UK PM: Conservatives Elect Liz Truss As Johnson's Replacement

Liz Truss was named as Britain's next prime minister on Monday, winning a leadership race for the governing of the Conservative party at a time when the country faces a cost of living crisis, industrial unrest, and a recession. After weeks of an often bad-tempered and divisive leadership contest that saw the foreign minister face off against former finance minister Rishi Sunak, Truss came out on top in a vote of Conservative Party members. Truss, Britain’s foreign secretary, won the support of her party’s grassroots with promises of tax cuts and with her loyalty to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was booted from Downing Street by Conservative lawmakers.

US Warns Citizens In Ukraine To Leave Over Fears Of Increased Russian Attacks

The United States government has issued a warning to Americans living in Ukraine to leave the country immediately, stressing that Russia could step up efforts to launch attacks on civilian infrastructure and government facilities ahead of Ukrainian independence day on Wednesday. "The US Embassy urges US citizens to depart Ukraine now using privately available ground transportation options if it is safe to do so," a security alert on the embassy's website said." The security situation throughout Ukraine is highly volatile and conditions may deteriorate without warning." The embassy urged U.S. citizens "to depart Ukraine now using privately available ground transportation options."

Russia/Ukraine: Erdogan Fears Another Chernobyl, Backs Peace Talk

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned against the reoccurrence of another “another Chernobyl” amid the ongoing scrimmage at the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine. The president further discussed possible ways of ending the war between Ukraine and Russia in a trilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and U.N. chief Antonio Guterres.

Russia Shuts Down Major Gas Pipeline To Europe

Russia shut down gas supplies via Europe's key supply route on Wednesday, thereby intensifying an economic battle between Moscow and Brussels as well as raising the prospects of recession and energy rationing in some of the region's richest countries. Russia cited the need to carry out repairs as the reason for the shutdown. Russian state energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said Nord Stream 1, the biggest pipeline carrying gas to its top customer Germany, will be out for maintenance from 0100 GMT on Aug. 31 to 0100 GMT on Sept. 3 according to energy market information disclosure platform Seeburger. The Nord Stream 1pipeline stretches 1,200km (745 miles) under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St Petersburg to north-eastern Germany. It opened in 2011 and can send a maximum of 170 million cubic metres of gas per day from Russia to Germany.

Daughter of Putin Ally Killed In A Car Bomb

Alexander Dugin, tagged as Putin’s ‘Rasputin’ has lost his daughter Darya Dugina to a car bomb meant for him, a few minutes after both swapped vehicles. Dugin who is an ultranationalist Russian ideologue and ally of Vladimir Putin had been attending a festival outside Moscow along with his daughter before the incident. The Russian Foreign Ministry had speculated that Ukraine might have been behind the attack, although, Ukraine denied any involvement, however, Vladimir Putin’s closest supporters have demanded vengeance calling it an assassination attempt and demanding the Kremlin respond by targeting government officials in Kyiv.

Food Crises: First Shipment Of Grain Leaves Ukrainian Odessa Port – Turkey

Turkish defence Ministry says the first shipment of Ukrainian grain has left Odesa port this morning in a deal to alleviate the global food crises following the Ukrainian invasion by Russia. The statement said, “The ship Razoni has left the port of Odesa bound for Tripoli in Lebanon. It is expected in Istanbul on August 2. It will then continue its journey after it has been inspected in Istanbul,” According to the report from the Ukrainian infrastructure Minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, the vessel was carrying 26,000 tonnes of corn.