Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on the Black Sea on Saturday, a day after officials heralded a new deal meant to resume grain exports from the country as Moscow's invasion reaches the 150-day mark, AP reports.
Why it matters: The strikes on Ukraine’s largest port cast a pall over the deal Ukrainian, Russian, United Nations and Turkish officials reached in an effort to help ease a global food crisis that’s deepened as the conflict has worn on.
The World Health Organization declared on Saturday that monkeypox, which has spread to more than 70 countries, is a global emergency.
Why it matters: The declaration by the U.N. health agency could lead to investment in treating the disease, but it could also lead to a shortage for already-scarce vaccines, AP writes.
The U.S. will send Ukraine an additional $270 million in military assistance to help the country thwart Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion, John Kirby, the White House National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, announced Friday.
Why it matters: The new aid package, which brings the U.S. total security assistance to Ukraine to $8.2 billion since the start of the Biden administration, will include four more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 36,000 ammunition rounds for howitzer artillery pieces and 580 additional loitering munition drones.
Why it matters: The U.S. and several other countries have declared that Myanmar's military committed genocide and crimes against humanity in its treatment of the country's Rohingya minority in Rakhine State.
Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday to reopen blockaded Ukrainian ports and allow grain exports to begin to flow.
Why it matters: Ukraine is one of the world's top exporters of wheat, sunflower oil and other agricultural products. With those exports almost entirely blocked due to Russia's Black Sea blockade, the food crisis plaguing countries in Africa and elsewhere has deepened.
Sri Lankan security forces raided a Colombo anti-government protest camp outside the president's office and evicted demonstrators early on Friday, multiple images from the scene show.
Why it matters: The crackdown came hours after former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as president. A fixture of Sri Lanka's establishment, he is deeply distrusted by protesters who brought down his predecessor after months of demonstrations over the country's economic crisis, per Axios' Dave Lawler.
