The rubber-stamp National People’s Congress endorsed the appointment of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, 64, as state councillor, making him a ranking member of the country’s “cabinet”.

He replaces Yang Jiechi, China’s former top diplomat, who was tipped for a leading role in managing Beijing’s increasingly uncertain relations with the US under President Donald Trump.

While Yang was known for his good relationships with former US officials, it is unclear what advantages Wang, who was once ambassador to Japan, would have for handling the sensitive relationship at a time of growing trade tensions.

China’s chief diplomat also faces ongoing regional maritime disputes in the South China Sea, with Beijing facing criticism over its construction of artificial islands capable of hosting military equipment.

Monday’s government reshuffle included the naming of General Wei Fenghe, 64, as minister of defence.

He was formerly the head of China’s strategic missile force and is seen as having played a key role in President Xi Jinping’s effort to reform the military.

Earlier this month, Beijing announced an 8.1 percent increase in military spending in 2018 as it seeks to modernise its forces and expand its capabilities. China opened its first overseas base in the Horn of African country of Djibouti last year.

Wang and Wei were among a raft of appointments approved by the parliament, including US-educated economic reformer Yi Gang as the new governor of the central bank and Fu Zhenghua as the new minister of justice.

Fu, who was once Beijing’s top cop, is thought to have led the investigation into Zhou Yongkang, the former security czar who was jailed in 2015 as part of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.

Commerce Minister Zhong Shan was kept at his post and faces the tough task of dealing with a potential trade war with the United States.//AFP

The duck, owned by Cockburn Masters Swimming Club, was last seen at Perth’s Coogee Beach in the early hours of March 11 as organisers prepared for a carnival.

Club president Peter Marr said he tried to swim after Daphne, which is the size of a caravan, but it was moving too fast.

“I probably overestimated my ability and underestimated Daphne’s hunger for freedom and she just bolted,” Marr told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday (March 17).

The club has posted an appeal on Facebook for people to look out for the absconded bird, with a reward of free passes to next year’s event as well as swimming merchandise if it is returned.

“We’re expecting a ransom note,” Marr quipped, adding that Daphne cost the club A$900 (RM2,715). “We’d look after them if they looked after us.”

The ABC said there were rumours the duck had been spotted off the western coastal city of Geraldton, some 440km north of Perth.

Giant inflatable rubber ducks drew international attention in 2007 when Dutchman Florentijn Hofman created one as an artwork.

Hofman’s 18m-tall bath toy travelled to different cities around the world, ranging from Brazil to Australia, and spawned many replicas. //AFP

Here are some of the world leaders who have held power the longest — excluding monarchs enthroned for life.

More than four decades

Topping the list with 49 years in power is Cuba’s revolutionary hero Fidel Castro, who handed over to his brother Raul in 2008 when he was in his early 80s.

Taiwan’s first president Chiang Kai-shek was in charge on the island and in mainland China for a total of 47 years until his death in 1975.

North Korean founder Kim Il Sung ran the reclusive state for 46 years before dying in office in 1994. He is still revered as the “eternal leader”.

Albania’s communist dictator Enver Hoxha was in power for 40 years until his death in 1985.

Moamer Kadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for almost 42 years before being ousted and then slaughtered in 2011 by rebels.

Omar Bongo Ondimba governed oil-rich Gabon for more than 41 years until his death in 2009.

Still counting

Currently the world’s longest serving president is Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, with 38 years under his belt since he toppled his uncle in 1979.

Others that are still counting their years in power:

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya: 35 years.

Congo President Denis Sassou: 34 years, excluding a five-year pause.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen: 33 years.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni: 32 years.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: 29 years.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir: 28 years.

Chad’s President Idriss Deby: 27 years.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev: 28 years.

Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon: 25 years.

Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki: 24 years.

Putin, who has ruled Russia for almost two decades, recorded his best ever election performance with more than 76 percent of the vote, but the opposition cried foul.

Monitors reported ballot stuffing and other cases of alleged fraud as the Kremlin pushed for a high turnout to give greater legitimacy to Putin’s historic fourth term.

The Russian strongman ran against seven other candidates, but his most vocal critic Alexei Navalny was barred from the ballot for legal reasons and the final outcome was never in doubt.

“I see in this (result) the confidence and hope of our people,” Putin said in an address to a crowd of supporters on a square next to the Kremlin after exit polls put him on track for a resounding victory.

“Our thoughts will turn to the future of our great country and the future of our children,” said the man who is already Russia’s longest-serving leader since Stalin.

About 107 million Russians were eligible to cast ballots and in its latest update on participation, three hours before polls closed in Moscow, the central election commission said turnout was at 60 percent.

Authorities used both the carrot and the stick to boost engagement in the polls.

Selfie competitions, giveaways, food festivals and children’s entertainers were laid on at polling stations in a bid to create a festive atmosphere around the election.

But employees of state and private companies reported coming under pressure to vote, while students were threatened with problems in their exams or even expulsion if they did not take part, according to the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper.

According to central election commission data with 90 percent of ballots counted, Putin took 76.4 percent of the vote, well ahead of his nearest competitor Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin who was on 12 percent.

Ultra-nationalist firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky took around 6 percent, former reality TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak was on 1.5 percent and other candidates were on less than a single percentage point each.

The election was held as Russia faces increasing isolation on the world stage over a spy poisoning in Britain and a fresh round of US sanctions just as it gears up for the football World Cup in the summer.

– ‘Unprecedented violations’ –

Navalny — who called on his supporters to boycott the “fake” vote and sent more than 33,000 observers across the country to see how official turnout figures differed from those of monitors — said there had been “unprecedented violations”.

His lawyer Ivan Zhdanov said the actual national turnout at 1700 GMT, when polls closed in Moscow, was 55 percent, according to data collected by monitors.

Navalny’s opposition movement and the non-governmental election monitor Golos reported ballot stuffing, repeat voting and Putin supporters being bussed into polling stations en masse.

One election commission worker in the republic of Dagestan, which traditionally registers extremely high official turnout figures, told AFP around 50 men entered the station where he was working and physically assaulted an observer before stuffing a ballot box.

But the electoral commission dismissed most concerns, saying monitors sometimes misinterpret what they see.

Runner-up Grudinin said the elections had been “dishonest” in comments carried by news agencies following early results.

– Putin ‘a hero’ –

Since first being elected president in 2000, Putin has stamped his total authority on the world’s biggest country, muzzling opposition, putting television under state control and reasserting Moscow’s standing abroad.

The 65-year-old former KGB officer used an otherwise lacklustre presidential campaign to emphasise Russia’s role as a major world power, boasting of its “invincible” new nuclear weapons in a pre-election speech.

Most people who spoke to AFP on Sunday said they voted for Putin, praising him for restoring stability and national pride after the humiliating collapse of the Soviet Union.

“Of course I’m for Putin, he’s a leader,” said Olga Matyunina, a 65-year-old retired economist.

“After he brought Crimea back, he became a hero to me.”

Sunday marked four years since Putin signed a treaty declaring Crimea to be part of Russia in a move that triggered a pro-Kremlin insurgency in east Ukraine, a conflict that has claimed more than 10,000 lives.

– Voting in space –

Ahead of the vote, a new crisis broke out with the West as Britain implicated Putin in the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal with a Soviet-designed nerve agent.

In response, London expelled 23 Russian diplomats, prompting a tit-for-tat move by Moscow. Also this week, Washington hit Russia with sanctions for trying to influence the 2016 US election.

After his victory, Putin dismissed claims Russia was behind the poisoning in Britain as “drivel, rubbish, nonsense” but said Moscow was ready to cooperate with London in the probe.

Putin’s previous Kremlin term was marked by a crackdown on the opposition after huge protests, the Ukraine conflict, military intervention in Syria and the introduction of Western sanctions that contributed to a fall in living standards.

The president has said he will use his fourth term to address a litany of domestic problems including widespread poverty and poor healthcare.

“Another six years of slavery,” said a piece of paper made up to look like a ballot which was spotted on a Moscow street — in an apparent reference to Putin’s next term.

Election officials flew to far-flung regions to collect votes from indigenous herders, while cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov — the only Russian currently aboard the International Space Station — cast his ballot by proxy.

WHILE MANY Asian countries have discussed the “post-truth” political phenomenon in the social media era, Thailand appears to be a few steps behind as it struggles with freedom of expression in an undemocratic atmosphere, a symposium heard on Friday.

“The reason why Thais are among the highest social media users is because we have nowhere else to go,” Bhokin Bhalakula, a former deputy prime minister and Pheu Thai Party member said at the forum.

While robust social engagement could be an opportunity for politicians – as it was for Yingluck Shinawatra, who had more than 1 million Facebook fans – Bhokin said social media use had become obligatory in Thailand in recent years under the rule of the junta.

While the 2017 charter endorses people’s rights and freedoms, including the freedom of expression, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in practice curbs public opinion, especially on politics, through its enforcement of laws and junta orders.

Because the NCPO prevented political gatherings of five or more people after the 2014 coup, social media platforms, particularly Facebook, Twitter and Line, have become places where the public chooses to gather legally.

Yet more intense enforcement of the laws – especially the Computer Crime Act and the sedition and lese majeste laws – have put pressure on social media users and administrators. Consequently, many people have had their accounts shut down or even been prosecuted for allegedly breaking these laws.

Bhokin said this landscape, together with the junta-written legal mechanisms of the parliamentary system, was an indicator of the tough path ahead for Thailand in terms of achieving democracy.

“This is all in contrast to the push for the Thailand 4.0 era, which would require an open society,” he said. “The worry is always about how laws and regulations will be interpreted and enforced.”

A former Democrat Party MP, Kiat Sittheeamorn, said while he believed in freedom of speech, official political parties should be regulated to some extent.

Kiat said this was to make sure that resources used by parties were not fraudulent, which could result in the spread of fake news.

“Social media platforms have a very crucial function in providing information, interaction and mobilising activities. They have become more powerful for spreading messages and shaping public agendas,” he said.

“Still, the challenge remains with fake news. It’s a job that we have to commit to, to ensure fair competition among all political players.”

With the two Thai politicians emphasising the power of social media, the rest of the panel’s speakers – from academic and media backgrounds – focused on dealing with accountability and the influx of information.

Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, said building “trust in information” could help with the challenge of sustaining democratic legitimacy in terms of freedom of speech.

Tan said the government must make reliable information available, and the public needed to be able to trust official sources of information.

“Even as governments try to protect society, they have to remain resilient about competing and conflicting ideas,” he said. “The use of legislation is an easy tool, but whether it works [in the long term] remains to be seen. Politicians also need to be mindful that intrusions on free speech can be a means of censorship and curbing public dissent.”

Marketing blogger Nuttaputch Wongreanthong said social media had empowered individuals by giving them more access to, and the ability to distribute, information and lessened the media monopoly. However, social media also left more room to undermine the public via tailor-made messages online.

“Social media algorithms are advanced tools. Businessmen love this because they can personalise messages to fit their customers,” Nuttaputch said. “This could also be used for political purposes.”

Noting how messages were politically distorted during the pre-coup political crisis in Thailand, Nuttaputch said there was a need to regulate and support media literacy to protect and help the public in dealing with fake information.

Endy Bayuni, the Jakarta Post’s senior editor, said Indonesia, as Southeast Asia’s biggest country, was another large social media hub, and that victories and losses in elections there had been determined by social media in many cases.

Indonesia had its share of fake news and hoaxes, which had been intentionally produced for political purposes, Bahuni said.

While the police appeared to be cautious in enforcing cyber laws, Indonesian media had also noticed that the law could be used to suppress freedom, he added.

Friday’s symposium was organised by the Asia News Network (ANN) as part of the launch of its website, asianews.network.

The group should provide sufficient and substantial assistance to all people in Rakhine as well as a comprehensive development plan, said Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council secretary-general Kobsak Chutikul.

The council is playing a crucial role in helping Myanmar to implement recommendations made by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan’s advisory board.

Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has picked veteran Thai diplomat Surakiart Sathirathai as council chairman to head the advisory board on the Implementation of Recommendations on Rakhine State.

Surakiart’s board, which includes senior Myanmar officials, will meet with Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s military commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing on March 29 to advise them about the implementation of Annan’s recommendations.

More than 700,000 refugees have fled Rakhine state since August last year when a militant group attacked Myanmar security outposts, prompting a harsh reaction and “clearance operation” by the Myanmar military, which killed thousands of people. Atrocities such as arson, torture, murder, gang rape and massacre have been reported by international NGOs and media since.

The UN human rights body has stated that there were elements of ethnic cleansing in the government’s actions and urged the Security Council to investigate the case, given that genocide could have taken place in the state.

The Australia-Asean Summit yesterday included comprehensive discussions about the Rohingya issue. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who currently chairs Asean, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a press conference that Suu Kyi had sought humanitarian and capacity-building support from Asean members and other countries.

Myanmar’s neighbours were concerned about the ongoing situation but could not “force an outcome”, Lee said.

“It is of concern for all Asean countries, and yet Asean is not able to intervene and to force an outcome,” he said.

Both leaders said they would back efforts to reach a long-term solution to end the crisis, and were supporting humanitarian efforts to help people who had been displaced.

Surakiart is scheduled to meet with the Singaporean leader early next month to discuss whether Singapore, as the chair of the group, can boost Asean’s role in providing more humanitarian assistance to Rakhine state.

Asean could play a crucial role as it did in 2008 when Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, Kobsak said. Rakhine state was very poor and lacking many necessities for daily life, notably public-health services, he added.

“Why don’t we have healthcare services, which are open for all, in the state,” he said. “Problems in Rakhine state are very complex. It is not only about Muslims, but other races and religions also matter.”

Public services for all were important, he said. “Don’t forget that more than 120,000 internally displaced persons in the state also need assistance.”

Economic development and job creation was also important as Myanmar and Bangladesh prepared for the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of refugees to their homes, he said, adding that Asean was in a position to mobilise resources.

Rohingya supporters hold placards during a protest against Aung San Suu Kyi as she visits Australia to attend the Asean Special Summit 2018, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 17 March 2018. Suu Kyi, the civilian leader of Myanmar, has been widely accused of doing little to prevent the refugee crisis caused by ethnic Rohingya fleeing government troops and militant Buddhist mobs in Rakhine State.

Refugees’ refusal

Rohingya in refugee camps and the international community have called for the safe return and protected areas in Rakhine before repatriation.

Rohingya refugees trapped in a “no man’s land” on the border after fleeing Myanmar will only accept repatriation to their home villages, rejecting moves to transit camps, for fear of long-term confinement, AFP reported yesterday.

Since August, several thousand Rohingya have been living in tents behind a barbed-wire fence, which roughly demarcates the border zone between the two countries, while relying on NGOs providing food.

Myanmar authorities are pressing hard for the return of refugees and have increased troop numbers on their side of the fence, accusing Rohingya militants of infiltrating the camp.

Despite the apparent show of force and looming monsoon rains, a camp leader told reporters that the group would not bow to pressure to return or to move further into Bangladesh.

“We have no intention to enter Bangladesh. We are not Bengali … we are Myanmar original citizens,” Dil Mohamed, 51, told reporters from behind barbed wire in an interview during a government-guided trip through the Maungdaw border district.

Dil said the villagers – who number around 6,000 – would return to Myanmar only if they were guaranteed safety, compensated for their homes that were burned down by the army and permitted to resettle in their old villages.

“We don’t want to go to the transit camps. We need to go directly to our homes,” he said. The transit camps have been set up by Myanmar authorities to “process” returning refugees.

The countries will join efforts to maintain a law-based order and “not let the Indo-Asia Pacific be balkanised into spheres of influence manipulated by power politics, hindered by protectionism or divided by narrow nationalism”, Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang said during a visit to India.

Balkanisation is a geopolitical term used to negatively describe the division of the former Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and in this context refers to the potential fragmentation of Asia as superpowers such as the United States and China strengthen their influence in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Quang was visiting India to mark the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries at a time when the momentum of relations and cooperation between New Delhi and Asean is at a high level.

India and Asean held a summit in January coinciding with India’s Republic Day when Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other Asean leaders were invited as guests to highlight closer ties.

There is a widespread perception that this will be an Indo-Pacific century, much as the last was dominated by rising US influence around the globe. However, Quang told India’s academic community that it required a common vision if the region is to become a hub connecting resources and harmonising interests for continuous, more dynamic and more sustainable development.

“This aspiration will only come true when all countries make the effort to establish effective mechanisms to maintain peace, stability and the rule of law, so as to ensure the common security, prevent conflict and war, and effectively address security challenges, both traditional and non-traditional,” he said.

Vietnam and India have established the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the 2017 Action Plan to forge cooperation and bilateral ties. Hanoi has stated that it supports more physical and economic connectivity, notably maritime links.

The two countries were working to develop a “blue-sea economy” through maritime connectivity, port cooperation and environmental protection and the sustainable use of maritime resources, Quang said.

“We should also make efforts to foster the maritime order and settle disputes peacefully on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he added.

Although he did not elaborate, the statement reflected a clear stance regarding territorial disputes with China over the South China Sea.

Defence and security cooperation between Vietnam and India has grown in recent years. New Delhi has been training Vietnam’s military to operate Russian-made submarines and jet fighters, with cooperation including providing spare parts, the maintenance of military hardware and port visits by Indian ships.

The two countries signed a coastguard cooperation agreement in 2015. A US$500-million (Bt15.6-billion) credit line for defence procurement was also extended to Vietnam during a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.

The blaze at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion, a high-rise hotel and casino complex, was still raging nine hours after it began on Sunday morning, with two people missing as hundreds fled the area.

Heavy smoke covers several floors of the Waterfront Manila Pavilion building, after a fire broke out the hotel and casino complex in Manila on March 18, 2018. Four people were killed and 19 feared trapped by a major hotel fire in the Philippine capital Manila on March 18, with others plucked from the rooftop by helicopter, authorities said. // AFP PHOTO

Authorities initially said four people had died but later clarified that one victim had been revived in hospital, according to Metro Manila Development Authority acting chief Jojo Garcia.

The three who died had likely suffocated while another 23 people had been taken to hospital, said Manila city’s disaster risk reduction chief, Johnny Yu.

“The smoke is very heavy and the wind is strong. That is our enemy now — the smoke and the wind — which is why our firefighters are having a hard time,” Yu told reporters.

Clouds of smoke covered several floors of the building and swathed ladders of firefighters, some of whom had difficulty breathing, according to an AFP photographer on the scene.

A rescued fireman who was trapped among the heavy smoke whilst battling a fire that hit Waterfront Manila Pavilion building, a hotel and casino complex, is given first aid by colleagues in Manila on March 18, 2018.  // AFP PHOTO

Fire authorities were investigating the cause of the blaze, which is believed to have begun in the casino or mezzanine area of the 21-floor hotel which regularly hosted both locals and foreigners, Yu added.

Responders sent a helicopter to rescue people trapped on the roof while crews battled to evacuate others from lower floors.

Manila is one of 16 cities making up Metro Manila. Nearby cities were helping put out the blaze, Manila’s fire department said.

“This is a major fire. There were those who inhaled the smoke and were brought to the hospital,” senior fire officer Marlon Banaag told AFP.

 Extinguishing works are going on to fight of a blaze at a hotel and casino complex in Manila, Philippines, 18 March 2018. According to reports, at least four people died and several others were injured after a fire broke out at hotel and casino complex in Manila. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

On Sunday afternoon, President Rodrigo Duterte conducted an aerial survey of the fire aboard a helicopter, photos from his aide showed.

Deadly blazes break out regularly in the Philippines, particularly in slum areas where there are virtually no safety standards.

The deadliest in recent years was in suburban Manila where 72 people died in 2015 at a factory which makes rubber slippers.

Heavy smoke engulfs the pool side of the Waterfront Manila Pavilion building, a hotel and casino complex, after a fire broke out in Manila on March 18, 2018. Four people were killed and 19 feared trapped by a major hotel fire in the Philippine capital Manila on March 18, with others plucked from the rooftop by helicopter, authorities said. // AFP PHOTO 

In the southern city of Davao, 38 people were killed in December by a fire that ravaged a shopping mall and a call centre.

And in June last year, an armed attacker set the Resorts World Manila hotel-casino complex on fire, claiming the lives of 37 people.

A fireman stands on top of a firetruck next to heavy smoke at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion building, after a fire broke out at the hotel and casino complex in Manila on March 18, 2018. Four people were killed and 19 feared trapped by a major hotel fire in the Philippine capital Manila on March 18, with others plucked from the rooftop by helicopter, authorities said. // AFP PHOTO

Suu Kyi has been under intense global criticism for her public silence amid a brutal military crackdown that has forced nearly 700,000 of the Muslim-minority Rohingya to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine state for Bangladesh.

The humanitarian crisis was one of the key topics at a three-day special summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia.

Protesters gather to demonstrate against Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi during the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-Australia Special Summit in Sydney on March 17, 2018. Australia on March 17 warned the use of encrypted messaging apps to plan terrorist attacks was the greatest threat faced by intelligence agencies in modern times and urged a “united and cohesive” response. // AFP PHOTO

“We discussed the situation in Rakhine state at considerable length today,” Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at the closing press conference.

“Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the matter comprehensively, at some considerable length herself.

“It’s certainly an issue that has been discussed and it is fair to say… very constructively, in our meeting.”

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is this year’s ASEAN chair, said Myanmar’s neighbours were concerned about the ongoing situation but could not “force an outcome”.

“It is of concern for all ASEAN countries, and yet ASEAN is not able to intervene and to force an outcome,” Lee said alongside Turnbull.

Both leaders said they would back efforts to reach a long-term solution to end the crisis, and were supporting humanitarian efforts to help those displaced.

The 10-nation ASEAN prides itself on consensus diplomacy and non-interference in each other’s affairs.

Rohingya supporters hold placards during a protest against Aung San Suu Kyi as she visits Australia to attend the ASEAN Special Summit 2018, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 17 March 2018. Suu Kyi, the civilian leader of Myanmar, has been widely accused of doing little to prevent the refugee crisis caused by ethnic Rohingya fleeing government troops and militant Buddhist mobs in Rakhine State. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

But the exodus has sparked rare tension within the association, and Muslim-majority Malaysia has called for an independent ASEAN-led investigation into allegations of army abuse.

Malaysia’s leader Najib Razak increased the pressure on Suu Kyi Saturday, saying the Rohingya issue could threaten regional security as he warned those affected could fall prey to extremist groups like Islamic State.

Lee said Singapore had no “specific intelligence” on whether there were terrorist groups in Rakhine state, but said “these are possibilities that you cannot rule out and which you have to keep on being on the watch out for”.

Suu Kyi is due in Canberra on Monday for talks with Turnbull before an address to Sydney’s Lowy Institute on Tuesday.

She has not commented publicly since arriving in Australia on Saturday for the summit, but is scheduled to take questions at Tuesday’s media event.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Australia has been a dialogue partner since 1974.

“Twenty three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week,” the foreign ministry said in a statement after summoning the British ambassador Laurie Bristow.

It said the move was a response to Britain’s “provocative actions” and “baseless accusations over the incident in Salisbury on March 4,” referring to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal with a nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, which Britain has blamed on Russia.

Russia also said it was halting the activities of the British Council, Britain’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, across the country.

“Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in Russia, its activity is halted,” the foreign ministry said.

And the ministry had also warned Britain that “if further unfriendly actions are taken towards Russia, the Russian side retains the right to take other answering measures.”