The first ship with Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa

1 China

«China will use an effective force if the US Speaker of House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visits Taiwan» — the spokesman of the foreign ministry of China, Zhao Lijian, stated on 1st of August. He added that the visit of Pelosi to Taiwan will destabilize the situation in the Taiwan Strait, and damage the Sino-American relations. «China will absolutely take decisive and effective counter-measures» — Zhao Lijian concluded. The delegation, headed by Nancy Pelosi, went to Asia on 31st of July in order to visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. She declined to clarify if she plans to visit Taipei during her Asia-Pacific tour.

2 Ukraine

The first ship with Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa. The ship sails under the flag of Sierra Leone — it is heading to Istanbul, to the intermediate point of the route. The sea corridor goes through the north-west of the Black Sea. The arrival of the ship is expected on 2nd of August. The humanitarian operation was planned with the participation of Russia. Russian officers are part of the Joint Coordination Center. Some time ago, 2 documents were signed in Istanbul. The 1st document is a memorandum with the UN to guarantee the removal of restrictions on the export of Russian agri-products and fertilizers to the world markets. The 2nd document was an agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine via a planned route.

3 Serbia

The spokesman of Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the Western countries should warn the Kosovo authorities against actions that could escalate the tensions. He added that although the escalation of the conflict was stopped — it was, in fact, only delayed for a month. «It is very important to show a common sense on all sides» — he explained, and added that all the rights of the Serbs, living in Kosovo, must be respected. On 31st of July riots took place in north of Kosovo due to Pristina’s planned entry ban with the Serbian car plates and documents, which was due to take effect on 1st of August. The authorities of Kosovo sent the police against the protesters. After a call from the USA, the authorities postponed the ban for a month. The Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić, stated that he expects the tensions in the region to ease. He promised that he will do everything possible.

4 The DRP

The Supreme Court of the DPR will work on the criminal cases against 3 UK citizens, 1 Swedish citizen, and 1 Croatian citizen, who served in the military-nationalistic group Azov, outlawed in Russia — the press service of the court reported. The criminal cases against Gustafsson Mathias, Prebeg Wiekoslav, John Harding, Healy Dylan, and Hill Andrew — all foreign nationals accused of mercenarism — were sent to the appeals chamber of the Supreme Court of the DPR. The date of the hearing of the court cases and the format of the hearing have yet to be decided. The mercenaries were taken prisoner in Mariupol, some were captured at the ’Azovstal’ factory. The British PoW refused to cooperate with the investigation team and to testify in the case. The Swedish citizen, who was taken prisoner at the ’Azovstal’, denied the accusations of his participating in the hostilities in the DPR.

5 Yemen

A group of negotiators from the Sultanate of Oman has arrived to the Yemeni capital, the city of Sana’a, to arrange a truce between the sides of the civil war in Yemen — the ’Saba’ newspaper reported on 1st of August. The negotiators intend to mediate between the rebels and the government on an extension of the ceasefire which expires on 2nd of August, at midnight.

6 Iraq

The protest organizers in Baghdad called on their supporters to riot — the ’Al-Araby-al-Jadid’ reported. The so-called ’’Sadrist Movement’’ is a political party responsible for the takeover of the Iraqi parliament. They called their cells in other provinces to take over the government buildings. The appeal covers all the Iraqi provinces, except for Najaf, where the shrines of Shia Muslims are located. The ’Sadrist Movement’ advocates for a radical interpretation of Shiia Islam, and for the untouchability of mosques. The Iraqi authorities sent troops to Baghdad in order to counter the Sadrist movement and other protest groups. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS