MADRID (Reuters) - A diplomatic spat between Spain and Italy over the rush of tens of thousands of migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta escalated on Saturday after the government in Madrid announced border controls on Italian travelers in response to Rome’s decision to impose sanctions on visitors from Spain.  Italians arriving at Barcelona airport were subject to random police checks after the controls were put into effect overnight, according to Spain’s state news agency EFE.

 

*** 

TOKYO/BEIJING: Typhoon Dolphin lashed Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture on Saturday, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings, while China shut ports and halted ferries ahead of the storm’s expected arrival on its east coast.  Five elderly people, three of whom fell due to strong winds, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in Okinawa while another person was injured in Kagoshima prefecture, authorities said. 

 

*** 

WASHINGTON (RT) -The Pentagon has revoked the security clearance of former U.S. Air Force chief Frank Kendall, whom it accused of leaking classified information about Donald Trump’s Qatari-gifted presidential aircraft. “This action follows his unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities to a media outlet,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on X on Friday. “Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty. Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it,” he added.

 

*** 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate easily passed sweeping Russia sanctions legislation, advancing a long-delayed measure backed by late Senator Lindsey Graham and setting the stage for consideration by the House of Representatives within weeks. Graham, a South Carolina Republican who died last month, was among Kyiv’s most outspoken allies in Congress in its four-year-long war with Russia, and the bill aims to increase economic pressure on Moscow. 

 

 *** 

ROME (AFP) – Global food commodity prices rose slightly in July, driven by higher prices for cereals, sugar and vegetable oils, while lower meat and dairy prices partly offset the increase, according to a report released Friday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The FAO Food Price Index averaged 131.1 points in July, up 0.6 percent from June and 1.0 percent higher than a year earlier. However, it remained 18.2 percent below its record high reached in March 2022. The FAO said the cereal price index rose 3.4 percent month-on-month. Wheat prices climbed 5.8 percent amid concerns over disruptions to Black Sea exports and heat waves affecting major producing regions, while maize prices increased 3.6 percent due to hot and dry weather in parts of the U.S. Corn Belt and stronger energy markets. Rice prices remained broadly stable.