Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – July 13, 2022

ISTANBUL

Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

• Military delegations from Türkiye, Russia and Ukraine and UN officials will meet in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss shipments of Ukrainian grain that are stuck due to a blockade of Black Sea ports, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Tuesday.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Iran's capital Tehran on July 19 to take part in a trilateral meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin’s spokesman said Tuesday.

• Washington has provided Ukraine with an additional $1.7 billion for health and humanitarian assistance, a statement from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said Tuesday.

• The evacuation of Ukrainians living in the frontline villages of Donetsk continues under heavy Russian shelling.

• The world has never witnessed such a major energy crisis in terms of its depth and its complexity, Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said Tuesday.

• The International Red Cross warned Tuesday that millions of people are at risk of severe hunger in the coming months as extreme poverty, inequality and food insecurity rose, particularly in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

• Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country on a military jet early Wednesday, according to several reports citing unnamed local officials.

• The UN Security Council agreed Tuesday to extend its mandate for badly-needed cross-border aid deliveries into Syria for six months.

• The US military killed a Daesh/ISIS leader during a drone attack Tuesday in northwest Syria, according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

• British authorities are set to reveal plans for an emergency response to the current heatwave as temperatures are predicted to reach a record-breaking 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in a few days.

• The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday he is concerned that coronavirus cases and deaths are climbing, stretching health systems, while monkeypox is also rising with 9,200 cases reported in 63 countries.

• Russia on Tuesday confirmed its first case of monkeypox.