International news brief: Twitter shareholders approve $44bn Musk deal, food crisis in China & more

Washington, Sep 14: Twitter shareholders on Tuesday approved Tesla chief Elon Musk's USD 44 billion bid to buy the social media platform. The approval to accept Musk's offer of USD 54.20 per share was substantially higher than Twitter's current trading price, below USD 42 was widely expected. Twitter has forged ahead with the deal, despite Musk's attempts to back out because of what he says are problems with the company's business, reported Washington Post.

Shareholders gave their assent to the deal on Tuesday, the company said. The vote took place during a short virtual meeting after brief remarks by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

Queen Elizabeth II's casket arrives at Buckingham Palace

Queen Elizabeth II took her final journey on Tuesday night, with the plane that carried the late monarch's body from Edinburgh back to London becoming the most tracked flight in history.

Just over 5 million people combined followed the flight live on the Flightradar24 website and via its YouTube livestream.

Flightradar24 said the Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster had more than twice as many people tracking it online compared to the previous record of 2.2 million views - when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August.

People in China plead for food, medical aid amid strict coronavirus lockdowns

Ahead of a vital meeting of the ruling Communist Party, people across China will continue to bear the brunt of the strict zero COVID policy as Xi is set to begin a third five-year term next month as a result of which lockdowns are expected to stay in place throughout. As numerous people have been put under weeks-long coronavirus lockdowns, appeals for food and medical care are also spreading across China ahead of the 20th National Chinese Communist Party Congress, as the citizens are facing the authoritarian government's unending restrictions, The Washington Post reported.

There is sense of momentum by the Ukrainian armed forces says US

The White House has said that there is a sense of momentum by Ukrainian forces against Russia but cautioned that the ongoing war in Ukraine remains "unpredictable". "We've been watching closely. The events in the north are more dramatic than what we've seen in the south. I would let President Volodymyr Zelenskyy determine and decide whether he feels militarily they've reached a turning point. But clearly, at least in the Donbas, there's a sense of momentum here by the Ukrainian armed forces," said John Kirby, the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House on Tuesday.

UN: Food exports from Ukraine are up, Russia fertiliser down'

Food exports from Ukraine and Russia have increased since a July 22 grain deal, but critically needed fertiliser exports from Russia are still down despite being covered by the agreement, with financing and shipping still issues, the United Nations said Tuesday. U.N. trade chief Rebeca Grynspan, who leads the team trying to facilitate unimpeded global access to Russian food and fertiliser, said Russia reported a 12% increase in food exports from June to July.

But while there has been "important progress," the U.N. is concerned about fertiliser exports needed by October and November, the latest for the northern hemisphere planting season, she said.