World News Roundup: Blasts hit Russian base in Crimea, Ukraine targets supply lines; UK's Truss says she is determined to deliver N. Ireland bill in full and more

"Mamma I'm safe, I love you," the 31-year-old Marine Corps staff sergeant wrote as he worked to keep some semblance of order while thousands of desperate Afghans tried to get on the last few evacuation flights. China to send troops to Russia for 'Vostok' exercise Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint military exercises led by the host and including India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan and other countries, China's defence ministry said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Blasts hit Russian base in Crimea, Ukraine targets supply lines

Russia blamed saboteurs for explosions at one of its military bases in Moscow-annexed Crimea while Ukraine hinted it was responsible as its officials said their strategy was to destroy supply lines supporting Russia's invasion. The blasts on Tuesday engulfed an ammunition depot at a military base in the north of the Crimean peninsula, disrupting trains and forcing the evacuation of 2,000 people from a village, according to Russian officials and news agencies.

UK's Truss says she is determined to deliver N. Ireland bill in full

Liz Truss, Britain's foreign minister and favourite to become prime minister next month, said on Wednesday she was determined to deliver the Northern Ireland Protocol bill in full, even if it faced time-consuming opposition in parliament. The bill takes unilateral action -- effectively tearing up parts of the Brexit divorce deal -- to resolve a disagreement with the European Union over how to handle customs arrangements on goods travelling between Britain and Northern Ireland.

Ukraine expects biggest convoy of ships to load since grain export deal

Ukraine expects five ships to arrive at its Chornomorsk Black Sea port on Wednesday for loading with more than 70,000 tonnes of agricultural products, the largest convoy so far under a U.N.-brokered grain export deal. The Ukrainian sea ports authority said in a statement that the new cargoes would include wheat, corn and sunseed oil.

War makes life even harder for Ukraine's visually impaired

Viktor Solovyanenko has gone out as little as possible since Russia invaded Ukraine because he fears stepping on unexploded munitions or sharp objects. He is part of a small community of visually impaired people in the eastern city of Kharkiv who can hear the war but cannot see the damage wrought by nearly six months of Russian bombardment.

'Pain does not go away': Anger persists for family of U.S. Marine killed in Kabul

The last text message Darin Taylor Hoover sent his mother from Kabul's airport a year ago was short but one she still reads every day. "Mamma I'm safe, I love you," the 31-year-old Marine Corps staff sergeant wrote as he worked to keep some semblance of order while thousands of desperate Afghans tried to get on the last few evacuation flights.

China to send troops to Russia for 'Vostok' exercise

Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint military exercises led by the host and including India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan and other countries, China's defence ministry said on Wednesday. China's participation in the joint exercises was "unrelated to the current international and regional situation", the ministry said in a statement.

Lula eyes 'green' farm loans to tackle Amazon deforestation

Advisors to leftist Brazilian presidential hopeful Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are proposing subsidized "green" farm loans to spur planting of soybeans and corn on open pasture and reduce deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. The proposal, revealed to Reuters by a senior Lula advisor, is one of the clearest examples yet of how the former president has tried to court allies in the powerhouse agribusiness sector while promising more environmentally friendly policies.

Angolans abroad to vote for first time, but wonder if it will change anything

Dania Silva is excited to be one of the thousands of Angolans abroad to be voting remotely for the first time in their country's election next week, though she wonders whether her vote will change anything. "I have faith but...I believe there will be no political change because there is a lot of vote manipulation," said Silva, 22, as she had lunch at an Angolan restaurant in Portugal's capital Lisbon, to where she moved a month ago.

Germany summons Palestinian representative over Abbas' Holocaust comment

The German chancellery summoned the head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Berlin on Wednesday to protest Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' comparison of Israeli actions with the Holocaust, a German government spokesperson said. "It is clear for us, the government and the chancellor, that the persecution and systematic murder of 6 million European Jews is an unparalleled crime against humanity," the spokesperson said at a regular news conference in Berlin.

Taiwan's air force flexes muscles in face of Chinese war games

Taiwanese F-16 fighters roared into the night sky on Wednesday in a show of force in front of the media, demonstrating the military's determination to defend the democratically governed island in the face of days of Chinese war games. China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has been carrying out military exercises around the island after a visit earlier this month by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was followed by five U.S. lawmakers on Sunday and Monday.