By Edward McAllister and Vania Turner

LONDON (Reuters) -Sailing in the June sunshine off the island of Lesbos, Greek fisherman Thanos Marmarinos remembers how he saved migrant women and children whose dinghy was breaking up in a gale one night ten years ago.

Initially, when he received the midnight call, he was reluctant to leave his bed. The winds were bitterly cold, and he had already been on one rescue mission that evening - thousands of migrantswere arriving in rickety boats every day at that time.

By Kanishka Singh and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he might skip the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) leaders' summit in South Africa in November and send someone else to represent the United States, citing his disapproval of South African policies.

KEY QUOTE

"I think maybe I'll send somebody else because I've had a lot of problems with South Africa. They have some very bad policies," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Thousands of carpets and kilim rugs spread out in the sun form a festive and kaleidoscopic patchwork on the outskirts of Antalya, a coastal tourist city in southern Turkey.

From June to September, in harvested fields cleared of stubble, merchants bring their cargo to age in the sun, tempering the bright hues of their natural colours and ridding them of undesirable elements.

Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in US Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump's populist base -- where invocations of the "special relationship" are falling on deaf ears.

Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has been simmering in Trump's "MAGA" movement over whether US involvement in the Middle East is consistent with the president's "America First" platform.

By David Lawder

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said he warned Chinese officials that continued purchases of sanctioned Russian oil would lead to big tariffs due to legislation in Congress, but was told that Beijing would protect its energy sovereignty.

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia and France on Tuesday called on countries at the United Nations to support a declaration that outlines "tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps" towards implementing a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

The seven-page declaration is the result of an international conference at the U.N. this week - hosted by Saudi Arabia and France - on the decades-long conflict. The United States and Israel boycotted the event.

VALLETTA (Reuters) -Malta will declare recognition of a Palestinian state during the general assembly of the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Tuesday evening.

Abela made the announcement hours after a similar declaration by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and days after France also announced its recognition plans.

"Our position reflects our commitment to efforts for a lasting peace in the Middle East," Abela said in a Facebook post.

By Michelle Nichols, Olivia Le Poidevin, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Andrew MacAskill

UNITED NATIONS/LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Tuesday it would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes steps to relieve suffering in Gaza, where starvation is spreading, and reaches a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war with Hamas.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The State Department said on Tuesday that the United States repatriated a U.S. citizen minor from a displaced persons camp in northeast Syria for unification with the child's family.

"Approximately 30,000 individuals from more than 70 countries remain in two displaced persons camps in northeast Syria, the majority of whom are children under the age of 12; they deserve a chance at life outside the camps," the State Department said in a statement.

(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not discuss London's plan to recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel takes a number of steps to improve life for Palestinians.

Starmer said on Tuesday that Britain was prepared to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly in response to growing public anger over the images of starving children in Gaza.