There had been the threat of a stand-off between Lynn and CA with the batter not holding a contract anywhere in Australia, after being released by Heat earlier this year and signing up with the ILT20, but still requiring an NOC. The legal advice was that CA could have been taken for restraint of trade if they had tried to enforce that position.
"Cricket Australia welcomes the Adelaide Strikers' signing of Chris Lynn," a CA spokesperson said. "He will be released from 20 January to participate in UAE's ILT20 competition from that date.
"Lynn does not hold a CA or State contract and has not done so since his last Queensland Cricket contract expired in June 2019. Each matter regarding release for overseas competitions is subject to the individual's circumstances.
"Our guiding principle remains the prioritisation and protection of Australia's domestic summer of cricket and the interests of the game overall."
Lynn will face his former club twice during the BBL season with a trip to the Gabba on December 23.
"We all know the qualities that Chris Lynn brings to the table. He is a proven match-winner, an experienced leader and a great character to have around the group," Strikers' head coach Jason Gillespie said. "His record speaks for itself. We're thrilled to have him and know he can play an important role for us this summer."
He had been a single-club player in the BBL until being cut by Heat in May as the club opted to look elsewhere to try and revive their fortunes. He had a lean 2021-22 tournament with 215 runs in 12 innings but in recent months enjoyed a prolific T20 Blast campaign with Northamptonshire.
#Chris #Lynn #signs #11game #Adelaide #Strikers #BBL #deal #split #time #ILT20
https://www.globalcourant.com/chris-lynn-signs-11-game-adelaide-strikers-bbl-deal-to-split-time-with-ilt20/?feed_id=15419&_unique_id=6306c612edbce
Fast News
Two more ships have left a Ukrainian port under the Istanbul grain export deal, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said.
The ships departed from the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, the ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.
It added that two other ships coming from Ukraine and going to Ukraine will also be inspected in the north of Istanbul.
Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal last month to resume grain exports from the Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Yuzhny, Chornomorsk, and Odesa, which were halted due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, now in its sixth month.
READ MORE: How Ukraine grain shipments process from Black Sea ports to Türkiye
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pefpy4ye1gs[/embed]
Joint Coordination Center
A Joint Coordination Center (JCC) with officials from the three countries and the UN has been set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.
Under the deal, the Istanbul JCC will carry out joint inspections at the entrances and exits of harbours, and also ensure the safety of sea routes to be used by merchant ships carrying commercial food items and fertilisers from the three Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.
The halt of deliveries from Ukraine – one of the world's biggest grain exporters – has contributed to soaring food prices, hitting the world's poorest nations especially hard.
More ships from Ukraine are expected to set out in the coming days.
Source: AA
ANKARA
Over a quarter of grain and other foodstuff exported from Ukraine landed in Türkiye in the aftermath of a landmark deal reached to resume shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports, the UN said Tuesday.
Since Aug. 1, Türkiye received 26% of the shipments, followed by Iran and South Korea with 22% each, according to the data compiled by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul which monitors the transportation.
China received 8% of Ukrainian grain exports, Ireland 6%, Italy 5%, Djibouti 4% and Romania 2%.
“From 1 to 15 August, the JCC has authorized a total of 36 movements of vessels (21 outbound and 15 inbound) through the maritime humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea to facilitate the safe exports of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizer, including ammonia, from Ukrainian ports,” the center stated.
The ships have carried “a total of 563,317 metric tons of grain and other foodstuffs.”
Last month, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian Black Sea ports for exporting Ukrainian grain stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month.
To oversee the process, the JCC in Istanbul was officially launched on July 27, comprising representatives from the three countries and the UN to enable safe transportation of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizers by merchant ships.
Since the first departure on Aug. 1, a total of 21 ships carrying grain and wheat have so far left Ukrainian ports under the deal.
Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
In this photo illustration, a woman's silhouette holds a smartphone with the Walmart logo displayed on the screen and in the background.
Rafael Henrique | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Walmart has reached a deal to offer Paramount Global's streaming service as a perk of its Walmart+ membership program, the companies confirmed on Monday.
Starting in September, customers who belong to the retailer's program will get free access to an ad-supported plan on Paramount+, which include movies and shows such as "Star Trek," "Paw Patrol," "The Godfather" and "SpongeBob Squarepants."
Walmart launched Walmart+ nearly two years ago to drive sales and deeper customer engagement. The program costs $98 per year, or $12.95 per month, and is the company's answer to Amazon Prime, but with a different set of perks. It includes free shipping of online purchases, free grocery deliveries for orders of at least $35 and discounts on prescriptions and gas.
Now it will also include access to the "essential tier" of Paramount+, which typically costs $4.99 per month and includes commercials. Paramount also sells a premium product without ads for $9.99 per month.
"With the addition of Paramount+, we are demonstrating our unique ability to help members save even more and live better by delivering entertainment for less, too," Chris Cracchiolo, general manager of Walmart+, said in a news release.
Walmart said in a news release on Monday that it has had positive membership growth every month since its launch in September 2020. But since launching the service, the retail giant has declined to share its subscriber total.
According to estimates by market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Walmart+ had 11 million customers as of July — the same as in the April. A survey by equity research firm Morgan Stanley pegged the subscriber count higher at about 16 million members as of May.
Paramount+ is one of the many services that compete for eyeballs in the streaming industry. Paramount Global announced earlier this month that Paramount+ has 43.3 million subscribers around the world. The company aims to reach 100 million subscribers by 2024.
The deal with Walmart will give Paramount+ a new distribution channel to add subscribers as well as a branding boost. Paramount+ is the only streaming service that has struck a deal with Walmart and wanted to launch exclusively to get full marketing attention, according to a person familiar with the deal who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
Jeff Shultz, chief strategy officer and chief business development officer of Paramount Streaming, said the two companies have worked closely together for years by selling consumer products in Walmart's stores.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news of the deal.
Walmart will report its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Fast News
Russian officials trained in Iran in recent weeks as part of an agreement on the transfer of drones between the two countries, the US has said, adding their drone deal is "potentially sanctionable."
US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on Thursday that Russian officials had conducted training on drones in Iran "in the last several weeks."
The United States would "vigorously enforce" its sanctions on both the Russian and Iranian weapons trade, he said. The transfers of drones between the two countries were "potentially sanctionable under numerous authorities," Patel said.
"We remain incredibly concerned about Iran's use and proliferation of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]. They have been used to attack US forces, our partners in the region, and international shipping entities," the US official said.
Tehran did not immediately comment on the US claim.
Drones for Ukraine offensive?
US officials said last month that Washington had information that Iran was preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones, including some that are weapons capable, and that Russian officials had visited Iran to inspect Predator UAVs.
The claim raised concerns that Iran, which has supplied drones to its allies in the Middle East, was now providing support to Russia for its attacks on Ukraine.
Iran's foreign minister at the time denied the claim, also over a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Last month US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Iran will be providing "hundreds" of UAVs to Russia for its conflict in Ukraine.
Source: Reuters
Ukraine has exported nearly 400,000 tonnes of grain in the first week following the announcement of a deal brokered by Türkiye to address global food insecurity.
Twelve vessels carrying more than 370,000 metric tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs have been authorised to leave Ukrainian ports, the interim Coordinator for the UN at the Joint Coordination Centre, Frederick Kenney, said.
"We have seen tremendous interest from ship owners in terms of their willingness to make this transit," Kenney told reporters in New York on Wednesday.
"We're expecting to see a big uptick in applications."
Several empty grain vessels are sitting in Turkish waters waiting to arrange contracts. Once their deals are arranged, they will be transiting northbound, he added.
The vessels departing Ukrainian ports were loaded with corn and other foodstuffs and the first Ukrainian wheat shipment is expected next week.
"We actually have cleared the first ship inbound that's going to be picking up the wheat according to our records and that should occur sometime next week," said Kenney.
Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny — for grain that had been stuck for months because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, now in its sixth month.
READ MORE: Turkish-flagged ship carrying Ukrainian grain arrives in northern Türkiye
READ MORE: Global wheat, corn prices fall as more grain ships leave Ukraine
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_l2o-ZVIo[/embed]
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Senegal has signed an agreement with rebels from the country's south who pledged to lay down their arms and work towards a permanent peace in the home of one of Africa's oldest active rebellions.
Rebel leader Cesar Atoute Badiate, head of a unit of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), and an emissary of Senegalese President Macky Sall signed the peace deal in Guinea-Bissau on Thursday.
Sall had made a "definitive peace" in the Casamance region one of the priorities of his second term.
"How many people died, (were) mutilated or left their village? We will accompany you in the search for peace," Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo told Badiate during the signing ceremony.
Embalo, who is also head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), added: "I can assure you that we will be the guarantors of this agreement."
The signed document remains confidential for the time being.
"I welcome the peace agreement and laying down of arms signed this August 4 in Bissau between Senegal and the provisional committee of the political and combatant wings of the MFDC," Sall said on Twitter.
"I remain committed to the consolidation of lasting peace in Casamance," he added, thanking Embalo for his mediation.
READ MORE: Senegal launches military operation against rebels in south
Casamance's unstable past
Casamance, Senegal's southernmost region, is almost separated from the rest of the country by the tiny state of The Gambia. It has a distinct culture and language derived from its past as a former Portuguese colony.
The MFDC has led a low-intensity separatist campaign since 1982 that has claimed several thousand lives.
But the conflict was mostly dormant until Senegal launched a major offensive last year to drive out the rebels.
In a clash on January 24, four Senegalese soldiers were killed and seven were captured alive and taken across the border to The Gambia. The rebels released the hostages the following month.
In March, the army launched a new operation in which it claimed to have destroyed several rebel bases for the loss of one soldier and eight wounded.
READ MORE: Gunmen kill 13 in southern Senegal
Source: AFP
Türkiye’s foreign minister has stressed that the landmark Ukrainian grain deal signed in Istanbul has to be "sustainable" and could be the basis for a "comprehensive cease-fire" to end the Ukraine conflict.
"It has to be sustainable, and the duration of this agreement is for four months,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
A day after the first grain ship to have left Ukraine was cleared in Istanbul for its onward journey, Cavusoglu said the grain export deal would be extended if there are no objections.
Cavusoglu added that if the deal was extended, then "Russia will also be able to export its own grain and related products as well as fertilizers". He emphasised that the entire world needs these goods coming from Ukraine and Russia.
The halt of deliveries has contributed to soaring food prices, hitting the world's poorest nations especially hard.
READ MORE: Ukraine grain deal is a product of Ankara's diplomatic success: Erdogan
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMdh85SBxec[/embed]
'Everybody must act responsibly'
Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed the deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny — for grain that has been stuck for months due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine fighting, which is now into its sixth month.
The grain deal “has to be sustainable, and everybody must act responsibly and stand by their commitments to continue this flow. And I have to tell you that the situation is fragile, because the war in Ukraine continues," Cavusoglu reiterated.
Expressing Türkiye's hope for the deal to be "the basis for a comprehensive cease-fire, peace plan and lasting peace" in the region, he stressed his country's continued efforts to end the Ukraine crisis and noted the "need to support the international community to end the war."
Cavusoglu's remarks came a day after the first grain-laden ship to leave Ukraine since the conflict passed an inspection in Istanbul for an onward journey to Lebanon. The inspection by a team from the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul lasted over an hour.
The Razoni, carrying over 26,500 tonnes of corn to Lebanon, anchored off the Turkish coast near the Black Sea entrance of the Istanbul Strait on Tuesday night. The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship departed from the Ukrainian port of Odessa on Monday.
On Thursday, Cavusoglu also discussed the deal with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the phone.cThe two also spoke about bilateral ties, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
READ MORE: US, UK hail Türkiye's diplomatic efforts for grain exports
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has thanked Türkiye for its efforts and leadership as a nascent deal to resume grain exports from Ukraine saw its first ship depart from the port of Odessa.
The departure of the Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni marked an "important starting point" for the agreement, Guterres said on Monday.
"It must be the first of many commercial ships bringing relief and stability to global food markets," he added.
"Today's departure is an enormous collective achievement by the Joint Coordination Center, set up last week in Istanbul under United Nations auspices, with representatives from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and Türkiye," the UN chief told reporters.
"Ensuring that grain, fertilisers, and other food-related items are available at reasonable prices to developing countries is a humanitarian imperative. People on the verge of famine need these agreements to work in order to survive," he said.
Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul to inspect all grain ships leaving Ukraine to ensure they aren't carrying any weapons pic.twitter.com/qacaoMhgwn
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 1, 2022
The Razoni is due to arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday for an inspection under the historic Ankara-brokered agreement to facilitate grain and foodstuff exports. The vessel is bound for the Lebanese port of Tripoli in the country's north.
Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny — for grain that has been stuck for months because of ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now in its sixth month.
READ MORE: Türkiye inaugurates Joint Coordination Centre for Ukraine grain exports
First shipment welcomed
The European Union and NATO welcomed the grain shipment's departure as a "first step" towards easing the food crisis.
The agreements signed by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey & @UN are a critical step in overcoming the global food insecurity caused by Russia‘s aggression against Ukraine.
EU remains committed to help #Ukraine bring as much of its grain into global markets as possible.
Full Statement: https://t.co/fAC3vuh7nY
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) July 22, 2022
EU spokesperson Peter Stano, however, cautions the bloc still expects the "implementation of the whole deal and resumption of Ukrainian exports to the customers around the world."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, Western allies "strongly support the full implementation of the deal to ease the global food crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine".
"I thank our Ally #Türkiye for its pivotal role," he continued in a tweet.
I welcome the 1st shipment of Ukrainian grain from Odesa under the @UN-brokered deal. I thank our Ally #Türkiye for its pivotal role. #NATO Allies strongly support the full implementation of the deal to ease the global food crisis caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) August 1, 2022
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter that the first grain ship has left, adding: "Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & @UN we were able to full implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul."
The first 🇺🇦 grain ship since #RussianAggression has left port. Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & @UN we were able to full implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul. It’s important for us to be one of the guarantors of 🌏 food security. pic.twitter.com/jOz3bdmdfB
— Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) August 1, 2022
Russia, for its part, said the first grain ship to leave Odessa was "very positive" news.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he hoped the agreement will be implemented by all sides.
"This is a good opportunity to test the implementation of the agreements that were agreed upon at the Istanbul talks," Peskov said.
READ MORE: First shipment of Ukraine grain leaves Odessa under Türkiye-brokered deal
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
A Ukrainian grain mogul and his wife were killed after the southern city of Mykolaiv came under intense shelling on Sunday, according to Ukrainian officials, as Russian President Vladimir Putin used his nation's Navy Day to issue more militaristic threats to anyone undermining Russia's "sovereignty and freedom."
Grain tycoon Oleksiy Vadaturskyy and his wife, Raisa, died in the attack, according to a statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Vadaturskyy was the founder of Mykolaiv-based Nibulon, one of Ukraine's largest grain producing and export companies.
"This is a great loss for Mykolaiv region and all of Ukraine," Zelensky said. "For more than 50 years of his career, Oleksiy Vadaturskyy made an invaluable contribution to the development of the region and the development of the agricultural and shipbuilding industries of our country."
Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said cluster munitions blew out windows and destroyed balconies. "Mykolaiv was under mass shelling today. Probably the strongest one of all time," he said in a statement.
A CNN team on the ground heard the explosions caused by the strikes and saw fires that broke out in the shelling. Residents interviewed by CNN also said it was the heaviest shelling in the city since the start of the war.
At least one person was killed and two injured in the attack, according to Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv regional military administration.
"Lightning speed": In a speech commemorating Russia's Navy Day in St. Petersburg, Putin did not make any mention of Russia's war in Ukraine, but said his country's "current situation is demanding very decisive actions."
"We will provide protection firmly and by all means. The key here is the capabilities of the Navy, which is able to respond with lightning speed to anyone who decides to encroach on our sovereignty and freedom," Putin said.
Putin said delivery of the country's Zircon hypersonic cruise missile systems would begin in the coming months. Russia said in May that it successfully tested the Zircon missile over a distance of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).
Read more here.
Elon Musk has filed claims against Twitter as he fights back against the tech firm's lawsuit demanding he be held to his $44-billion buyout deal.
Musk's counter-suit was submitted along with a legal defence against Twitter's claim that the billionaire is contractually bound to complete the deal he inked in April to buy Twitter, the Chancery Court in the state of Delaware said in a notice on Friday.
The 164-page filing was submitted as being "confidential", meaning the documents were not accessible by the public, the notice indicated.
Rules of the court, however, require Musk to submit a public version of the filing with trade secrets or other sensitive information redacted.
A judge has ordered a five-day trial over Twitter's lawsuit against Musk to begin on October 17.
The Tesla boss wooed Twitter's board with a $54.20 per-share offer, but then in July announced he was "terminating" their agreement on accusations the firm misled him regarding its tally of fake and spam accounts.
READ MORE: Elon Musk-Twitter saga, explained
Row over bots
Twitter, whose stock price closed at $41.61 on Friday, has stuck by its estimates regarding accounts run by software "bots" rather than people, and argued that Musk is contriving excuses to back out of the contract.
The social media platform has urged shareholders to endorse the deal, setting a vote on the merger for September 13.
"We are committed to closing the merger on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk," Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal and board chairperson Bret Taylor said in a copy of a letter to investors.
Billions of dollars are at stake, but so is the future of Twitter, which Musk has said should allow any legal speech — an absolutist position that has sparked fears the network could be used to incite violence.
READ MORE: Twitter reports quarterly loss, cites Musk buyout uncertainty
Source: AFP
TEHRAN: Iran said Wednesday the US needs to show “in practise” that it wants a revival of the 2015 nuclear agreement, after an EU coordinator urged parties to accept a draft text of the deal.
“America always maintains that it wants an agreement, so this approach should be seen in the text of the agreement and in practise,” Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in a phone conversation, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.
“If America takes a realistic step toward finding a solution and reaching an agreement, a good agreement will be available to all parties,” he added.
Borrell on Tuesday said he had submitted a draft text of the deal, warning parties to accept it or “risk a dangerous nuclear crisis, set against the prospect of increased isolation for Iran and its people.”
“This text represents the best possible deal that I, as facilitator of the negotiations, see as feasible,” the EU’s top diplomat wrote in the Financial Times.
Amir-Abdollahian reacted to the proposal by saying that “Iran welcomes the continuation of the path of diplomacy and negotiation”, his ministry noted.
The 2015 agreement gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme to guarantee that it could not develop a nuclear weapon — something it has always denied seeking.
But the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump and Washington’s reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.
Negotiations in Vienna began in April 2021 to restore the deal, but have stalled since March amid differences between Tehran and Washington on several issues.
The two sides negotiated indirectly through the European Union coordinator in a bid to bring the US back inside the deal and to lift sanctions on Iran, on the basis that Tehran would return to its nuclear commitments.
Borrell said the draft text includes “hard-won compromises by all sides” and “addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions lifting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore” the 2015 pact.
The United States has made a "substantial proposal" to Russia to free Americans including basketball star Brittney Griner, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, as he announced he will speak to his Moscow counterpart for the first time since the Ukraine war.
Blinken said he expected a telephone call "in the coming days" with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the offer to free former Marine Paul Whelan as well as Griner — who told a court earlier Wednesday that she had brought in banned drugs unintentionally.
The pair "have been wrongfully detained and must be allowed to come home," Blinken told reporters.
"We put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate their release. Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal and I'll use the conversation to follow up personally," he said.
Citing the sensitivity, Blinken declined to go into detail or confirm reports that the United States was offering to trade them for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms smuggler.
The United States and Russia already engaged in one prisoner swap in the heat of the Ukraine war: In April Washington exchanged former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed for convicted drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko.
President Joe Biden has faced growing pressure to free Griner, who faces up to 10 years in prison and whose wife earlier accused the administration of doing too little.
Whelan, a security official at an auto parts company, was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and in 2020 sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage, which he denies.
Whelan's family in a statement voiced appreciation for the Biden administration's efforts and hoped that Russia "accepts this or some other concession" for his freedom.
The telephone conversation will be the first between Blinken and Lavrov since Feb. 15 when the top U.S. diplomat warned Russia against invading Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin went ahead and attacked nine days later, leading the United States and its allies to impose sweeping sanctions and to seek to isolate Russia on the world stage.
The conversation "will not be a negotiation about Ukraine," Blinken told reporters.
"Any negotiation regarding Ukraine is for its people and people to determine," he said.
Blinken said the United States — which has been pouring billions in military aid into Ukraine — was "under no illusion" that Russia was ready to engage "meaningfully and constructively" to end the war.
"In the meantime, we'll continue to do all that we can to strengthen Ukraine's position on the battlefield," he said.
Blinken said he would urge Russia to fulfill a breakthrough agreement reached last week in Turkey to allow the release of Ukrainian grain after a blockade has sent global food prices soaring.
"Hundreds of millions of people are waiting for these ships to set forth from Ukraine's ports," Blinken said.
He also said he would warn of further consequences if Russia annexes more Ukrainian territory. Moscow in 2014 seized Crimea and declared the peninsula to be part of Russia, a decision not recognized by most of the world.
The White House recently said that Russia was laying the groundwork for "sham referenda" in areas it seized, possibly as early as September.
Blinken pointedly declined to meet Lavrov when they both attended Group of 20 talks earlier this month in Bali, with the United States rallying its allies in criticizing Russia in the closed-door sessions.
Griner, a two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and Women's NBA champion who had played in Russia, was detained just days before Moscow launched its offensive.
She has pleaded guilty to drug charges over possessing vape cartridges with cannabis oil.
Speaking at her trial in Khimki, just outside Moscow, Griner said she still did not know how the cartridges ended up in her bag and had no intention to use them.
"I did not think of or plan to bring banned substances into Russia," said Griner, wearing a Phoenix Mercury T-shirt and black basketball trousers.
"I did not intend to break Russian law," she added, saying that she was in a rush packing and tired after a recovery from Covid.
"I wouldn't do anything that would hurt my team."
KIGALI, Rwanda
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday there is “no obstacle” to the implementation of a UN-Türkiye brokered grain export deal between Russia and Ukraine.
His remarks came after Russian missiles struck Ukraine's key Black Sea port of Odessa on Saturday in an attack that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “unequivocally” condemned.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said striking a target crucial for grain exports a day after the deal was signed in Istanbul was particularly reprehensible and demonstrated Russia’s total disregard for international law and commitments.
But speaking at a press conference in the Republic of Congo after a meeting with President Denis Sassou N'Guesso, Lavrov said the strikes at Odesa “should not affect” grain exports as they targeted “depots of arms and ammunition supplied to Kyiv by the West.”
“There is no obstacle to the implementation of the agreement of July 22,” he added.
Lavrov insisted that Russia would maintain strikes against Ukrainian military targets, as in the obligations that Russia took on, “nothing would forbid us from continuing the special military operation.”
The top Russian diplomat also accused the West of being responsible for the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
Lavrov made his remarks on the second leg of his Africa trip as Russia seeks to strengthen its cooperation in the region in the face of the growing isolation of Moscow by the West due to the war on Ukraine.
He started his visit in Egypt on Sunday before heading to the Republic of Congo and arrived in Uganda late Monday, from where he will head to Ethiopia.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, who was part of the talks in Istanbul, said Monday that the first grain shipments under the deal were expected to take place this week.
The war in Ukraine has compounded the problem of food insecurity around the world.
Russia and Ukraine account for 30% of the global wheat trade.
The war has disrupted wheat exports, driving wheat prices up by 60% in Africa, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said in April.
Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
ANKARA
Türkiye’s president on Monday called on the parties who signed a deal last week to unblock Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports to respect and implement the pact.
"We expect everyone to take ownership of their signatures and act in accordance with their responsibilities," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a live interview with national broadcaster TRT Haber.
"With this agreement, the effects of the global food crisis, which is reaching serious dimensions, will begin to ease," he added.
On Friday, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a landmark deal to resume grain exports through the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny after months of blockage due to the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its sixth month.
Under the deal, a joint coordination center was set up in Istanbul to carry out inspections at the entrances and exits of harbors, and to ensure the safety of the routes.
Addressing Russia's weekend attack on the port of Odesa, Erdogan said it "saddens" Türkiye, adding that "a failure here would work against all of us."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a missile strike on the port of Odesa as "Russian barbarism" just a day after the warring sides struck a deal to resume cereal exports blocked by the conflict.
The Ukrainian military said its air defenses had shot down two cruise missiles but two more hit the port Saturday, threatening the landmark agreement hammered out over months of negotiations aimed at relieving a global food crisis.
Zelensky said the strikes on Odesa showed Moscow could not be trusted to keep its promises.
"Today's Russian missile attack on Odesa, on our port, is a cynical one, and it was also a blow to the political positions of Russia itself," Zelensky said in his nightly address, adding dialogue with Moscow was becoming increasingly untenable.
"This apparent Russian barbarism brings us even closer to obtaining the very weapons we need for our victory," Zelensky added.
The strike came a day after Moscow and Kyiv agreed a deal brokered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations chief Antonio Guterres.
Odessa is one of three export hubs designated in the agreement and Ukrainian officials said grain was being stored in the port at the time of the strike, although the food stocks did not appear to have been hit.
Guterres — who presided over the signing ceremony on Friday — "unequivocally" condemned the attack, his deputy spokesman said, and urged all sides to stick to the deal.
"These products are desperately needed to address the global food crisis and ease the suffering of millions of people in need around the globe," he said.
The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell directly blamed Russia for the strikes.
"Striking a target crucial for grain export a day after the signature of (the) Istanbul agreements is particularly reprehensible and again demonstrates Russia's total disregard for international law and commitments," he said.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the attack was "absolutely appalling" and "completely unwarranted."
The United States also "strongly condemned" the attack, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying it "casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia's commitment to yesterday's deal."
There was no official comment from Moscow, but Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Russia had denied carrying out the attack.
"The Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack and they were looking into the issue very closely," Akar said in comments to state news agency Anadolu.
"We will continue to fulfil our responsibilities under the agreement we reached yesterday," he added.
Regional governor Maksym Marchenko said the strikes left people wounded and damaged port infrastructure in Odessa, without specifying the number or severity of the injuries.
The first major accord between the countries since Russia's February invasion of Ukraine aims to ease the "acute hunger" the UN says an additional 47 million people are facing because of the war.
Ukraine at the signing warned it would conduct "an immediate military response" should Russia violate the accord and attack its ships or stage an incursion around its ports.
Zelensky said responsibility for enforcing the deal fell to the UN, which along with Turkey is a co-guarantor of the agreement.
The deal includes points on running Ukrainian grain ships along safe corridors that avoid known mines in the Black Sea.
Huge quantities of wheat and other grain have been blocked in Ukrainian ports by Russian warships and the mines Kyiv laid to avert a feared amphibious assault.
Zelensky said that around 20 million tons of produce from last year's harvest and the current crop would be exported under the agreement, estimating the value of Ukraine's grain stocks at around $10 billion.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Kremlin state media he expected the deal to start working "in the next few days" although diplomats expect grain to only start fully flowing by mid-August.
Russia is trying to fight deeper into the eastern Donetsk region after securing full control of neighboring Luhansk.
The U.S. State Department on Saturday said two Americans had died in the area, without saying whether the pair were in the country for combat purposes.
Russian missile strikes on railway infrastructure and a military airfield in the central area of Kirovograd on Saturday also killed at least three people and wounded 16 more, regional governor Andriy Raikovych said.
At least one of the dead was a serviceman, he said earlier — a rare admission of a military casualty as combat deaths have been closely guarded by both sides.
Russia also pursued an artillery campaign over Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, with attacks wounding one woman, the presidency said. An elderly farmer was killed in further shelling in Sumy, northwest of Kharkiv.
Two others, including a teenager, were wounded in strikes on Mykolaiv, the largest city under Ukrainian control near Russian-occupied Kherson and the southern front, which has been shelled persistently since the beginning of the invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the supervisory board meeting of the presidential forum "Russia - Land of Opportunity" at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia April 20, 2022.
Mikhail Tereshchenko | Sputnik | via Reuters
WASHINGTON – World leaders swiftly condemned the Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian port, a dramatic revelation amid a U.N.-brokered deal that secured a sea corridor for grains and other foodstuff exports.
A day prior, representatives from the U.N., Turkey, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement to reopen three Ukrainian ports, an apparent breakthrough as the Kremlin's war on its ex-Soviet neighbor marches into its fifth month.
The deal, signed in Istanbul and set to be implemented in the next few weeks, follows a months-long blockade of dozens of Ukrainian ports sprinkled along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
The strike on Odesa, Ukraine's largest port, illustrates yet another anxious turn in fruitless efforts to mitigate a mounting global food crisis.
A general view shows a fire engine at a scene of a burning building after a shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues in a location given as Odesa, Ukraine in this picture obtained from social media released on July 19, 2022.
State Emergency Service of Ukraine | Via Reuters
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia "predictably worthless" on the heels of the attack.
"The ink has not had time to dry out, yet there are two vile provocations: attack on a seaport in Odesa and a statement by Russia's Defense Ministry that Ukraine ports are "dangerous for shipping," wrote Mykhailo Podolyak on Twitter.
"Not even 24 hours had passed before these grain terminals, the territory of Odesa and the port were struck," Zelenskyy told a U.S. delegation of lawmakers visiting Ukraine.
Among those visiting Zelenskyy, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Russian President Vladimir Putin "violated the spirit of that agreement with more missile strikes."
"He simply cannot be trusted," Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote in a statement.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. strongly condemns the Russian missile attack and said Russia bears responsibility for deepening the world's food crisis.
The attack "undermines work of the U.N., Turkey and Ukraine to get critical food to world markets," Blinken said in a statement.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "unequivocally" condemned the missile strike on the port.
"Full implementation [of the deal] by the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey is imperative," the U.N. chief wrote.
Bridget Brink, President Joe Biden's Ambassador to Ukraine, urged the global community to hold Russia to account.
"The Kremlin continues to weaponize food. Russia must be held to account," Brink wrote on Twitter.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Russia's missile strike on Odesa "reprehensible."
"Striking a target crucial for grain export a day after the signature of Istanbul agreements is particularly reprehensible again demonstrates Russia's total disregard for international law and commitments," Borrell wrote on Twitter.
Spanish celebrity chef and restaurateur Jose Andres, who brought his humanitarian organization to Ukraine to alleviate the food crisis triggered by Russia's war, also slammed the missile strikes on Odesa.
"Why are you attacking the grain that needs to be exported? Why? Stop please and let's feed the world," wrote the two-star Michelin chef and founder of the World Central Kitchen, a group dedicated to feeding vulnerable communities.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the missile strikes were "all you need to know about deals with Russia."
"Today, Russian missiles hit the port of Odesa. That's all you need to know about deals with Russia. The world must help Ukraine fight the aggressor," she wrote.
— Reuters contributed to this report.
