RUSSIA RESUMES GAS SUPPLIES TO EUROPE VIA NORD STREAM

Russia is resuming supplies of gas via a major pipeline to Europe on Thursday, the pipeline operator said, amid concerns Moscow would use its vast energy exports to push back against Western pressure over its invasion of Ukraine.

The resumption of gas flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany ended a nerve-jangling 10 days for Europe in which politicians expressed concern Russia might not restart them at a time when alternative energy supplies are tight and prices high. The pipeline has traditionally carried more than one third of Russia's gas exports to Europe but was operating at only 40% of its capacity after Kremlin-controlled Gazprom cut gas exports in a row over the repair of a turbine. "In view of the missing 60% (capacity) and the political instability, there is no reason yet to give the all-clear," Klaus Mueller, president of Germany's network regulator, wrote on Twitter.

The resumption of pipeline at reduced capacity comes after comments from Russia's Foreign Minister showed the Kremlin’s goals had expanded during the five-month war.

Sergei Lavrov told a state news agency on Wednesday that Russia's “military tasks in Ukraine now go beyond the eastern Donbas region”. “Russia is blackmailing us. It is using energy as a weapon,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, describing a full cut-off of gas flows as “a likely scenario” for which “Europe needs to be ready”.

FOOD CRISIS: UKRAINE GRAIN EXPORT DEAL REACHED WITH RUSSIA, SAYS TURKEY

Turkey says a deal has been reached with Russia to allow Ukraine to resume exports of grain through the Black Sea.

It is to be signed on Friday in Istanbul by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The world shortage of Ukrainian grain since Russia's 24 February invasion has left millions at risk of hunger.

The invasion sent food prices soaring, so the deal to unblock Ukraine's ports is crucial. Some 20 million tonnes of grain is stuck in silos in Odesa.

Ukraine's foreign ministry confirmed that another UN-led round of talks to unblock grain exports would take place in Turkey on Friday - and a document "may be signed".

But one Ukrainian MP close to the talks voiced caution over the deal.

"We don't have [an] agreement yet," Odesa MP Oleksiy Honcharenko told BBC Radio 4's World Tonight programme. "We don't trust Russians at all. So let us wait till tomorrow for a final decision and that there will not be some pushbacks from Russians and last minute changes."

"I keep fingers crossed tomorrow we'll have a deal and Russia will really respect it."

The US State Department welcomed the UN-brokered deal, but said it was focusing on holding Russia accountable for implementing it.

"We should never have been in this position in the first place. This was a deliberate decision on the part of the Russian Federation to weaponise food," said the department's spokesman Ned Price.

The deal is also meant to facilitate Russian exports of grain and fertiliser via the Black Sea.

COUNTRIES AGREE PANDEMIC ACCORD SHOULD BE LEGALLY BINDING

GENEVA, Switzerland — Countries meeting to negotiate a new international accord on how to handle future pandemics agreed Thursday that it should be legally binding, the World Health Organization said.

The economic turmoil and millions of lives lost during the coronavirus crisis triggered calls for new international defences strong enough to prevent such a disaster in future.

The 194 WHO member states decided in December to launch the negotiating and drafting process for a new international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body held its second meeting this week in Geneva.

"INB members agreed, through consensus, that they will work to conclude a new, legally-binding international pandemic agreement," the WHO said in a statement.

"As with all international instruments, any new agreement, if and when agreed by member states, is drafted and negotiated by governments themselves, who will take any action in line with their sovereignty."

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the decision, saying it would safeguard families and communities.

"The importance of a legally binding instrument cannot be overstated: it will be our collective legacy for future generations," he said.

WICKREMESINGHE SWORN IN AS SRI LANKA'S EIGHTH PRESIDENT

Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the eighth President of Sri Lanka on Thursday by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.

In the election held on Wednesday, Wickremesinghe had secured 134 votes in a House of 225 MPs. India said it “has and will continue to be at the forefront of extending support to Sri Lanka and saw the peaceful election of the new President as a positive sign”. “We will continue to stand by the people of Sri Lanka,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi at a media briefing.

In an indication of the challenges ahead, a power outage stopped the live broadcast of Wickremesinghe’s swearing-in ceremony, forcing authorities to launch an investigation into the incident. Soon after getting elected as President, Wickremesinghe invited all political parties to join hands with him to overcome the economic crisis.

GOTABAYA GETS 14-DAY VISIT PASS IN SINGAPORE

Singapore has granted a 14-day short-term visit pass to former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as he entered the country on a “private visit” on July 14, according to immigration authorities here.

Mr. Gotabaya, 73, on July 13 fled Sri Lanka to the Maldives and then Singapore and resigned after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy. In a statement released in response to media queries about Mr. Gotabaya visit to Singapore, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said he was granted a short-term visit pass (STVP) on arrival.

The ICA said visitors from Sri Lanka who enter Singapore for social visits will generally be issued with an STVP for up to 30 days.

Those who need to extend their stay here may apply online for an extension of their STVP. Applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, said the ICA.

DRAGHI RESIGNS AS ITALY PM, SNAP POLLS ON SEPTEMBER 25

Rome : Italy will hold a snap national election on September 25 after PM Mario Draghi resigned following the collapse of his national unity government, sending tremors through financial markets. It will be the first autumn national election for more than a century in Italy, where the second half of the year is normally taken up with getting the budget law through parliament. It is likely to be a fractious campaign fought in the fierce summer heat in a drought-hit country. A bloc of conservative parties, led by the far-right Brothers of Italy, looks likely to win a clear majority at the ballot, a study of opinion polls showed this week.

Draghi, an unelected former central banker who has led abroad coalition for almost 18 months, handed in his resignation earlier on Thursday and was asked by President Sergio Mattarella to stay on in a caretaker capacity. “We must deal with the emergencies related to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, inflation and the cost of energy,” Draghi told cabinet colleagues. He said that the government must also implement the National Recovery and Resilience Plan that sees Italy tapping billions of euros of post-pandemic EU funds in return for reforms.

Draghi’s coalition crumbled on Wednesday when three of his main partners snubbed a confidence vote he had called to try to end divisions and renew their troubled alliance.

BIDEN TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID, SHOWS MILD SYMPTOMS

Joe Biden, the oldest person ever to serve as US President, has tested positive for Covid. He is experiencing mild symptoms and will continue working in isolation, the White House said on Thursday.

Biden, 79, has started taking a course of the antiviral treatment Paxlovid, according to his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. "He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms," she said in a statement. Multiple members of Biden's administration have tested positive in recent months.

US HOUSE OKS BILL TO PROTECT ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTION

Washington : The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to protect access to contraception, responding to concerns that it could be threatened by a conservative Supreme Court that revoked the ruling guaranteeing a nationwide right to abortion. The bill passed the Democratic-controlled House on a vote of 228-195, with all 220 Democrats and eight of the chamber’s 211 Republicans supporting it. It faces uncertain odds in the evenly divided Senate. The bill would create a federal right for people to access contraceptives and for doctors and pharmacists to provide them. Some state legislatures have introduced bills to restrict access to contraceptives, though they have not passed. In addition, 12 states allow health providers to refuse contraception, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

RUSSIA ABOUT TO RUN OUT OF STEAM IN UKRAINE - MI6 CHIEF

Russia will struggle to maintain its military campaign and Ukraine may be able to hit back, the head of Britain's foreign intelligence service says.

MI6 chief Richard Moore said Russia had seen "epic fails" in its initial goals; removing Ukraine's president, capturing Kyiv and sowing disunity in the West.

He was speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, in a rare public appearance.

He called the invasion "the most egregious naked act of aggression... in Europe since the Second World War."

He said recent Russian gains were "tiny" and that Russia was "about to run out of steam".

"Our assessment is that the Russians will increasingly find it difficult to find manpower and materiel over the next few weeks," Mr Moore told the conference in Colorado. "They will have to pause in some way and that will give the Ukrainians the opportunity to strike back."

That view may be seen as optimistic and Ukraine's ability to counter-attack may well depend on greater supplies of Western weaponry, which its officials say has often been too slow in arriving.

The MI6 chief said some kind of battlefield success would be an "important reminder to the rest of Europe that this is a winnable campaign" - particularly ahead of a winter which was likely to see pressure on gas supplies.

"We are in for a tough time," he said. A further reason to maintain support to help the Ukrainians win, or "at least negotiate from a position of significant strength", he said, was because China's leader Xi Jinping was "watching like a hawk".

"There's no evidence that [President Vladimir] Putin is suffering from ill-health," he replied when asked, echoing comments from his US counterpart CIA Director William Burns at the Forum yesterday.

Around 400 Russian intelligence officers operating under cover have been expelled across Europe, he said, reducing Russia's ability to spy in the continent by half.

"Our door is always open," he said when it came to recruiting disaffected Russian officials to spy for Britain.