August 4, 2022

*) China begins military drills as Taiwan faces Pelosi visit fallout China's largest-ever military exercises encircling Taiwan have kicked off, in a show of force after a controversial visit to the island state by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Taiwan's military said its forces were closely monitoring the Chinese drills and was prepared for conflict, but would not seek it. The exercises, which began on Thursday, will be the biggest aimed at Taiwan since 1995, when China fired missiles in a large-scale exercise after a visit by the Taiwanese president to the US. *) First Ukrainian grain ship leaves Istanbul for Lebanon The first grain-laden ship to leave Ukraine since the conflict with Russia erupted has passed an inspection in Istanbul and set sail for Libya. The inspection by a team from the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul was carried out on Wednesday and lasted over an hour. The ship, carrying over 26,500 tonnes of corn, left Ukraine’s Odessa on Monday under a landmark deal brokered by Türkiye to resume grain shipments from blockaded Ukrainian ports. *) Iran, US, EU envoys return to Vienna for revival of nuclear talks Iran, the United States and the European Union have said they will send representatives to Vienna amid what appears to be a last-ditch effort at reviving the Iran nuclear talks. The EU official who chairs the talks, Enrique Mora, wrote on Twitter that the negotiations would focus on the most recent draft on restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement. It wasn't immediately clear from Wednesday's announcement if other parties to the landmark accord would attend the surprise summit. *) Iraq's Sadr vows to continue parliament sit-in until demands met Iraqi cleric Muqtada al Sadr has told his supporters to continue their sit-in occupation of the Baghdad Parliament until his demands are met. The demands include early elections and unspecified constitutional changes. Thousands of followers of the Shia leader stormed the empty parliament building last weekend, staging a sit-in that