Operations have resumed at the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit energy facilities in the city. The port in the south of the country was closed after strikes on Saturday left 1.5 million people and all non-critical infrastructure without power. Ukraine’s president said it could take days to restore electricity, with sub-zero temperatures expected this week. Odesa is one of three ports being used to ship grain under a UN-brokered deal. The agreement, mediated by Turkey and the UN, allows Ukrainian products to be transported safely to the rest of the world. The deal has helped bring down soaring global food prices.

Although operations at Odesa port were briefly stopped on Sunday, Ukraine’s agriculture minister said grain exports would not be suspended. In total, Russia launched 15 Iranian-made drones at the regions of Odesa and neighbouring Mykolaiv, 10 of which were shot down, Ukraine’s armed forces said. The situation in the Odesa region is very difficult,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address. “Unfortunately the hits were critical, so it takes more than just time to restore electricity. It doesn’t take hours, but a few days.”(BBC)…[+]

Two police officers and a member of the public have been shot dead at a remote property in Queensland, Australia. The officers were responding to reports of a missing person in Wieambilla – 270km (168 miles) west of Brisbane. The offenders are still at large, the police said at a news conference. Residents are being told to remain indoors “until further notice”. Katarina Carroll, Queensland Police Commissioner, said four police officers attended the property. One received a “bullet graze”, while another escaped the property. Both are receiving treatment in hospital, she said. Ms Carroll said the offenders are yet to be taken into custody, and that the police operation involves PolAir – which provides aerial support to police – and specialist forces.(BBC)…[+]

Iran says it has carried out a second execution linked to the anti-government protests engulfing the country. Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged “in public” early on Monday in the city of Mashhad, the judiciary announced. A court convicted him of the charge of “enmity against God” after finding he had stabbed to death two members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force. Human rights groups have warned that protesters are being sentenced to death after sham trials with no due process. “Rahnavard was sentenced to death based on coerced confessions, after a grossly unfair process and a show trial. This crime must be met with serious consequences for the Islamic Republic,” tweeted Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights. “Thousands of detained protesters, and a dozen death sentences already issued. There is a serious risk of mass-execution of protesters,” he added.(BBC)…[+]