wage the war against Ukraine.
- A Russian barrage of missiles and drones targeting Ukraine's capital and the surrounding region injured at least 19 people overnight and into Thursday morning, authorities said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)