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Added on the 27/02/2022 17:05:46 - Copyright : AFP EN
Belgians responded brilliantly to police orders about not revealing details about the raids in Brussels online - they flooded Twitter with cat pics using the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown
Pakistani soldiers patrol the streets of Lahore on the eve of a national vote marred by violence, security issues and allegations of pre-poll rigging. More than half a million security officers are deploying ahead of the 8 February election, with authorities distributing ballot papers to more than 90,000 polling stations. IMAGES
The United States denounces "loose talk" on nuclear weapons after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would only use an atomic weapon in response to an enemy strike. Declining to respond directly to Putin, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, "We think any loose talk of nuclear weapons is absolutely irresponsible." SOUNDBITE
People In Russia's former imperial capital, Saint Petersburg, gather in the streets to protest against president Vladimir Putin's decree on a partial military mobilisation in the country, with Russian police arresting a few of the demonstrators. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russia would initially mobilise some 300,000 reservists, after Putin warned in a televised address Russia would use all available military means in Ukraine. IMAGES
NATO allies will boost the number of their high readiness forces to "well over 300,000" as they bulk up their defences in response to Russia's war on Ukraine, according to alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg. SOUNDBITE
US top diplomat Antony Blinken calls President Vladimir Putin's "provocative" nuclear rhetoric "the height of irresponsibility," days after the Russian leader put his strategic forces on alert after invading Ukraine. "It's dangerous. It adds to the risk of miscalculation. It needs to be avoided," Blinken tells a press briefing in Washington. SOUNDBITE