July 18th 2022 (Monday)

Reports of incoming artillery fire in Russia's Kursk region near the Ukrainian border, as Russian-led forces make further front-line advances. Our correspondent follows the troop movements. 'A failed policy of Iranophobia': That's the message from Tehran as it accuses the US of inflaming tensions in the Middle East as Joe Biden wraps up his first presidential visit to the region. Sri Lanka's government limits petrol sales to its own citizens, as long lines persist outside gas stations amid severe economic turmoil in the South Asian country. We hear from locals struggling to cope with the crisis.
Russia says its forces have killed hundreds of foreign mercenaries and destroyed multiple Ukrainian military assets inside the Donetsk People's Republic with a decisive battle for control of the area in full swing. While in the neighboring Lugansk People's Republic, our correspondent joins a Russian combat patrol that's mopping up hostile resistance from Ukrainian troops dressed as civilians, in the recently recaptured city of Lisichansk. Saudi Arabia says its relations with the US and China are not mutually exclusive. That's in the wake of Joe Biden's much-hyped, but ultimately lackluster, trip to the Middle East. Sri Lanka's acting president slams Western sanctions against Russia, saying they are only bringing third-world countries like the impoverished South Asian nation to their knees.