UKRAINE ASPIRES TO FREE ALL RUSSIAN-OCCUPIED LAND AFTER DAYS OF MILITARY SUCCESS

Ukraine has set its sights on freeing all territory occupied by invading Russian forces after driving them back in a speedy counter-offensive in the northeast and there are indications of more U.S. military aid on the way to back Ukraine's mission.

In an evening address, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said around 8,000 square km (3,100 square miles) have been liberated so far, apparently all in the northeastern region of Kharkiv.

"Stabilisation measures" had been completed in about half of that territory, Zelenskiy said, "and across a liberated area of about the same size, stabilisation measures are still ongoing."

In Washington, the White House said the United States is likely to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine in "coming days". Russian forces have left defensive positions, particularly in and around Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, a U.S. spokesperson said.

Russian forces still control about a fifth of Ukraine in the south and east, but Kyiv is now on the offensive in both areas.

Speaking in the central square of Balakliia, a crucial military supply hub taken by Ukrainian forces late last week, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said 150,000 people had been liberated from Russian rule in the area.

Ukrainian flags had been raised and a large crowd gathered to receive bundles of humanitarian aid. A shopping centre had been destroyed but many buildings remained intact, with shops closed and boarded up.

"The aim is to liberate the Kharkiv region and beyond - all the territories occupied by the Russian Federation," Malyar said on the road to Balakliia, which lies 74 km (46 miles) southeast of Kharkiv.

PAK. GOVT REJECTS IMRAN’S PROPOSAL REGARDING COAS EXTENSION

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s proposal to extend the tenure of Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa was rejected by the government on Tuesday.

According to Express News, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the discussion regarding the appointment of the army chief is 'premature'.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief had proposed an extension in the tenure of the army chief while claiming that the government was looking to appoint someone new for the post.

Khan’s proposal was rejected by Asif, who said on Twitter that Khan had “stooped so low in his lust for power that he is now using the army chief’s appointment to deviate from the elections and politics.”

XI RETURNS TO WORLD STAGE WITH PUTIN TO CHECK US DOMINANCE

In the almost 1,000 days since Xi Jinping last ventured abroad, China has found itself increasingly isolated within the US-led world order. He’s finally reemerging this week alongside Russia’s Vladimir Putin to showcase his vision for a viable alternative.

On Thursday, Xi and Putin will hold their first in-person meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine, according to the Kremlin, in a sign that Beijing sees the relationship as crucial to countering the US. It will occur on the sidelines of a Chinese-founded security forum in Uzbekistan that gathers countries ranging from India to Iran. The stakes are rising for both Xi and Putin, who declared a “no limits” friendship just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. In recent days, Putin has seen Ukraine push back Russian forces, while Xi has been under pressure to adopt stronger steps to prevent Taiwan from boosting ties with the US and allies.

TWITTER SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE $44BN MUSK DEAL

Twitter's shareholders have voted to approve a deal with Elon Musk to buy the company for $44bn (£38bn).

The decision was made in a short conference call with investors from the company's San Francisco headquarters.

It means Twitter will now try to force Elon Musk to buy the company in the courts.

The meeting followed explosive testimony from Twitter's former head of security Peiter Zatko in front of the US Senate.

In April, Twitter agreed to sell the company to the world's richest person, Elon Musk.

However, the deal soured after Mr Musk alleged he was misled by Twitter about the number of spam and bot accounts on the platform.

He said he no longer wished to purchase the company in May, but Twitter argues that Mr Musk cannot back out of the deal.

The social media platform says that fewer than 5% of its monetizable daily active users (those who are able to look at adverts) are bots. Mr Musk argues it could be many times higher.

Twitter is currently valued at $32bn, considerably below the $44bn offer from Mr Musk.

Today's vote could have spelled the end of Twitter's legal pursuit, but shareholders have now given the company the green light to pursue Mr Musk in court.

The two are set to meet in front of a Delaware state court in October. During the hearing a judge will decide whether or not Mr Musk has to buy the company.

ALL 3 OF N-PLANT BACKUP LINES RESTORED: IAEA

All three of the backup power lines at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine have been restored, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday after the first of those lines went back up on Saturday. “One of them, a 750/330 kilovolt (kV) line, is now providing the ZNPP with the external electricity it needs for cooling and other essential safety functions. The 330 kV and the 150 kV lines are being held in reserve,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.

GERMANY DRAWING UP NEW CHINA TRADE POLICY TO CUT RELIANCE

Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday the government was working on a new trade policy with China to reduce dependence on Chinese raw materials, batteries and semiconductors, promising “no more naivety” in trade dealings with Beijing. Habeck said the steps would include closer examination of Chinese investments in Europe. China has been Germany’s biggest trade partner for 6 years, with volumes reaching €245 billion in 2021.

ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CLASH SPARKS FEARS OF ANOTHER WAR

The leader of Armenia said on Tuesday that at least 49 of the nation’s servicemen had died overnight in clashes with the Azerbaijani Army. It was the worst escalation of hostilities between two countries since the 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed mountain enclave, and a threat to both a loyal Russian ally and a ceasefire that Russia brokered.

The clashes — which erupted early Tuesday, — resumed the decades-long armed conflict over NagornoKarabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but claims independence and is closely allied with Armenia. The escalation between the two former Soviet states in the SouthCaucasus has heightened fears that Russia could find itself entangled in a second war in addition to its invasion of Ukraine. Some military analysts suggested that Azerbaijan may have been emboldened by Russia’s recent setbacks in northeastern Ukraine.

PHONES OF TRUMP ADVISERS SEIZED AS PROBE EXPANDS

Washington : US justice department officials have seized the phones of two top advisers to former President Trumpand blanketed his aides with about 40 subpoenas in a substantial escalation of the investigation into his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, people familiar with the inquiry said Monday.

The seizure of the phones, coupled with a widening effort to obtain information from those around Trump after the 2020 election, represent some of the most aggressive steps the department has taken thus far in its criminal investigation into the actions that led to the January 6, 2021,assault on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

Federal agents with court-authorized search warrants took phones last week from two people: Boris Epshteyn, an in-house counsel who helps coordinate Trump’s legal efforts, and Mike Roman, a campaign strategist who was the director of Election Day operations for the Trump campaign in 2020, people familiar with the probe said. Another was Bernard B. Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner. Kerikwas issued a subpoena by prosecutors with US attorney’s office in Washington, his lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, said.

WILLIAM RUTO IS KENYA’S PRESIDENT

William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya’s President on Tuesday after narrowly winning the August 9 election in East Africa’s most stable democracy, and quickly signaled that his leadership will be a strongly Christian one.

The Supreme Court last week rejected a challenge by losing candidate and long-time Opposition figure Raila Odinga of the official results, completing a markedly peaceful election in a country with a history of troubled ones.

The 55-year-old Mr. Ruto had been the deputy to outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta but had a bitter split with Mr. Kenyatta that left the two not speaking for months at a time. On Tuesday, the audience cheered as the two shook hands, and again as Mr. Kenyatta handed over the instruments of power.

INDIAN IN US PLEADS GUILTY FOR CRYPTO INSIDER TRADING

New York : A 26-year-old Indian citizen has pleaded guilty in acryptocurrency insider trading case in the US, in which he along with his brother and their Indian-American friend made ill-gotten profits totalling over a million dollars. This is the first time that a defendant has admitted his guilt in an insider trading case in the US involving the cryptocurrency markets. Nikhil Wahi, residing in Seattle, on Monday pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading in cryptocurrency assets by using confidential Coinbase information about which crypto assets were scheduled to be listed on Coinbase’ exchanges. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

FRENCH CINEMA GIANT GODARD DIES

Jean-Luc Godard, one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century and the father of the French New Wave, died “peacefully at home” on Tuesday aged 91, his family said.

The legendary maverick blew up the conventions of cinema in the 1960s, shooting his gangster romance Breathless on the streets of Paris with a hand-held camera, using a shopping trolley for panning shots.

He continued to thumb his nose at Hollywood and an older generation of French filmmakers by breaking all the rules again in Contempt (1963) with Brigitte Bardot and Pierrot le Fou in 1965.

“No official (funeral) ceremony will take place,” his family said. “He will be cremated... And it really must happen in private.”

The secrecy — and choosing to disappear in a puff of smoke — is typical of Godard, who loved to surprise the world from his lair in the Swiss village of Rolle where he lived as a virtual recluse for decades.

Godard’s influence is hard to underestimate, with directors from Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson to Robert Altman, the maker of M*A*S*H and The Player, often speaking of their debt to him.

French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the director’s talent and mourned the loss of a “national treasure”.

Despite the filmmaker's often difficult relationship with critics, The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw heaped praise on Godard, saying, “The last great 20th-century modernist is dead.”