International

Ukraine says Russian forces near Chernobyl could pose new radiation threat

Published

2 years ago

March 28, 2022

FILE PHOTO: A general view shows the New Safe Confinement structure over the old sarcophagus covering the damaged fourth reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in Chernobyl

A senior Ukrainian official accused Russia on Sunday of “irresponsible” acts around the occupied Chernobyl power station that could send radiation across much of Europe, and urged the United Nations to dispatch a mission to assess the risks.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Russian forces were “militarising” the exclusion zone around the station, site of the world’s worst civil nuclear accident in 1986.

Russian forces, she said, were transporting large amounts of old and badly maintained weapons, creating a risk of damaging the containment vessel constructed around the station’s wrecked fourth reactor.

And Russian forces were preventing firefighters from bringing under control large numbers of fires in the zone.

“In the context of nuclear safety, the irresponsible and unprofessional actions of Russian servicemen present a very serious threat not only to Ukraine but to hundreds of millions of Europeans,” Vereshchuk said on her Telegram account.

“We therefore demand that the U.N. Security Council adopt immediate measures to demilitarise the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl station as well as dispatching a special mission to eliminate the risks of any repeat of the Chernobyl accident resulting from the actions of Russian occupying forces,” she said.

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Vereshchuk said damage to the containment vessel, built with European financing, would “inevitably lead to the release in the atmosphere of a considerable amount of radioactive dust and contamination not only in Ukraine but also in other European countries”.

Russia, she said, was “ignoring these risks” by continuing to transport weapons in areas near the station.

Reuters could not immediately verify Vereshchuk’s claims on the ground. Russia has previously denied that its forces have put nuclear facilities inside Ukraine at risk.

The fire and explosion in 1986 in Chernobyl’s fourth reactor sent radiation wafting as far away as Britain and Spain. Thousands of deaths have been linked to the aftermath of the accident and the radiation it released.

All its reactors have now been taken out of service.

Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl station in the first days of the invasion last month and for a time prevented staff maintaining facilities there from leaving or being spelled off by other workers.

The mayor of Slavutych, the town created and built to house the plant’s staff in the aftermath of the 1986 accident, said early on Monday that Russian forces that took over the town at the weekend had now left.

Yuri Fomichev said in an online video post that the troops “hey completed the work they had set out to do” and were gone. He originally said three people had been killed in clashes. [L2N2VV04H]

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the situation and expressed concern about the ability of staff to rotate in and out of the station.

Reuters

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International

Iranian rapper sentenced to death for supporting anti-hijab protests

Published

1 hour ago

April 25, 2024

Trends Admin

Iranian rapper sentenced to death for supporting anti-hijab protests

An Iranian court has sentenced a dissident rapper to death for supporting protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.

According to the reformist Shargh newspaper the artist’s lawyer Amir Raisian on Wednesday said, “Branch 1 of Isfahan Revolutionary Court… sentenced Toomaj Salehi to death on the charge of corruption on Earth.”

Iranian Government had said it had proof that the U.S. and other Western countries were behind the protests that were held across the country over the death of Amini.

Mahsa Amini, 22, a Kurdish woman, was arrested in September 2022 for not wearing her hijab properly. She died three days after her arrest, sparking violent protests in the country.

Salehi, 33, was arrested in October 2022 after publicly backing the wave of demonstrations which erupted a month earlier, triggered by Amini’s death in custody.

Months of unrest following Amini’s death in September 2022 saw hundreds of people killed including dozens of security personnel. Thousands of people were arrested.

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The Revolutionary Court had accused Salehi of “assistance in sedition, assembly and collusion, propaganda against the system and calling for riots,” Raisian said.

The nation’s Supreme Court had reviewed the case and issued a ruling to the lower court to “remove the flaws in the sentence,” Raisian said.

However, the court had “in an unprecedented move, emphasised its independence and did not implement the Supreme Court’s ruling,” according to Raisian.

Raisian said that he and Salehi “will certainly appeal against the sentence.”

“The fact is that the verdict of the court has clear legal conflicts,” the lawyer was quoted as saying. “The contradiction with the ruling of the Supreme Court is considered the most important and at the same time the strangest part of this ruling.”

Nine men have been executed in protest-related cases involving killing and other violence against security forces.

Iranian rapper sentenced to death for supporting anti-hijab protests

International

Large-scale earthquake hits Taiwan

Published

1 day ago

April 24, 2024

Trends Admin

Large-scale earthquake hits Taiwan

A cluster of earthquakes struck the island republic of Taiwan early Tuesday, the strongest having a magnitude of 6.1, U S Geological Survey reported.

There were no reports of casualties in the quakes, although there were further damages to two multi-story buildings that had been evacuated following a magnitude 7.4 quake that hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000. That earthquake was centred along the coast of the rural and mountainous Hualien County.

It was the strongest earthquake in the past 25 years in Taiwan and was followed by hundreds of aftershocks. The quakes Tuesday’s are considered the latest of those.

According to the USGS, Tuesday’s quake of 6.1 magnitude had its epicentre 28 kilometres (17.5 miles) south of the city of Hualien, at a depth of 10.7 kilometers. The half-dozen other quakes ranged from magnitude 4.5 to magnitude 6, all near Hualien. Taiwan’s own earthquake monitoring centre put the magnitude of the initial quake at 6.3. Such small discrepancies are common between monitoring stations.

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The largest among them were two earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and 6.3 that occurred at 2:26 a.m. and 2:32 a.m. Tuesday, respectively, according to the Taiwan center. Numerous of the scores of aftershocks could be felt on the upper floors of apartment buildings in the capital, Taipei, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) across steep mountains to the northwest.

The Full Hotel in downtown Hualien partially collapsed during the quakes and was left leaning at a severe angle. However, it had been undergoing renovations and was unoccupied at the time. The nearby Tong Shuai Building was also empty, having been marked for demolition after being heavily damaged in the April 3 quake.

Schools and offices in Hualien and the surrounding county were ordered closed on Tuesday as hundreds of aftershocks continued to strike on land and just off the coast in the Pacific Ocean, the vast majority below magnitude 3. Authorities advised anyone whose home had been damaged in the last quake to move out until the aftershocks subsided, and some decided to wait in their cars.

Large-scale earthquake hits Taiwan

International

Stormy flood: Dubai airports return to operations after flights cancellation

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Trends Admin

Stormy flood: Dubai airports return to operations after flights cancellation

Emirates Airlines, in conjunction with FlyDubai, has resumed its regular flight operations from Dubai International Airport, marking a pivotal moment in the restoration of normalcy following the recent disruptions.

The decision on flight resurgence was finalised on Saturday, April 20, 2024, after the unprecedented rainfall, resulting in significant flooding across the city, inflicted substantial challenges on Dubai International Airport, disrupting flight schedules and causing numerous cancellations and delays.

Emirates Airlines, the largest carrier at the airport, bore the brunt of the impact, with approximately 400 flights cancelled, exerting strain on passengers and airport infrastructure.

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Tim Clark, President of Emirates, acknowledged the gravity of the situation, highlighting the formidable obstacles presented by the adverse weather conditions. The inundation prompted Emirates and FlyDubai to temporarily halt check-in and transit services at Dubai International Airport, leaving thousands of travelers stranded amidst the chaos.

Speaking via a statement in his open letter addressed to passengers, Clark recognized the frustration stemming from congestion, lack of information, and confusion within the terminals.

“Most sincere apologies to every customer who has had their travel plans disrupted.” With the airport struggling to manage the aftermath of the flooding, hundreds of thousands of passengers found themselves stranded, exacerbating the challenges faced by Emirates, the world’s busiest international aviation hub.