AHEAD OF BIG VOTE, SRI LANKA'S OPPOSITION LEADER'S APPEAL TO INDIA

Sri Lanka’s opposition leader Sajith Premadasa made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ‘all political parties of India’ on Tuesday for providing continued help to the crisis-hit island nation ‘regardless of who becomes the President (of Sri Lanka) tomorrow.’

Taking to Twitter, Premadasa wrote, “Irrespective of who becomes the President of Sri Lanka tomorrow, it is my humble and earnest request to Hon. PM Shri Narendra Modi, to all the political parties of India and to the people of India to keep helping mother Lanka and its people to come out of this disaster (sic).” He tagged Modi in the post.

Premadasa’s appeal comes shortly after the Modi government held an all-party meeting to discuss the Lanka crisis earlier in the day. Sri Lanka is facing "a very serious crisis" and India, being a close neighbour, is naturally worried, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said at the meeting.

"It is a matter which pertains to a very close neighbour and given the proximity, we naturally worry about the consequences, the spillover it has for us," he added.

Amid huge political and economic crisis, Sri Lanka will witness a three-cornered race for presidency today. Acting Lankan President President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dullas Alahapperuma, considered a staunch Sinhala Buddhist nationalist and leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake are in the race for the president's post after Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned and fled the nation following a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.

UK BREACHES 40C FOR FIRST TIME, HEAT RECORDS TUMBLE IN FRANCE

A punishing heatwave fuelling ferocious wildfires in western Europe pushed temperatures in Britain over 40 degrees Celsius for the first time on Tuesday (Jul 19) and regional heat records tumbled elsewhere.

After the UK's warmest night on record, the Met Office said a new high of 40.3 degrees Celsius had been recorded at Coningsby in eastern England.

At least 34 locations in Britain beat the previous record of 38.7 degrees Celsius set in Cambridge, eastern England, in 2019.

Experts blamed climate change for the soaring temperatures - and warned that worse is yet to come.

Meanwhile, UN warns of frequent heatwaves until 2060s

Heatwaves like the one stifling western Europe are becoming more frequent and the trend is set to continue until at least the 2060s, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The current heatwave should act as a wake-up call for countries pumping ever more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation said.

PUTIN ENDORSED BY IRAN FOR INVASION OF UKRAINE BUT CLASHES WITH TURKEY AT SUMMIT

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Turkish and Iranian leaders in Tehran on Tuesday - only his second foreign trip since he launched the invasion of Ukraine in February.

Unblocking Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea was high on the agenda - Mr Putin said progress had been made.

The summit was a chance for Mr Putin to show he still has international allies.

Speaking after his meeting with the Russian president, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran and Moscow should strengthen their ties, and suggested that the West was to blame for the war in Ukraine.

"If you did not take the initiative, the other side would have caused the war with its own initiative," Mr Khamenei told Mr Putin.

The US said the Russian leader's visit to Iran showed how isolated Russia has become in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

In Tehran, Mr Putin also held his first face-to-face meeting since the start of the war with the leader of a Nato country, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Despite being a key member of the Western military alliance, Turkey has refused to join international sanctions against Moscow, with Mr Erdogan's government seeking to play the role of mediator.

On Tuesday, Mr Putin said progress had been made on the issue, and thanked Mr Erdogan for mediating the talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

Later the Russian president told journalists that Moscow would facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain, if "all restrictions related to air deliveries for the export of Russian grain" were lifted.

The three countries' leaders also discussed the long-running war in Syria, with Iran and Russia supporting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey backing rebel forces.

Turkey has threatened to launch a fresh offensive in northern Syria against US-backed Kurdish militants, a move which both Iran and Russia oppose. The operation is part of Mr Erdogan's plans to create a 30km (20 mile) safe zone along Turkey's border with Syria.

Mr Erdogan said he expects support from Russia and Iran "in its fight against terrorism".

AT 224, PAK Rs. HITS RECORD LOW AGAINST US$

Islamabad : The Pakistani rupee broke all previous records on Tuesday, falling to a new low of Rs 224 against the US dollar before closing at Rs 222 in the interbank market. Analysts believe that domestic political and economic situations are not the only factors responsible for the rupee’s devaluation. “The dollar is getting stronger in the global market almost against all the world currencies,” said Khurram Shehzad, CEO of an investment firm. According to Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the currency fell by Rs 8. 8 in the interbank market following Monday’s close of Rs 215. 2. It, however, closed at Rs 221. 9, appreciating 3. 1%, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. After reaching a peak of Rs 211. 9 on June 22, the dollar had started declining for a brief period and fell to a low of Rs 204. 5 on July 4. Since then, the rupee has remained volatile. Shehzad said Pakistan’s external account issues are not settled as yet and the IMF is yet to be on board to release funds depite a preliminary deal to revive a $6 billion bailout package. “Global rating agencies have put a negative outlook on the economy, so that is an additional burden,” he said. “Investors are jittery at the moment as the Imran Khan-led PTI has won a landslide victory over PML-N in the Punjab bypolls, creating uncertainty over the future of the current political set-up,” FAP chairman Malik Bostan said.

CHINA WARNS AGAINST PELOSI VISIT TO TAIWAN

China will take “resolute and strong measures” should the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi proceed with reported plans to visit Taiwan in August, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

A visit by Ms.Pelosi would “severely undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, gravely impact the foundation of China-U.S. relations and send a seriously wrong signal to Taiwan independence forces,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang said.

BANGLADESH ROLLS OUT POWER CURBS

Bangladesh rolled out energy restrictions and shut down power plants on Tuesday as a spike in global fuel prices slammed the South Asian economy, officials said.

Power Ministry spokesman Aslam Uddin said international fuel prices had surged since Russia invaded Ukraine, prompting Bangladesh to shut down diesel-powered plants and keep some gas-fired power factories idle.

Bangladesh has also ordered scheduled blackouts of up to two hours daily and a shutdown of shops after 8 p.m. “Electricity connections to shops and malls will be cut if they violate the order,” he said.

The country’s mosques have been asked to only run air-conditioners during the five daily prayers.

MUSK-TWITTER TAKEOVER DISPUTE: JUDGE SETS OCTOBER TRIAL

A US judge has ordered that Twitter's lawsuit against Elon Musk go to trial in October, a blow to the world's richest man who had asked for a delay.

Mr Musk walked away from his $44bn (£36bn) bid to buy Twitter earlier in July, prompting the company to sue him.

Twitter hopes that the court will order Mr Musk to complete the takeover at the agreed price of $54.20 per share.

The tech billionaire has accused Twitter of withholding information about fake accounts.

His legal team has called for the trial to be held early next year due to its complexities, but Twitter asked for a September date.

On Tuesday, a judge in the state of Delaware agreed with the company and said a delay to the trial would cast a "cloud of uncertainty".

"Delay threatens irreparable harm," Chancellor Kathaleen St Jude McCormick said. "The longer the delay, the greater the risk."

The lawsuit accused Mr Musk of a "long list" of violations ahead of the potential merger and argued that he had "cast a pall" over the company.

At the hearing on Tuesday, Twitter's lead counsel William Savitt said the ongoing uncertainty about whether the takeover would go forward or not "inflicts harm on Twitter everyday".