World News in Brief: July 24

The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared on Saturday that the current multi-country monkeypox outbreak outside of the traditional endemic areas in Africa has already turned into a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

Afghanistan will import up to 350,000 tons of fuel from its neighbor Iran under an agreement signed by both countries on Saturday, the Ministry of Finance said Sunday.
Afghanistan will import up to 350,000 tons of fuel from its neighbor Iran under an agreement signed by both countries on Saturday, the Ministry of Finance said Sunday.

* Cambodia's Ministry of Health on Sunday issued preventive measures against monkeypox transmission, a day after Thailand's first monkeypox fugitive was found in capital Phnom Penh.

* India reported the fourth monkeypox case, and the first case in the Indian capital of New Delhi, on Sunday. The first three cases were reported from the southern state of Kerala, on July 14, July 18 and July 22.

* The agreement to resume grain shipments from Ukrainian ports to international markets via the Black Sea is "a beacon of hope" for the world, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.

* The agreement on grain exports separately signed by Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Türkiye, fully meets Ukraine’s interests, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.

* Russian officials had told Ankara that Russia had "nothing to do" with the attacks on Ukraine's key Black Sea port of Odesa, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday.

* French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his disappointment to his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi at the lack of progress over talks on the 2015 nuclear agreement, the Elysee Palace said in a statement on Saturday.

* Türkiye's Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned the Swedish charges d'affaires in Ankara over the "terrorist propaganda" staged by the supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during a protest on Thursday in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

* Sri Lanka's new President Ranil Wickremesinghe told diplomats this week that non-violent protests against his government will be allowed to continue, including in the commercial capital Colombo, his office said in a statement on Sunday.

* China's national observatory on Sunday continued to issue an orange alert for high temperatures as intense heat waves linger in many regions of the country.

* A volcano on Japan's major western island of Kyushu erupted on Sunday evening, sending black smoke billowing high into the air, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or of anybody being hurt.

* Almost 700 migrants, including five dead bodies, were rescued on Saturday off the southern coast of Italy, a coastguard statement said on Sunday, as flows of migrants crossing the Mediterranean increase during favourable sea conditions.

* Israeli forces killed two Palestinian fighters in a pre-dawn clash in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and, off the coast of the Gaza Strip, attacked a fishing boat accused of smuggling in Hamas supplies from Egypt after its two crewmen escaped.

Xinhua/Reuters/VNA