WORLD

The United States on Friday virtually threatened to impose war on Russia if it invaded Ukraine, which Washington considers imminent and Kyiv insists is not.

In a joint press conference at the Pentagon with US defense secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley urged Russia to stand down, warning "the military capability of Nato is very, very significant". He went to the extent of outlining Nato power, saying the alliance has "approximately 130 brigades, not including US... 93 squadrons of fighters... 4 carriers".

While maintaining that "war is not inevitable", he put the onus on de-escalation on Moscow, saying the crisis has been "entirely engineered" by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday said he plans by the end of February to nominate a Black woman to replace retiring US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a historic first that he called "long overdue."

Biden appeared with Breyer, whom he has known since the 1970s, at the White House after the 83-year-old justice formally announced his retirement in a letter to the president. Breyer wrote that he plans to depart at the conclusion of the court's current term, typically at the end of June, assuming his successor has been confirmed by the US Senate.

Biden, who won the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination in large part because of strong support from Black voters, noted that he committed during that campaign to name a Black woman to a lifetime post on the high court and would keep his promise.

South Korea's military says North Korea has fired at least one unidentified projectile into the sea in its sixth weapons launch this month. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday did not immediately say whether the projectile was a ballistic missile or how far it flew.

North Korea has upped its testing activity recently in an apparent effort to pressure the Biden administration in the US amid long-stalled nuclear talks.

The renewed pressure comes as the pandemic further shakes North Korea's economy, which was already battered by crippling US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme and decades of mismanagement by its own government.

Russia has delivered to India all the contracted 70,000 AK-203 Kalashnikov assault rifles as envisaged under a contract signed late last summer between India and Kalashnikov.

The entire delivery was made earlier this week. A source explained, "delivery was fast tracked," pointing to the short time gap between the signing of the contract and its fructification.

The Indian Ministry of Defence intends to procure 670,000 AK-203 assault rifles, and the 70,000 delivered are part of that total.

NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as an escalation of tensions over Ukraine.

Welcoming a series of deployments announced by alliance members in recent days, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO would “continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all allies, including by reinforcing the eastern part of the alliance.”

The move was a further sign that the West is bracing for Russia to attack its neighbour after massing an estimated 100,000 troops in reach of the Ukrainian border.