* The world economy is in a difficult place but it is not destined to stay there, World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Monday. The World Bank last month cut its 2024 forecast for global economic growth to 2.4% from 2.7% earlier, citing global monetary tightening.
* China and the United States could use climate cooperation to redefine their troubled relationship and lead the way in tackling global warming, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told senior Chinese officials on Tuesday.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said he regretted Russia's decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Earlier Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow decided to suspend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday he had written to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling for the continued operation of the Black Sea grain shipment deal.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that his country hopes to continue the Black Sea grain deal after Russia's withdrawal, Zelensky's spokesman Sergii Nykyforov said on Facebook.
* Japan and the United Arab Emirates agreed to cooperate on technology and climate change during Japan Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's visit, his second stop in the region focused on securing energy supplies and promoting green technology.
* Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio arrived in major gas-producer Qatar on Tuesday for the final leg of a Gulf tour that has focused on securing energy supplies and promoting Japanese high-tech.
* Japan and France will hold their first-ever joint fighter jet drill from July 26-29, Japan's Air Self-Defence Force said on Tuesday.
* U.S. President Joe Biden, after a lengthy delay, on Monday invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States for an official visit later this year, the White House and prime minister's office said.
* French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to keep Elisabeth Borne in her role as prime minister, an official at the president's office said on Monday, rejecting pressure to give a new direction to his government after a tumultuous few months.
* Britain said on Tuesday it intends to start talks with Turkey over refreshing their bilateral free trade deal, with a view to including services and the digital sector in any future agreement.
* Saudi Arabia agreed on Tuesday to buy Turkish drones, one of several lucrative contracts President Tayyip Erdogan secured for Turkey's struggling economy as Ankara reaps the benefits of his recent diplomatic push to repair ties with Gulf Arab powers.
* The European Union (EU) on Monday committed to investing over 45 billion euros to support the bloc's reinforced partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean until 2027.
* Representatives from Egypt, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United States met on Monday to discuss the need for Lebanon to expedite presidential elections and implement economic reforms, the countries said in a joint statement.
* Israel has recognised Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara and is mulling opening a consulate there, a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said on Monday.
* South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday called for an overhaul of the country's disaster response system to better cope with climate change-induced crises, after days of torrential rain killed dozens of people in the country.
* Additional spending of around $3 trillion each year by 2030 would be required towards incremental investments in climate action and for meeting other sustainable development goals, a G20 panel said in a report, reviewed by Reuters, on Tuesday.
* Prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa has left 23.4 million people acutely food insecure and 5.1 million children acutely malnourished, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has said.
* The United Nations delivered a replacement vessel to Yemen's Houthi group on Monday as part of an urgent mission to avert a potential oil spill from the decaying Safer tanker off Yemen's western coast.
* Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday warned that the Palestinian territories are witnessing unprecedentedly complex conditions at all levels.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that he is open to meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but only if the meeting is unconditional and requires no preconditions.
* The International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved a $271 million Extended Credit Facility for Burundi, with an immediate disbursement of over $62 million, the IMF said in a statement late on Monday.
* Brazil's financial market raised the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for this year from 2.19 percent to 2.24 percent, and from 1.28 to 1.3 percent for next year, the Central Bank of Brazil said Monday.
* Peru's government will unveil new measures in the coming weeks designed to lift the Andean country's battered economy, a senior minister said on Monday, after its worst contraction in over two years in May.
* Japan has temporarily suspended imports of chicken from Brazil's Santa Catarina state after the confirmation of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) case in a backyard chicken, Brazilian meat lobby ABPA said on Monday, creating a new headache for the country's meat processors.
* Albania's Minister of Finance and Economy Delina Ibrahimaj said in Tirana on Monday that the country's economy continued to advance at a good pace during the first half of 2023.
* Myanmar exported more than 517 tons of honey worth over 776,000 USD in the first quarter of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation said on Monday.
* Several multilateral lenders have partnered to lead a global program to reduce pollution in coastal areas and river basins, the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday.
* The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC) warned on Monday that there is a high likelihood of El Nino occurring in East Africa during the rainy season between October and December.
* China's weather authorities on Monday issued the first red warning alert this year for flash floods in areas including southwestern Guangxi region, state media CCTV reported.
* Japan on Monday continued to issue heatstroke alerts with near-record high temperatures boiling many parts of the country.
* The New Zealand government launched a plan on Tuesday to help regions in the North Island to recover from Cyclone Gabrielle, the Auckland flooding, and other severe weather in January and February this year.
* Two wildfires, fanned by strong winds, raged uncontrolled through coastal towns near Athens on Monday forcing residents to flee their homes and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of children from a summer camp.
