Russia's defence minister told President Vladimir Putin on Friday the first Avangard hypersonic missiles had been put into service, in a move hailed as a major coup for Moscow.

The United States has accused Moscow of openly breaching Cold War-era treaties by developing what Russian President Vladimir Putin called a new generation of "invincible" hypersonic weapons and submarines.

Kuwait’s crude production tumbled by 60% and its refineries scaled back operations as the state oil company took emergency measures to cope with the first day of an open-ended labour strike.