BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Brunei issued a statement on Sunday announcing the resumption of the unilateral visa-free policy for Brunei citizens, which was previously suspended due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

The statement said that starting from July 26, the Chinese government will resume the 15-day visa-free entry policy for Brunei citizens holding ordinary passports to go to China for business, travel and tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit.

July 23 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine's counteroffensive "has failed" as he hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, for talks in St Petersburg on Sunday.

"There is no counteroffensive," Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko as saying.

Putin replied: "It exists, but it has failed."

Ukraine began its long-anticipated counter-offensive last month but has so far made only small gains against well entrenched Russian forces who control more than a sixth of its territory after nearly 17 months of war.

NEW YORK, July 23. /TASS/: The cost of a barrel of Russia's Urals oil has exceeded the price cap set at $60 in recent days, which indicates that Russia has won the battle for influence on the world oil markets, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing calculations of commodities-data firm Argus Media.

HAVANA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday denounced the U.S. embargo's damage to the island's economy.

Addressing legislators at Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power in Havana, he said that the U.S. embargo is an external factor that harms the economic development of the Caribbean nation.

"This huge external factor gravitates against the country's development," he said, adding that capitalism has increased inequality and exclusion worldwide.

21 July 2023; MEMO: Turkiye has imposed advertising bans on Twitter after the social media giant failed to appoint local representatives, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority said in an announcement published in the Official Gazette today.

21 July 2023; MEMO: Iran's Oil Ministry said the oil cargo of an Iranian-flagged super-tanker seized by Indonesia last week does not belong to Tehran, Iranian state media reported on Friday, Reuters reports.

An Oil Ministry statement, reported by the country's state media, did not identify the owner of the cargo of "MT Arman 114", an Iranian-flagged super-tanker suspected of involvement in the illegal trans-shipment of crude oil, which Indonesia's coast guard said on 11 July it had seized.

20 July 2023; MEMO: A Turkish Court issued an arrest warrant for Rasmus Paludan, a far-right Danish leader, following his controversial act of burning a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, Anadolu Agency reports.

The incident, which took place on 21 January, sparked outrage and condemnation across the Islamic world.

21 July 2023; MEMO: Kuwait has prohibited the use, trade, services and mining of cryptocurrencies within the country, imposing a blanket ban on the decentralised monetary systems.

In a directive issued on Monday by Kuwait's financial regulator, the Capital Markets Authority, it announced that it had imposed an "absolute" ban on all digital asset mining, and that it had prohibited cryptocurrencies as recognised decentralised currencies.

WASHINGTON, July 23. /TASS/. Washington so far has no plans to provide Ukraine with Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), The Washington Post reported, citing US officials.

According to the officials, "the Biden administration is holding firm, for now at least, on its refusal to send long-range Army missiles to Ukraine despite mounting pressure from US lawmakers and pleas from the government" in Kiev.

21 July 2023; MEMO: State-owned QatarEnergy's net profit jumped 58 per cent to QAR154.6 billion ($42.47 billion) in 2022, compared to QAR97.9 billion in 2021, Reuters reports.

According to the report, revenue rose to QAR189 billion in 2022, from QAR120.3 billion in 2021.

Net operating income from the profit share of associates jumped to QAR1 billion from QAR645.8 million in 2021, the report added.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A deck collapsed at a Montana country club, leaving up to 25 people injured on Saturday evening, police and news reports said.

Emergency services responded to a report of a collapsed patio on the 3400 block of Briarwood Boulevard in Billings at 7:50 p.m., the Billings Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.

There were “multiple individuals with injuries” but no fatalities and a large number of people were transported to local hospitals, Billings Police Lt. Matt Lennick said in the statement.

NAIROBI, July 23 (NNN-KBC) — Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua Saturday night left the country for Italy, for a three-day high-level United Nations Food Systems Summit Stock-Taking that kicks off Monday in Rome.

Gachagua will address the high level four day meeting on behalf of President William Ruto under the invitation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.