A cargo ship carrying 26,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn left the port of Odesa early on Monday, in the first such voyage since a deal was signed to reopen a vital shipping lane in the Black Sea.
The Razoni is bound for Lebanon, one of the countries in need of Ukrainian grain, and another 16 ships are waiting to help ease a global food crisis.
The UN said millions of people were on the brink of severe hunger because of the blockage, with more circuitous routes by road and rail proving only partially satisfactory.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the cargo was carrying "two commodities in short supply ... corn and hope", and that the grain shipments “bring much-needed stability and relief to global food security, especially in the most fragile humanitarian contexts.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called it a "day of relief for the world, especially for our friends in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, as the first Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa after months of Russian blockade".
Western diplomats said they were watching closely to see whether Russia upholds its promises to the UN and Turkey that it will facilitate safe passage of the grain, which were called into doubt when missiles hit Odesa after the deal was signed.
“These ships must receive safe passage. There must be no repeat of Russia’s shelling of the port of Odesa," said UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. ""Russia has felt the full weight of global pressure and the eyes of the whole world will now be watching."
Turkey said the ship was due to arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday, where it will be boarded for inspections under the terms of the deal. Officials have set up a co-ordination centre in the city as part of the agreement.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's Foreign Minister, said he hoped the shipments would "continue without interruptions and problems... we hope that the agreement will lead to a ceasefire and lasting peace".
But the restart was marred by the death of a Ukrainian agricultural tycoon, Oleksiy Vadatursky, who was killed in a missile strike on Mykolaiv on Sunday.
"It is exactly such people, such companies, our Ukrainian south that have guaranteed the world's food security. It has always been so. And it will be so again," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine and Russia, two of the world's biggest agricultural exporters, blame each other for food exports grinding to a standstill during the five-month war.
Moscow is accused by western powers of bombarding grain warehouses.
Ukraine wants to generate revenue from exports just as much as other countries, such as Lebanon, want the imports, with Kyiv predicting that it could gain about $1 billion in foreign exchange from unblocking the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said that the shipment would arrive in Lebanon within days. The Razoni sails under the flag of Sierra Leone.
"The ship Razoni has left the port of Odesa bound for Tripoli in Lebanon," the Turkish ministry said in a statement. "It is expected in Istanbul on August 2. It will then continue its journey after it has been inspected in Istanbul."
Lebanon is facing a major wheat shortage as the government struggles to cover subsidies for importers to buy grain on international markets because of the rising price and the country's four-year economic crisis.
Other vessels will follow, respecting the maritime corridor and the formalities in line with the agreement reached with Russia on July 22, the defence ministry said.
Turkey opened a co-ordination centre in Istanbul on Wednesday to monitor the exports. The centre is staffed by civilian and military officials from the two warring parties and delegates from Turkey and the UN.
Their primary assignment involves monitoring the safe passage of Ukrainian grain ships along established routes and looking for banned weapons on the way into and out of the Black Sea.
The drop in deliveries from two of the world's biggest grain exporters is contributing to a surge in prices that makes food imports prohibitively expensive for some of the world's poorest countries.
The UN estimates that nearly 50 million people are facing acute hunger as a direct consequence of the war that broke out after Russian forces entered Ukraine on February 24.
Wheat prices fell sharply hours after the grain shipment agreement was signed.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
TOP 5 DRIVERS 2019
1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 10 wins 387 points
2 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 4 wins, 314 points
3 Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 3 wins, 260 points
4 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2 wins, 249 points
5 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1 win, 230 points
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke
Two stars
