Agriculture ministers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations on Saturday condemned India’s decision to ban unapproved wheat exports after the country was hit by a punishing heatwave.
“If everyone starts to impose export restrictions or to close markets, that would worsen the crisis,” German agriculture minister Cem Ozdemir said at a press conference in Stuttgart.
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New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern tests positive for Covid
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tested positive for Covid-19 with moderate symptoms, her office said in a statement on Saturday. She will not be in parliament for the government’s emissions reduction plan on Monday and the budget on Thursday, but “travel arrangements for her trade mission to the United States are unaffected at this stage,” the statement said. She has been in isolation since Sunday, when her partner Clarke Gayford tested positive, it said.
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_1652520296794_1652520306088.jpg "Image courtesy: twitter.com/@MohamedBinZayedv")
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to be new UAE president: Report
The UAE’s long-time de facto ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was elected as president on Saturday, official media said, a day after the death of former leader Sheikh Khalifa. Sheikh Mohamed was elected by the Federal Supreme Council, news agency said, after years of calling the shots from behind the scenes while his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa was sidelined by poor health.
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Sri Lanka temporarily lifts curfew, new PM seeks to form cabinet | 5 points
On the brink of bankruptcy, Sri Lanka – an island nation of 22 million – is set to ease the curfew for 12 hours as the country goes through a political churning amid the worst economic crisis. Ranil Wickremesinghe – a five-time prime minister – was appointed for the sixth time late on Thursday by president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
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Pakistan police resort to tear gas, baton-charge PTI workers: Report
In a crackdown against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which has hit the street against the ouster of the Imran Khan-led government, Pakistani authorities resorted to tear gas and baton-charge the party workers who were preparing for a rally in Sialkot on Saturday morning, according to local media.
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In a haze of disinfectant, China struggles with invisible enemy
Leaving a fine mist of disinfectant in their wake, China’s hazmat-clad health workers are cleaning homes, roads, parcels and even people — but more than two years into the pandemic, experts say it is a futile measure against Covid-19. Personal possessions and home furnishings lie amid clouds of cleanser, the images show — while in other cases the targets are city streets, walls and parks. The odds have not deterred China’s disinfectant sprayers.