Briefly

RUSSIA

Putin signs law allowing him two more terms

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a bill into law enabling the incumbent head of state to run for two more terms starting in 2024. The bill was approved by the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, and the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, last month. The new elections law was made following constitutional amendments adopted in a nationwide referendum in July 2020. The new law grants Putin the possibility of starting his presidency from scratch in 2024 and holding the office until 2036.

SERBIA

Vucic gets first shot of Sinopharm vaccine

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic rolled up his sleeve on Tuesday for his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Sinopharm. "I received the vaccine, and I feel great," Vucic said on social media after taking the jab in Majdanpek. "Thank you our great health workers. Thank you our Chinese brothers." Serbia has one of the highest inoculation rates in Europe, mainly thanks to the government's large purchases of the Chinese vaccine. It is also using the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and the vaccines developed by the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca partnerships.

NIGERIA

1,800 inmates escape after gunmen attack

More than 1,800 inmates escaped from a prison in the southeastern city of Owerri after an attack by gunmen carrying rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, explosives and rifles, the prisons authority said. Nigerian police said it believed a banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, was behind the attack, but a spokesman for the group denied involvement. A comprehensive investigation is underway.

Xinhua - China Daily - Agencies