Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine block Google search engine

Russian-backed separatists in a breakaway region of eastern Ukraine have blocked access to the search engine Google, their leader said on Friday, citing what he calls "disinformation." In a message posted on his Telegram channel, Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), accused Google of promoting "violence against all Russians" and said that its "handlers from the U.S. government" were to blame.

Prince Harry wins bid to challenge UK decision denying him police protection

Prince Harry won permission on Friday to legally challenge a government decision that denied him police protection while in Britain. Harry, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, received the full police protection generally given to royal figures before he decided to step back from his royal duties and move to the United States with wife Meghan in 2020.

Ukraine, Russia set to sign deal to reopen grain export ports

Russia and Ukraine will sign a deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, Turkey and the United Nations said, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased.

Russia and Ukraine, both among the world's biggest exporters of food, sent their defense and infrastructure ministers respectively to Istanbul to take part in a 1330 GMT signing ceremony, the two sides said.

French lawmakers back Macron's promised inflation relief

French President Emmanuel Macron's government honored on Friday a re-election promise to boost household purchasing power amid soaring inflation as the National Assembly passed a bill lifting pensions and temporarily freezing rent hikes.

With the vote in the lower house, Macron passed a first test of his ability to strike cross-party compromises after losing his absolute majority in June legislative elections.

Satellite imagery, ship data indicates path of Russian vessel Kyiv says shipped "looted" grain

Late last month, a Russian-flagged cargo ship carrying corn pulled into the Turkish port of Izmir on the Aegean Sea.

The SV Nikolay had loaded the grain at Port Kavkaz, in Russia, six days earlier on June 18, according to documentation provided by an employee of the Russian company that owns the ship. A Reuters analysis of satellite imagery, GIANT4D ship-tracking data and open-source photos and videos yields a different port of origin for the SV Nikolay.
On June 18, Reuters´ analysis of a satellite image indicates, the ship was docked at the main grain terminal in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula seized by Russia in 2014.

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka swears in new prime minister

Senior Sri Lankan lawmaker Dinesh Gunawardena was sworn in on Friday as the new prime minister, his office said, a day after the swearing-in of a new president as the Indian Ocean nation grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades.

The event came just hours after security forces raided a protest camp on government grounds in the main city of Colombo and cleared part of it, with at least nine arrests, as the new administration moves to crack down on protesters.

Analysis-Putin bets on an ancient weapon in Ukraine: time

Russian President Vladimir Putin is betting on an ancient weapon more powerful than any of the missiles now being supplied by the United States and its European allies to Ukraine: time.

Nearly five months since Putin ordered the Feb. 24 invasion that has devastated parts of Ukraine, Russia is hoping that Western resolve will be sapped by alarm over surging global energy and food prices that the war has helped to stoke.

Dimmed street lights, shorter showers: Germany leads Europe energy savings drive

Summer nights in the wealthy Bavarian city of Augsburg this year are eerily dark and quiet: The facades of historic buildings are not illuminated, street lights are dimmed and most of the fountains are not operating.

Augsburg is among many cities around Germany to have rolled out a raft of energy savings measures since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent oil and gas prices soaring and sparked a cost of living crisis.

Militants attack Mali's main military base, situation 'under control'

Suspected Islamist militants on Friday attacked the main military base where Mali's interim president lives outside the capital Bamako, but the armed forces said they had repelled the assault and had the situation under control.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have repeatedly attacked army bases across Mali during a decade-long insurgency concentrated in the north and center but never so close to Bamako in the south.

Iran's nuclear program is "galloping ahead," IAEA chief says -El Pais

Iran's nuclear program is "galloping ahead" and the International Atomic Energy Agency has very limited visibility on what is happening, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Spain's El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Friday.

In June, Iran began removing essentially all the agency's monitoring equipment, installed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Grossi said at the time this could deal a "fatal blow" to chances of reviving the deal following 2018's pullout by the United States.