🔄 Click here to see the most recent posts
4 posts
9 mins ago
Wheat prices rise as Russia-Ukraine export pact jeopardizes
By Reuters
Wheat prices rose sharply on Monday as the missile attack on the Ukrainian port of Odessa over the weekend has raised questions about whether it will be possible to implement last week's deal to open a corridor for grain exports from the war-torn country.
Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey signed an agreement on Friday last week to reopen three Ukrainian Black Sea ports to grain exports.
The agreement is valid for 120 days and its objective is the monthly export of 5 million tons.
Wheat futures on the Chicago Stock Exchange rose nearly 4% to $7.86 a bushel on Monday, making up much of the ground lost on Friday, when prices fell nearly 6% after the deal was announced.
Ukrainian seaports have been closed since the Russian invasion in February, and while some crops have gone by rail or road through neighboring countries such as Romania and Poland, millions of tons have accumulated on farms.
Declining shipments from one of the world's biggest grain exporters has helped fuel food inflation around the world, and UN agencies have warned it could lead to famine and mass migration on a massive scale. without precedents.
The Kremlin said on Monday that the missile attack would not affect grain exports.
In a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Russia had targeted military infrastructure.
Chicago corn futures were up 2% at $5.75-3/4 a bushel, while soybeans were up 0.9% at $13.28 a bushel.
12 mins ago
Taiwan holds annual air raid drills to increase military readiness
By Eric Cheong
Local residents take shelter during the Wanan air raid drill, held on the same day as the annual Han Kuang military exercises, in Taipei on July 25, 2022. (Photo by Sam Yeh/AFP)
Air raid sirens were heard in northern Taiwan on Monday as the island carried out its latest military drills to test its readiness for any possible Chinese attack.
In the capital Taipei, traffic was halted and civilians were required to follow evacuation procedures for 30 minutes starting at 1:30aET (1:30pm local time), when air raid sirens sounded across the city. city.
Citizens were also asked to turn off their lights and traffic control measures were implemented throughout the city, according to a press release from the Taipei government.
"The purpose of the air raid drills is to make people aware of how to respond and know the location of bomb shelters in case of war," he added.
Similar drills are scheduled to take place this week in townships across Taiwan.
On Monday, the Taiwanese military also kicked off the week-long Han Kuang military exercises, which are Taiwan's largest annual live-fire drills, to simulate defenses against a possible Chinese attack.
As the exercises began, the Taiwanese air force conducted flight missions to protect important targets and assets, according to a statement from the Taiwanese Defense Ministry on Monday morning.
14 mins ago
India reports a fourth case of monkeypox, its first local infection with no history of foreign travel
By Vedika Sud, Esha Mitra
This 2003 electron microscope image, made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows mature, oval monkeypox virions, left, and immature, spherical virions, right, obtained from a human skin sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak.
India reported its fourth case of monkeypox in the national capital territory of Delhi on Sunday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Three other cases had previously been reported in the southern state of Kerala, the first on July 14, all with a history of foreign travel, according to Kerala Health Minister Veena George.
The latest and fourth reported case in Delhi is the first local infection in the country with no history of foreign travel, CNN News affiliate 18 reported citing sources.
The Health Ministry said on Sunday that the fourth patient, a 34-year-old man, was hospitalized and recovering in a designated isolation center at a Delhi hospital, and his close contacts had been identified.
"Other public health interventions are being carried out, such as identifying the source of infection, improving contact tracing, sensitizing private doctors, etc," the ministry added in a statement issued on Sunday. .
The Director General of Health Services held a high-level meeting this Sunday on the monkeypox situation in the country.
18 mins ago
Myanmar executes two democracy activists and two others for the first time in decades
By CNN
A member of the Myanmar security forces stands at a checkpoint in Yangon on July 19, 2022. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Myanmar announced on Monday that it had executed two democracy activists for being "involved in terrorist acts" such as "explosive attacks and killings of civilians as informers," the junta's spokesman had previously said.
Two other people were also executed, in what are believed to be the first known cases of judicial executions in the country in decades, state media Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Monday.
"The punishment (for Phyo Zayar Thaw, (Ko) Jimmy, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw) has been carried out as per prison procedures," the outlet reported without giving a date.
The report charged the four with "directing, arranging, and conspiring to commit brutal and inhumane acts of terror, including murder."
It is unclear whether Phyo Zayar Thaw and Ko Jimmy, along with Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw have denied the charges against them.
In January 2022, veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy and former National League of Democracy lawmaker Phyo Zayar Thaw were sentenced to death, a decision the UN called a "flagrant violation of the right to life, liberty and person's safety."
According to Amnesty International, the last known judicial execution in Myanmar was in 1988. Since then there have been numerous death sentences in Myanmar, but these have usually been "commuted through mass pardons", Amnesty states.
News