MOSCOW: Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station overnight in what it called an act of “nuclear terrorism,” days before the head of the UN atomic watchdog is due to visit the site.
The Ukrainian defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegation, the second that Moscow has made in two days. The nuclear plant is located in the Kursk region of western Russia, where fierce fighting has raged since Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion on Aug. 6, hitting back as Russian troops advance in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that its air defense units had shot down three Ukrainian drones overnight in the Kursk region and spoke of thwarting a Ukrainian attempt to carry out “a terrorist attack” against Russian facilities.
Russian state news agency TASS quoted an unnamed source as saying a drone had been shot down near a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the Kursk power plant. Reuters could not independently confirm details of the alleged incident.
TASS quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying it was an “act of nuclear terrorism” that required an immediate response from the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, is due to visit the power station next week. He has appealed for maximum restraint to avoid a nuclear accident.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Thursday of trying to attack the facility, and said Moscow had informed the IAEA. He did provided no details or evidence of a Ukrainian attack.
Ukraine’s Aug. 6 incursion into Kursk, in which thousands of Ukrainian troops punched through Russia’s border, is the biggest into Russia by a foreign power since World War Two and Moscow was caught by surprise.
Kyiv has said it has carved out a buffer zone from an area that Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022, has used to pound targets in Ukraine.
Fighting around 30km from the nuclear plant has raged since then as Russian troops battle to dislodge the Ukrainian soldiers who have sought to consolidate and expand the territory they control.
The plant has four reactors, of which two are operational. Construction of two more reactors began in 2018.
Russian state nuclear firm Rosenergoatom said on Friday that unit number 4 at the plant would be disconnected from the grid on Sunday for what it called “scheduled preventive maintenance” lasting 59 days. It said the work would involve modernization and extending the service life of equipment.
Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to attack Kursk nuclear power plant with drone
https://arab.news/m7nda
Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to attack Kursk nuclear power plant with drone
- Russian air defense units had shot down three Ukrainian drones overnight in the Kursk region
- A drone had been shot down near a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the Kursk power plant
US calls for Africa to get two permanent UN Security Council seats
UNITED NATIONS: Washington called Thursday for two new permanent seats on the UN Security Council for African nations, alongside a rotating seat for island states — but insisted they not have a veto.
The proposals would transform the 15-member top body of the global organization which has been largely unchanged for decades and is mired in dysfunction and disagreements between existing permanent members.
The new African representatives should not wield veto power over council resolutions, unlike the current permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — US officials have said.
“I’m announcing the United States supports three additional changes to the Security Council,” said Washington’s ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, at the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.
This would include “creating two permanent seats for Africa,” she said.
African nations already have three non-permanent seats on the Security Council, allocated on a rotating basis for two year terms.
In addition, “the United States supports creating a new elected seat on the Security Council for small island developing states,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
Reform of the Security Council, long-stalled because of differences among its permanent members, would need to be ratified unanimously among the five top-tier powers — all nuclear armed.
A change in membership would first require adoption and ratification by two-thirds of the 193 member states.
Washington has notably said it is opposed to allowing any new members the veto power enjoyed by the five permanent members, claiming it would cause gridlock.
“We’ve been very, very clear that we do not support expansion of the veto,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
“We have veto power as well, and none of the permanent members want to give up their veto power — including us. I’m being honest about that.”
Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio told the Security Council in August that “Africa wants the veto abolished.”
“However, if UN Member States wish to retain the veto, it must be extended to all new Permanent Members as a matter of justice,” he said.
The United Nations said Washington’s call was a positive step for African representation.
“The announcement is an important one, it’s welcome,” said a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“All of the details of how this will work will have to be decided by member states,” Stephane Dujarric told a briefing.
“It goes along the lines of what (Guterres) has said, lamenting the lack of African representation.”
In September 2022, US President Joe Biden threw his weight behind reform of the council, supporting calls for permanent seats for Africa and Latin America, without giving details.
Russia has previously called for African nations to be cautious of new seats on the council if granted alongside seats to longstanding US allies like Japan and Germany, which Washington has sought.
“It will not be possible to address historical injustice toward Africa while simultaneously allowing new Western members to join the UN Security Council,” Russian deputy ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said previously.
Bomb threat rattles US city in Republican anti-migrant conspiracy
SPRINGFIELD, United States: Government buildings and an elementary school in Springfield, Ohio were evacuated Thursday after an emailed bomb threat, police said, rattling the small US city at the heart of an anti-migrant conspiracy theory amplified by Donald Trump.
Springfield has been thrust into the spotlight in recent days after an unfounded story of Haitian migrants eating pets went viral on social media, with the Republican ex-president and current White House candidate pushing the narrative despite it being debunked.
Democrats have accused Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, of fanning racial tensions as they use the Springfield conspiracy theory to elevate immigration as a campaign issue ahead of November’s election.
The White House condemned the conspiracy theory on Thursday as “filth” and said they were endangering people’s lives.
“It is spreading filth that makes the lives of the communities that are being smeared here... it puts their lives in danger,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Despite local officials saying they had received no credible reports of pets being stolen and eaten, Trump repeated the claim during his debate Tuesday against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Springfield police said in a statement that City Hall and several other government buildings had been evacuated after a bomb threat sent by email at 8:24 am (1224 GMT).
“Authorities investigated and cleared all facilities listed in the threat with the assistance of explosive detecting canines,” it said.
Fulton Elementary School and Springfield Academy of Excellence were also listed in the threat and evacuated, according to the statement.
“We are currently partnering with the Dayton office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to identify the source of the email,” it added.
Arriving at the school to retrieve his child, Haitian immigrant Mackenso Roseme told AFP that the current tensions in the community were “worrying.”
“I’m a little stressed. I think something might happen,” he said.
A sign in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole informed Roseme and other parents that the students had been moved to a high school.
Mayor Rob Rue told the Springfield News-Sun that the person who sent the bomb threat claimed to be from the city and mentioned Haitian immigration issues.
Despite the bomb threats, Trump was still reposting memes related to the conspiracy theory hours later on his Truth Social platform.
He claimed Ohio was being “inundated with Illegal Migrants, mostly from Haiti, who are taking over Towns and Villages at a level and rate never seen before.”
Springfield, with a population of about 58,000, has seen an increase in Haitian immigrants in recent years — 10,000 to 15,000 according to the Springfield News-Sun.
Social services, schools and housing have been stressed in the city for years, with some pointing to migration as a factor.
A multiracial group of pastors called a press conference Thursday in Springfield, joining hands in prayer and calling on the community to come together.
“Today there were some things that happened, some threats of violence,” Wes Babian, a former pastor of First Baptist Church, told AFP.
“That is part of what motivated the quick calling of clergy to come together to express our support for the Haitian community and our concern for the well being of the entire community.”
Salman Rushdie’s memoir about his stabbing, ‘Knife,’ is a National Book Award nominee
- The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, released long lists of 10 Thursday for nonfiction and poetry
- The foundation announced the lists for young people’s literature and books in translations earlier in the week and will reveal the fiction nominees on Friday
NEW YORK: Salman Rushdie’s “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” his explicit and surprisingly resilient memoir about his brutal stabbing in 2022, is a nominee for the National Book Awards. Canada’s Anne Carson, one of the world’s most revered poets, was cited for her latest collection, “Wrong Norma.”
The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, released long lists of 10 Thursday for nonfiction and poetry. The foundation announced the lists for young people’s literature and books in translations earlier in the week and will reveal the fiction nominees on Friday. Judges will narrow the lists to five in each category on Oct. 1, and winners will be announced during a Manhattan dinner ceremony on Nov. 20.
Rushdie, 77, has been a literary star since the 1981 publication of “Midnight’s Children” and unwittingly famous since the 1988 release of “The Satanic Verses” and the death decree issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for the novel’s alleged blasphemy. But “Knife” brings him his first National Book Award nomination; he was a British citizen, based in London, for “Midnight’s Children” and other works and would have been ineligible for the NBAs. Rushdie has been a US citizen since 2016.
Besides “Knife,” the nonfiction list includes explorations of faith, identity, oppression, global resources and outer space, among them Hanif Abdurraqib’s “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension,” Rebecca Boyle’s “Our Moon: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are” and Jason De León’s “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling.”
The other nonfiction nominees were: Eliza Griswold’s “Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church,” Kate Manne’s “Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia,” Ernest Scheyder’s “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives,” Richard Slotkin’s “A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America,” Deborah Jackson Taffa’s “Whiskey Tender” and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal’s “Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders.”
Along with Carson’s “Wrong Norma,” poetry nominees include Pulitzer Prize winner Dianne Seuss’ latest, “Modern Poetry“; Fady Joudah’s elliptically titled “(...)”; Dorianne Laux’s “Life on Earth”; Gregory Pardlo’s “Spectral Evidence”; and Rowan Ricardo Phillips’ “Silver.”
Others on the poetry list were Octavio Quintanilla’s “The Book of Wounded Sparrows,” m.s. RedCherries’ “mother,” Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s “Something About Living” and Elizabeth Willis’ “Liontaming in America.”
Britain’s crime minister has bag stolen at police conference
- In her speech, Diana Johnson said Britain had been ‘gripped by an epidemic of anti-social behavior, theft and shoplifting’
- Warwickshire Police said a 56-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and released on bail in connection to the incident
LONDON: Britain’s police and crime minister had her bag stolen at a conference for senior and midranking police officers where she spoke about the growing problem of theft and shoplifting, a government official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred when Diana Johnson attended the Police Superintendents’ Association conference in central England on Tuesday where one senior officer told her in a speech that the criminal justice system was broken.
The official said Johnson had her bag stolen at the conference, but no security risk had been identified. In her speech, Johnson said Britain had been “gripped by an epidemic of anti-social behavior, theft and shoplifting.”
The Home Office, or interior ministry, declined to comment.
Warwickshire Police said a 56-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and released on bail in connection to the incident.
Britain has been hit by an increase in thefts and shoplifting in recent years. While overall crime has generally been decreasing, the number of thefts from individuals of items like bags and mobile phones rose by 40 percent in the year ending March, according to the Office for National Statistics.
This has contributed to public support for the police falling to record lows. A poll by YouGov earlier this year found more than half of the public do not trust the police to solve crimes, and over a third said they have no faith in the police to maintain law and order.
In her speech, Johnson announced plans to give more police officers training to tackle anti-social behavior after a “decade of decline.”
“Too many town centers and high streets across the country have been gripped by an epidemic of anti-social behavior, theft and shoplifting which is corroding our communities and cannot be allowed to continue,” she said.
Russian missile hit an Egypt-bound wheat cargo ship in Black Sea: Zelensky
- “Russia launched a strike on an ordinary civilian vessel in the Black Sea right after it left Ukrainian territorial waters,” Zelensky said
- There were no casualties from the attack, Zelensky added, urging global condemnation after the strike
KYIV: A Russian missile on Thursday morning hit an Egypt-bound cargo ship in the Black Sea carrying wheat, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The Black Sea is a crucial trading route for Ukraine, one of the world’s largest agricultural producers and exporters, but was turned into a naval battleground when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“Russian missile against a wheat cargo bound for Egypt ... Russia launched a strike on an ordinary civilian vessel in the Black Sea right after it left Ukrainian territorial waters,” Zelensky said in a post on social media.
There were no casualties from the attack, Zelensky added, urging global condemnation after the strike.
“Domestic stability and normal life in dozens of countries around the world are dependent on the normal and unhindered operation of our food expert corridor,” he said.
Moscow last year pulled out of a UN-brokered deal guaranteeing safe passage for Ukraine’s agricultural exports on the Black Sea, but Kyiv has carved out a maritime corridor allowing trade to continue.
Over 5,000 ships have sailed through the grain corridor since it was created, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Wednesday.
Global food prices shot up when Russia invaded Ukraine amid fears conflict in the Black Sea would hobble global food supplies.
