Russia Terminates Black Sea Grain Deal  

Russia has said it will not extend an international deal to allow the safe shipment of Ukrainian grain through its ports in the black Sea, thereby stalling the export of Ukrainian grain to the rest of the world. The grain pact helped lower food prices by more than 20 percent globally. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey, has allowed 32.9 million metric tonnes of food to be exported from war-torn Ukraine since August. The deal created a safe corridor for Ukraine’s grain exports from three Ukrainian ports – Odesa, Yuzhny and Chornomorsk. More than half of that grain went to developing countries, including those getting relief from the World Food Programme (WFP), according to the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul.

France: Real Madrid Star, Alaba Visits President Tinubu

Real Madrid football player, David Alaba paid a courtesy visit on Friday to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during a diaspora engagement with Nigerians living in France. The 31-year-old also presented his club’s jersey to President Tinubu amidst wide applause from other Nigerians attending the event. Alaba was born in Vienna, Austria to Nigerian parents and played for other football teams such as Bayern Munich.

Ukrainians Face Worst Hazards As Floods Surge Through Kherson

Ukrainians abandoned their homes on Wednesday as floods surged through the south following the destruction of a huge hydroelectric dam on front lines between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Residents dragged through flooded streets carrying children on their shoulders, belongings in plastic bags, and dogs in their arms while rescuers used rubber boats to search areas where the water reached above head height. Ukraine expressed worry that the disaster would leave hundreds of thousands of people without access to drinking water, swamp ten of thousands of hectares of agricultural land and turn at least 500,000 hectares deprived of irrigation into deserts. Drones are being used to deliver water bottles to stranded people in Russian-controlled areas of the Kherson region. 

France Riot: 40,000 Policemen Deployed Following Killing Of Teen

At least 40,000 police officers are being deployed across France to deal with protests triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver. The teenager, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he refused a traffic stop and drove away. At least 180 people have been arrested after a second night of unrest, while 170 officers were injured, France's interior minister says. French president Emmanuel Macron has described the violence that spread throughout the country as “unjustifiable.”

Fighting Resumes In Sudan Minutes After Truce Expired

Renewed artillery exchanges rocked a greater part of Khartoum, capital city of Sudan, early Wednesday as warring generals resumed fighting just minutes after the latest US and Saudi-brokered ceasefire expired. Eye witnesses say the Sudanese army and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) clashed in Khartoum. Reports of anti-aircraft fire during an army aircraft operation in Omdurman featured in the wake of the clash. The latest truce had been brokered by Saudi Arabia and the US, as with previous ceasefires there were reports of violations on both sides. Armed conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary RSF began in April. On Wednesday morning, residents of Omdurman, just across the Nile from Khartoum, reported heavy artillery exchanges within minutes of the ceasefire expiring at 6:00 am (0400 GMT).

Russia Ukraine War: Ukraine Retakes Land Around Bakhmut

Ukrainians had seized high ground overlooking Bakhmut and opened the main highway leading into the city from the West said Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russia’s Wagner mercenary group. Prigozhin claims Russian troops which were deployed to hold territory his troops had seized in the city are “fleeing'” the area and not regrouping like the ministry says. He said: ”The situation on the flanks is shaping up according to the worst predicted scenario.