KUBINKA /Moscow Region/, August 16. /TASS/: The West is not interested in negotiations on a peace settlement in Ukraine, because it is keen to make as much money as possible for its military-industrial complex, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev told the media.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded grain terminals in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region Wednesday, local officials said, hitting storage facilities and ports along the Danube River that Kyiv has increasingly used for grain transport to Europe after Moscow broke off a key wartime export deal through the Black Sea.

At the same time, a loaded container ship stuck at the port of Odesa since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than 17 months ago set sail and was heading through the Black Sea to the Bosporus along a temporary corridor established by Ukraine for merchant shipping.

DENVER, the United States, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal judge in the western state of Montana on Monday ruled in favor of a group of youths who argued the right to a safe environment had been constitutionally violated by legislators promoting fossil fuels.

"District Court Judge Kathy Seeley found the policy the state uses in evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits -- which does not allow agencies to evaluate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions -- is unconstitutional," reported the National Public Radio.

WELLINGTON, Aug 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – New Zealand continues to crack down on organised crime with the largest ever meth bust, seizing nearly three-quarters of a tonne of methamphetamine.

Police Minister, Ginny Andersen, said today that, it was possibly the largest ever meth bust in New Zealand, with a provisional total of 746.9 kg seized during the search warrant in Manukau, Auckland, in March.

“Methamphetamine destroys lives and wreaks havoc on our communities,” she said, adding that, this will also deal a significant financial blow to gangs and organised criminals.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s president on Wednesday urged a continuation of his educational reforms to turn Southeast Asia’s largest economy into one of the world’s biggest by its hundredth anniversary in 2045.

President Joko Widodo said in his annual state of the nation speech a day before Indonesia celebrates its 78th year of independence that it has a great chance of joining the globe’s top five economies with a per capital income of $25,000. Indonesia’s per capita income was $4,580 in 2022, according to the World Bank.

Aug 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday despite a large drawdown in U.S. crude stocks as investors weighed worries about China's embattled economy against expectations of tighter supply in the United States.

Brent crude futures fell $1.23 to $83.66 a barrel by 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell $1.33 to $79.66.

Both benchmarks fell more than 1% in the previous session to their lowest since Aug. 8.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court cleared the way Wednesday for Parliament to vote for a new prime minister more than three months after national elections by declining to rule on a complaint over the rejection of the winning party’s leader.

The court had been asked to decide whether Parliament had violated the constitution by refusing to allow the leader of the progressive Move Forward Party to be nominated for a second time as a prime ministerial candidate.

MOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Russia's lunar spacecraft entered the moon's orbit on Wednesday, a major step towards the country's ambition of being the first to land on the moon's south pole in the search for frozen water.

The Luna-25 entered the moon's orbit at 11:57 a.m. (0857 GMT), Russia's space corporate Roskosmos said.

Luna-25 will circle the moon, the earth's only natural satellite, for around 5 days, then change course for a soft landing on the lunar south pole planned for Aug. 21.

YANGON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the jade mine collapse in northern Myanmar's Kachin State rose to 33 on Wednesday, local police said.

"After three days of rescue operations, 33 bodies have been recovered," a police officer in Hpakant told Xinhua on Wednesday.

The collapse took place at around 3:00 p.m. local time on Sunday at the jade mine near Ma Na Village in Hpakant, the center of Myanmar's jade industry, with over 30 people reported missing.

N’DJAMENA, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Niger’s military-appointed prime minister made an unannounced visit to neighbouring Chad as West African states set talks for mulling possible military intervention to reverse his country’s coup and the United States and Russia urged a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, a civilian appointed by the military rulers who ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, arrived in Chad for a “working visit,” the Chadian government said on Facebook.

LAHORE, Pakistan, Aug 16 (Reuters) - A Muslim crowd attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday, vandalising several churches and setting scores of houses on fire after accusing two of its members of desecrating the Koran, police and community leaders said.

The attack took place in Jaranwala in the industrial district of Faisalabad, police spokesman Naveed Ahmad said. The two Christians were accused of blasphemy, he said, adding they and family members had fled their homes.

CAIRO (AP) — Clashes between rival militias in Libya’s capital killed at least 27 people and left residents trapped in their homes Tuesday, unable to escape the violence, medical authorities said.

The fighting appears to be the most intense to shake Tripoli this year. In addition to the 27 deaths, over 100 people were injured in the fighting, Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center, a medical body that is deployed during humanitarian disasters and wars, said early Wednesday.