RUSSIA STRIKES UKRAINE GRAIN PORT AFTER PULLING OUT OF EXPORT DEAL

Russia struck Ukrainian ports a day after pulling out of a U.N.-backed deal for safe Black Sea grain exports, and Moscow and Kyiv gave vastly different accounts of fighting in northeastern Ukraine on Tuesday.

Russia said it hit fuel storage in Odesa and a plant making seaborne drones there, as part of "mass revenge strikes" for attacks by Ukraine that knocked out its road bridge to the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Shortly after the bridge was hit on Monday, Moscow withdrew from the year-old grain agreement, a move the United Nations said risked creating hunger around the world.

At the United Nations on Tuesday, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there were a "number of ideas being floated" to help get Ukrainian and Russian grain and fertilizer to global markets. Moscow's decision raised concern primarily in Africa and Asia of rising food prices and hunger.

SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT SAYS ARRESTING PUTIN WOULD BE ‘DECLARATION OF WAR’

Durban: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that any attempt to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visits South Africa would be a declaration of war against Russia. Putin has been invited to the BRICS summit in Johannesburg next month.

The President's stance was made clear in the affidavit submitted before a court. "Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war. It would be inconsistent with our constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia," the affidavit read.

Ramaphosa said South Africa is one of several African nations holding talks with Russia and Ukraine aiming to end the war altogether and the attempt to arrest Putin would be counter-productive, adding that this would go against his duty to protect the country.

Ramphosa's statement comes amid the arrest warrant issued against Putin by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a provision that Pretoria as a member nation would be obligated to execute. The affidavit was signed in June and made public on Tuesday.

PAK SC SNUBS SHARIF GOVT ON IMRAN PROTEST TRIALS

Islamabad : Pakistan’s Supreme Court turned down Tuesday the Shehbaz Sharif-led government’s request to constitute a “full court” to hear pleas challenging military court trials of protesters charged with attacking army facilities following ex-PM Imran Khan’s arrest in an alleged graft case on May 9 this year.

Imran is among those who have filed the petitions contesting such trials. “It is impossible to make a full court at this time. Three judges had excused themselves from hearing the case, some judges are not in the country,” chief justice Umar Ata Bandial, leading a six-member bench, said. CJ Bandial pointed out that two more judges had recused themselves on the first day of hearing.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the government defended its move, urged the court to dismiss all petitions and contended that under Article 245 of the Constitution, the armed forces had the obligation to defend Pak against “external aggression or threat of war”.

UN CHIEF WARNS OF AI RISKS TO GLOBAL PEACE

United States — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has cautioned that artificial intelligence (AI) poses risks to global peace and security and urged member states to establish safeguards. Speaking at the first UN Security Council meeting on AI, Guterres highlighted the potential for both positive and negative impacts of AI. While AI can contribute to poverty eradication and medical advancements, it also carries serious implications for global stability. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly echoed these concerns, emphasizing the need to address the moral questions raised by AI, particularly in defense and deterrence. Guterres called for a legally binding agreement by the end of 2026 to prohibit lethal autonomous weapons systems. He stressed the importance of maintaining human agency and control, especially in relation to nuclear weapons and biotechnology. Guterres proposed the formation of a working group to develop options for global AI governance by the end of the year.

IN US’ PHOENIX, 18 DAYS OF EXTREME HEAT

On Monday, Phoenix reached a miserable milestone : It was the first time since 1974 that it had 18 days in a row of 43.3C or more temperatures. On Tuesday, it was poised to break that 49-year-old record and hit Day 19. The forecast called for a high of 46.1C. Nighttime has offered little relief. Phoenix’s low of 35C on Monday was its highest overnight low ever, toppling the previous record of 33.8C set in 2009. It was the eighth straight day of temperatures not falling below 32.2C, another record. No other major US city has had such a streak, said weather historian Christopher Burt.

KERRY HOPES CLIMATE TALK CAN REDEFINE US-CHINA TIES

China and the US could use climate cooperation to redefine their troubled relationship and lead the way in tackling global warming, US climate envoy John Kerry told senior Chinese officials on Tuesday. Kerry said after leaving a working dinner on Tuesday with his counterpart Xie Zhenhua that the mood “was constructive, pleasant, but there are some difficulties. We’re trying to work through them,” he said.He said the two sides are working toward a substantive outcome. Speaking at a conference on environmental protection, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated the country’s “unwavering” commitments to tackling climate change, Xinhua said in a separate report onTuesday.

CHINA’S DEFENCE MINISTER, KISSINGER HOLD TALKS ON SINO-U.S. RELATIONS

BEIJING: The U.S. should exercise sound strategic judgment in dealing with China, China’s Defence Minister Li Shangfu said while meeting veteran U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger in Beijing on Tuesday. “The U.S. and China should eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully and avoid confrontation,” Mr. Kissinger said.

UK IMMIGRATION PLAN TO DEPORT ASYLUM SEEKERS SET TO BECOME LAW

London : British PM Rishi Sunak’s highly contested plan to make it easier to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is set to become law after the government defeated attempts by parliament’s upper house to make changes to the legislation. The Illegal Migration Bill had been stuck in a battle between parliament’s House of Commons and the House of Lords, Britain’s unelected upper chamber, which had repeatedly made changes to the legislation to water it down.

In the early hours of Tuesday, the last of those proposed changes was voted down. It can now go for Royal Assent, where it is formally approved by the King and becomes law. The plan to deport asylum seekers has been criticised by some opposition politicians, lawyers, and civil rights groups as inhumane, cruel and ineffective.

US SOLDIER FACING MILITARY DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FLEES TO N KOREA WHILE TOURING A BORDER VILLAGE

Seoul : An American soldier facing military disciplinary actions fled across the heavily armed border from South Korea into North Korea, US officials said Tuesday, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly fiveyears. Two US officials said the soldier detained was Private 2nd Class Travis King, who had just been released from a South Korean prison where he’d been held on assault charges and was facing additional military disciplinary actions in the United States.

King, who’s in his early 20s, was escorted to the airport to be returned to FortBliss, Texas, but instead of getting on the plane he left and joined a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom, where he ran across the border.

At a Pentagon press conference Tuesday, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin did not name King, but confirmed that a US service member was likely now in North Korean custody.

“We’re closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier’s next of kin,” Austin said, noting he was foremost concerned about the troop’s wellbeing. “This will develop in the next several days and hours, and we’ll keep you posted. ”

Detailsabout King, including his hometown and what additional charges he faced, were not immediately available. It was also unclear how hemanaged to leave the airport while he was being escorted.

The American-led UN Command said he is believed to be in North Korean custody and the command is working with its North Korean counterparts to resolve the incident. North Korea’s state media didn’t immediately report on the border crossing.

US DEPLOYS N-SUB IN SOUTH KOREA IN SHOW OF FORCE

The US deployed a nucleararmed submarine to South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in four decades, as the allies warned North Korea that any use of the North’s nuclear weapons in combat would result in the end of its regime. Periodic visits by US nuclear ballistic missile-capable submarines to South Korea were one of several agreements reached by the two countries’ presidents in April in response to North Korea’s expanding nuclear threat. The USS Kentucky, an Ohio-class submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday afternoon, South Korea’s defence ministry said.

PAKISTAN GETS ANOTHER $600 MN LOAN FROM CHINA, SAYS PM SHEHBAZ

ISLAMABAD: Cash-strapped Pakistan has received a rollover of an additional $600 million loan from its all-weather ally China to help shore up the country’s foreign exchange reserves on the back of an IMF deal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said. This is in addition to the over $5 billion in loans rolled out by Beijing in the last three months.

SUICIDE BLAST IN PESHAWAR KILLS 2, WOUNDS SEVERAL

Islamabad : A suicide attack blast near a paramilitary force vehicle wounded several people and killed the attacker in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Tuesday, police officials said, while a separate “martyr” was also killed, a high-ranking police official said. Tehreek-eJihad Pakistan, a newly founded militant group, claimed responsibility. The explosion was a suicide attack that hit a vehicle of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Peshawar, police said.

Pakistan’s army said on Friday it was seriously concerned that militants had found safe havens in Afghanistan and threatened to take an “effective response” two days after 12 of its soldiers died in two attacks. Last week, the same group attacked a military base in Balochistan.

HINDU TEMPLES IN PAK’S SINDH PUT ON HIGH ALERT

Karachi : Police officials in Pakistan’s Sindh province have deployed 400 police personnel and ordered a high-security alert at temples in the province after a gang of dacoits this week attacked a Hindu temple with rocket launchers. On Sunday, the assailants attacked the temple and adjoining homes belonging to Hindus in Sindh. Local lawmaker Mangla Sharma said community were living in fear after the incident.

Sindh police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon has ordered a security high alert at temples situated throughout the province. He requested the Hindus to ensure all possible cooperation with the personnel deployed at the temples, saying it is the responsibility of the police to protect minorities.