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Russia struck Ukrainian ports on Tuesday, a day after pulling out of a United Nations.-backed deal to let Kyiv export grain, and Moscow claimed gains on the ground in an area where Ukrainian officials said Russian forces were going back on the offensive.

Russia described a wave of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s ports as “mass revenge strikes” in retaliation for attacks by Ukrainian seaborne drones that knocked out its road bridge to the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Shortly after the bridge was hit on Monday, Moscow withdrew from a year-old U.N. brokered grain export deal, a move the United Nations said risked creating hunger around the world.

Falling debris and blast waves damaged several homes and unspecified port infrastructure in Russia’s main port, Odesa, according to Ukraine’s southern operational military command.

Local authorities in Mykolaiv, another port, described a serious fire there. A part of a Russian cruise missile Kalibr is seen inside a building damaged during a Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine July 18, 2023. via REUTERS

The Russian attacks on ports provide “further proof that the country-terrorist wants to endanger the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports”, said Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential staff.

Ukraine’s air force said six Kalibr missiles and 31 out of 36 drones were shot down.

Moscow, for its part, said it had foiled a Ukrainian drone strike on Crimea, with no major damage on the ground, and had reopened a single lane of road traffic on the Crimea bridge. Turkish-flagged bulker TQ Samsun, carrying grain under UN’s Black Sea Grain Initiative, transits Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey on July 18, 2023. REUTERS

Six weeks since Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the east and south, Russia is mounting a ground offensive of its own in the northeast.

Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had advanced 2 km (1.24 miles) in the vicinity of Kupiansk, a frontline railway hub recaptured by Ukraine in an offensive last year. Kyiv acknowledged heavy fighting in the area and said Russia was making a major push there. Reuters could not independently verify the situation.

Since Ukraine began its counteroffensive last month, Kyiv has recaptured some villages in the south and territory around the ruined city of Bakhmut in the east but has yet to attempt a major breakthrough across heavily defended Russian lines. ‘A BLOW TO PEOPLE IN NEED’

The Black Sea grain export deal brokered a year ago by Turkey and the United Nations was one of the only diplomatic successes of the war, lifting a de facto Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports and heading off a global food emergency.

Ukraine and Russia are both among the world’s biggest exporters of grain and other foodstuffs.

If Ukrainian grain is again blocked from the market, prices could soar around the world, hitting the poorest countries hardest.

“Today’s decision by the Russian Federation will strike a blow to people in need everywhere,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday. A view shows a building damaged during a Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine on July 18, 2023. via REUTERS

Russia says it could return to the grain deal, but only if its demands are met for rules to be eased for its own exports of food and fertilizer.

Western countries call that an attempt to use leverage over food supplies to force a weakening in financial sanctions, which already provide exceptions to allow Russia to sell food.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the grain deal to continue without Russia’s participation, effectively seeking Turkey’s backing to negate the Russian blockade. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the grain deal to continue without Russia’s participation. AFP via Getty Images

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the deal’s sponsor, says he thinks Moscow can be persuaded to return.

Any attempt to reopen Ukrainian grain shipments without Russia’s participation would probably depend on insurance companies agreeing to provide coverage. Industry sources have told Reuters they are considering the implications.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said attempting to export grain from Ukraine without Russian security guarantees would carry risks, and said Ukraine used the waters for military activities. SLOW COUNTEROFFENSIVE see also Russian soldier ‘lost his grip,’ shot at comrades before being killed, Ukrainian intelligence says

Russia’s claim on Tuesday to have advanced around Kupiansk was a rare signal of Moscow attempting to go back on the offensive since Kyiv launched its counteroffensive last month.

Both sides have endured bitter losses in Europe’s bloodiest combat since World War Two, yet front lines have moved only incrementally since last November, despite a massive Russian winter offensive followed by Ukraine’s counterassault.

“For two days running, the enemy has been actively on the offensive in the Kupiansk sector in Kharkiv region,” Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram.

“We are defending. Heavy fighting is going on and the positions of both sides change dynamically several times a day.”

Oleksander Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, described the situation in that area as “complicated but under control.”

Serhiy Cherevatyi, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern grouping of forces, said the Russian military had amassed more than 100,000 troops and more than 900 tanks in the area.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has made limited gains near Bakhmut and along two major axes in the south, but its assault force equipped with billions of dollars worth of new Western weapons and ammunition has yet to confront the main Russian defensive line.

Kyiv says it is deliberately advancing slowly to avoid high casualties on fortified defensive lines strewn with landmines and is focused for now on degrading Russia’s logistics and command.

Moscow says the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed.

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Seize the Grey wins Preakness, denies Mystik Dan

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Seize the Grey wins Preakness, denies Mystik Dan

Seize the Grey went wire to wire to win the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, giving 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas a seventh victory in the race and ending Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown bid.

The gray colt, ridden by Jamie Torres, took advantage of the muddy track just like Lukas hoped he would, pulling off the upset at Pimlico Race Course in a second consecutive impressive start two weeks after romping in a race on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Seize the Grey went off at 9-1, one of the longest shots on the board.

Mystik Dan finished second in the field of eight horses running in the $2 million, 1 3/16-mile race. After falling short of going back to back following his win by a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it would be a surprise if he runs in the Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga Race Course.

Mystic Dan’s second-place finish extends a six-year drought in which the Kentucky Derby winner has failed to repeat at the Preakness Stakes. It is the longest such drought since 1989 to 1997, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Seize the Grey was a surprise Preakness winner facing tougher competition than in the Pat Day Mile on May 4. Though given the Lukas connection, it should never be a surprise when one of his horses is covered in a blanket of black-eyed Susan flowers.

No one in the race’s 149-year history has saddled more horses in the Preakness than Lukas with 48 since debuting in 1980. He had two this time, with Just Steel finishing fifth.

Lukas has now won the Preakness seven times, one short of the record held by two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer and close friend Bob Baffert, whose Imagination finished seventh. Baffert also was supposed to have two horses in the field and arguably the best, but morning line favorite Muth was scratched earlier in the week because of a fever.

Muth’s absence made Mystik Dan the 2-1 favorite, but he and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. could not replicate their perfect Derby trip — when they won the race’s first three-way photo finish since 1947. Instead, Torres rode Seize the Grey to a win in his first Preakness.

This was the last Preakness held at Pimlico Race Course as it stands before demolition begins on the historic but deteriorating track, which will still hold the 150th running of it next year during construction.

That process is already well underway at Belmont Park, which is why the final leg of the Triple Crown is happening at Saratoga for the first time and is being shortened to 1¼ miles because of the shape of the course. Kentucky Derby second-place finisher Sierra Leone, a half step from winning, is expected to headline that field.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Politics

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will not stand at next election

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Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will not stand at next election

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said he won’t be standing at the next general election but will keep campaigning for the Conservative Party.

In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which he posted on X on Saturday night, Mr Heaton-Harris said after 24 years in politics, it had been an “honour and a privilege to serve”.

He thanked the people of Daventry, Mr Sunak and former Tory leaders, including Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, “for putting their trust in me”.

Mr Heaton-Harris, who has been serving as Northern Ireland secretary since September 2022, said: “I started as a campaigner and I’ll be out campaigning for @Conservatives at the next election because we are the only party that has and can deliver for the whole of the United Kingdom.”

He joins an exodus of Tory politicians who have announced they will be leaving Westminster at the next general election.

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More than 100 MPs from across the Commons have said they will not be standing.

Those who have announced their intention to leave parliament range from the longest-serving female MP, Labour’s Harriet Harman, to one of those only elected at the last election in 2019, Conservative MP Dehenna Davison.

Of the more than 60 Tory MPs stepping aside, high profile names include former cabinet ministers Ben Wallace, Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab and Kwasi Kwarteng.

Back in March, Mrs May, 67, said she too had taken the “difficult decision” to quit the Commons after 27 years representing her Maidenhead constituency.

The last possible day for a general election is Tuesday 28 January 2025.

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UK

Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury to become heavyweight champion of the world

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Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury to become heavyweight champion of the world

Oleksandr Usyk has become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world after defeating Tyson Fury in boxing’s biggest fight of the century.

The Ukrainian won on a split decision following the match in Saudi Arabia.

Usyk had 115-112 and 114-113 on two cards, while Fury took the other 114-113.

Oleksandr Usyk lands a punch on Tyson Fury. Pic: PA
Image:
Oleksandr Usyk lands a punch on Tyson Fury. Pic: PA

Fury disputed his loss after the match, saying: “I believe I won that fight. I believe he won a few rounds but I won more of them.

“Make no mistake I won that fight and I’ll be back.”

In response Usyk said he was “ready for a rematch”.

Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk. Pic: Action Images via Reuters
Image:
Pic: Action Images via Reuters

Fury came under early pressure, with Usyk taking the centre of the ring with an aggressive offensive from the start.

At one point Fury was pushed against the ropes and started laughing as Usyk applied pressure.

The “Gypsy King” looked relaxed as he moved around the ring in the early rounds and picked his shots.

Pic: PA
Image:
Pic: PA

Tyson Fury lunges at Oleksandr Usyk. Pic: PA
Image:
Fury lunges at Usyk. Pic: PA

But after Usyk landed a right hook in the ninth round it looked as if Fury was in serious trouble. The Ukrainian followed up by unloading freely but somehow the bookmakers’ favourite stayed on his feet and was saved by the bell.

Last night, Fury weighed in at 262lbs (18st 10lbs) – nearly three stone heavier than Usyk, who clocked in at a career heaviest of 223lbs (15st 13lbs).

Fury refused to look at his opponent during a news conference on Thursday, but did not back down at the weigh-in last night, where the pair almost came to blows before being separated by their entourages.

Usyk arrived into the ring first, dressed as a Cossack warrior.

Fury entered to songs by Barry White and Bonnie Tyler, with the “Gypsy King” spending several minutes dancing on stage before the song changed to Holding Out For A Hero.

Anthony Joshua watched from the ringside, knowing he could meet the winner early next year.

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