Top 10 news: Ukraine fires cluster munitions, wheat prices soar as Russia pulls out of grain deal, and more

Ukrainian forces have begun using cluster munitions provided by the US to target Russian troops and disrupt their positions. This comes as tensions escalated after Russia withdrew from a Black Sea grain deal that had allowed safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports. This withdrawal caused a significant surge in global wheat prices.

In India news, during the opening session of the Parliament's monsoon session, there was chaos as the debate centered on the Manipur crisis. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the violence and condemned the appalling incident where two women from the Kuki tribe were paraded naked. However, the opposition, led by Congress party lawmaker Mallikarjun Kharge, strongly criticised the government's handling of the situation.

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Ukrainian forces have started the use of US-provided cluster munitions in an attempt to dismantle the positions of the Russian troops, a roadblock to Ukraine's summer offensive, reported The Washington Post citing unnamed Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter.

After Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, which allowed the safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports, global wheat prices have exponentially shot up.On Wednesday, wheat prices on the European stock exchange soared by nearly nine per cent from the previous day to $284 per tonne. US wheat futures saw a jump of 8.5 per cent — the highest daily rise since the war broke out in February last year. Similarly, corn prices were up five to four per cent.

There was pandemonium during the opening session of the Parliament’s monsoon session on Thursday (July 20) when the debate opened about the Manipur crisis. Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first remarks over the violence, condemning the horrific incident of two women from Kuki tribe being paraded naked, the opposition tore into the government, with the Congress party lawmaker Mallikarjun Kharge leading the charge.

Cricket has had its heroes, mostly batters, some all-rounders and a handful of bowlers, to be precise. The game, whose origin is unknown to most avid fans, is worshipped in a few countries, and England happens to be one. From W.G Grace to Jim Laker, from the legendary Ian Botham to dashing David Gower – many inspired generations, but imagine starting to follow the game because of a seamer a world now calls perhaps the greatest, and he’s none other than veteran James Anderson.

New York-based private equity firm Blackstone has breached the $1 trillion in assets under management mark - becoming the first among its peers to reach the milestone. The firm first set the goal of crossing the $1 trillion landmark in 2018 by 2026 but reached it, three years in advance.

Temperatures soared to almost 47 degrees Celcius in southern Italy on Wednesday (July 19) as factory workers threatened to go on strike over the extreme heat. Heat records were broken in coastal waters around Spain even as wildfires continued to rage in Greece.

Worsening the relations, Kremlin on Thursday announced restrictions on the movement of British diplomats working in Russia. Moscow said the British workers will have to notify authorities about their movements in advance, according to an AFP report.

Iraq on Thursday (July 20) cut diplomatic ties with Sweden in response to Swedish authorities allowing protesters to desecrate holy book Quran outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm.The government ordered the Swedish ambassador to leave the country and called back its envoy from the capital Stockholm.

Amid the ongoing chip wars, China's new envoy to the US has issued a warning that Beijing will retaliate if the Biden administration imposes new limits on technology. Ambassador Xie Feng, during the Aspen Security Forum China said his country did not want a trade or technology war but its leaders won't sit on their hands if the US had something up its sleeve once again.

The prosecution in Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial on Wednesday claimed that the actor got away with his behaviour because of his celebrity status. In his closing arguments on the case, prosecutor Christine Agnew said that Spacey seized moments for an 'opportunity grab' and was able to get away from all his objectionable behaviour because he took advantage of the power he got from being a celebrity.