NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — African leaders have left two days of meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin with little to show for their requests to resume a deal that kept grain flowing from Ukraine and to find a path to end the war there.

Putin in a press conference late Saturday following the Russia-Africa summit said Russia’s termination of the grain deal earlier this month caused a rise in grain prices that benefits Russian companies. He added that Moscow would share some of those revenues with the “poorest nations.”

MOSCOW, July 30 (Reuters) - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has sometimes raised the spectre of a nuclear conflict over Ukraine, said on Sunday that Moscow would have to use a nuclear weapon if Kyiv's ongoing counter-offensive was a success.

Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, a body chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said in a message on his official social media accounts that Russia would be forced to fall back on its own nuclear doctrine in such a scenario.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 30. /TASS/: Russia is ready for any scenario, but does not want a direct military clash with the US, the country’s President Vladimir Putin said when asked about the US side's provocations in Syria.

"We are always ready for any scenario, but no one wants this, and on the initiative of the American side we once created a special mechanism to prevent these conflicts. Our heads of certain departments communicate directly with each other, have the opportunity to consult on any crisis situation. This shows that no one wants clashes," Putin told reporters.

MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/: Russian air defense means brought down 44 Ukrainian drones over the past day, official spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov said.

"Air defense means destroyed 44 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the day," the spokesman said.

ROME, July 30 (Reuters) - Italy made an "improvised and atrocious" decision when it joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago as it did little to boost exports, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview published on Sunday.

Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step. Crosetto is part of an administration that is considering how to break free of the agreement.

KYIV July 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian soldiers were observed using North Korean rockets that they said were seized by a "friendly" country before being delivered to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Ukraine's defence ministry suggested the arms were captured from the Russians, the newspaper said.

The United States has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, including alleged shipments by sea, but has not offered proof and North Korean weapons have not been widely observed on the battlefields in Ukraine.

Kyiv (AP) —Ukraine brought the war far from the front line into the heart of Russia again Sunday in drone penetrations that Russian authorities said damaged two office buildings a few miles (kilometers) from the Kremlin and a pig breeding complex on the countries’ border.

ANKARA, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces killed 12 members of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northwestern Syria, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

The YPG members were "neutralized" after they opened "harassing fire" on the Operation Euphrates Shield zone of the Turkish military, the ministry said in a statement.

Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" in their statements to imply the "terrorists" in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

RIYADH, Jul 30 (NNN-SPA) – The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has strongly condemned Wednesday’s military coup in Niger, that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

OIC Secretary-General, Hissein Brahim Taha, is following with great concern over the developments in Niger, an OIC member state, said the report.

The OIC chief denounced any attempt to seize power by force, and demanded the immediate release of the president and the restoration of the rule of law in the country, it added.

BEIRUT (AP) — Fighting raged Sunday in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, killing at least five people and wounding seven, Palestinian officials said.

UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, put the death toll at six, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two children were among those wounded.

CHISINAU, July 30 (Reuters) - Russia's embassy in Moldova has announced it will temporarily stop providing appointments for consular matters in what Moldovan officials say is a situation linked to the order by the country's authorities to reduce staff.

A statement issued by the embassy late on Saturday said consular appointments would be suspended from Aug. 5 "for technical reasons."

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Several thousand people briefly took to the streets across the Gaza Strip on Sunday to protest chronic power outages and difficult living conditions, providing a rare public show of discontent with the territory’s Hamas government. Hamas security forces quickly dispersed the gatherings.

Marches took place in Gaza City, the southern town of Khan Younis and other locations, chanting “what a shame” and in one place burning Hamas flags, before police moved in and broke up the protests.