North Korean leader Kim Jong Un headed home with some explosive souvenirs from his weeklong tour of Russia. The visit has fanned Western concerns that Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin might strike an arms deal.

Brussels has slammed Tehran's decision to remove accreditation from several members of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Reports have suggested the move affected eight inspectors, all from Germany and France.

The morality police are back in the streets and the surveillance has increased. The regime is also set to bring in new laws for the wearing of hijbs. Under these proposals, the punishment as well as associated costs of violations have been included, such as ban on internet usage and ban on travel.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is due to meet Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The visit is meant to lay the groundwork for a possible Putin visit to Beijing next month.

Kim Jong Un returned to North Korea from Russia, where he deepened "comradely fellowship and friendly relations" with Vladimir Putin. Western countries fear the visit involved plans to arm Russia's war in Ukraine.

Azerbaijan launched an "anti-terrorist" operation in the Armenia-backed breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku's government said a truce and talks were contingent on the enclave's unconditional surrender.

Keir Starmer is in Paris a day ahead of King Charle's delayed state visit to France. The UK opposition leader has said he wants closer ties to the EU but won't seek to rejoin the bloc.

Iran and Afghanistan have reportedly extended the cooperation between their intelligence services. Repeated terrorist attacks in Iran have exposed shortcomings in Iran's security agencies.

This week, five US citizens freed from prison in Iran were able to embrace their loved ones back home. Under the deal brokered by Qatar, five Iranians detained in the United States were also released. The agreement included the unfreezing of nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets. So is the deal a sign of warming ties between Washington and Tehran? We put the question to David Smith, Washington bureau chief for the Guardian.

In just a day, Azerbaijan was able to force ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh to disarm. Usually, Armenians would look to Russia for help, but Russian peacekeepers stayed well out of the recent conflict. Why?

The UN chief has called it an epidemic of coups. In Africa, since 2020, military officers have seized power, or attempted to do so, in numerous sub-Saharan countries. Just in the last two and a half months, soldiers in Gabon announced a takeover of power, while in Niger, members of the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum and announced that they were seizing power.

Armenia could become less dependent on the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for its security. It could also join the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.