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IAEA chief says mission to big Ukraine nuclear plant on way
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine “is now on its way.”
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi has long sought access to the Zaporizhzhia plant, Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest, which Russian forces have controlled since soon after the war began.
“The day has come,” Grossi wrote on Twiter, adding that the Vienna-based IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission ... is now on its way.”
“We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” he wrote. “Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.” Grossi posted a picture of himself with 13 other experts.
Read:Ukraine, Russia trade more blame on threats to nuclear plant
Russia and Ukraine have traded claims of strikes at or near the plant in recent days, intensifying fears that the fighting could cause a massive radiation leak.
Russia, Ukraine trade claims of nuclear plant attacks
Russia and Ukraine traded claims of rocket and artillery strikes at or near Europe's largest nuclear power plant on Sunday, intensifying fears that the fighting could cause a massive radiation leak.
Ukraine's atomic energy agency painted an ominous picture of the threat Sunday by issuing a map forecasting where radiation could spread from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which Russian forces have controlled since soon after the war began.
Attacks were reported over the weekend not only in Russian-controlled territory adjacent to the plant along the left bank of the Dnieper River, but along the Ukraine-controlled right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the facility.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that Ukrainian forces had attacked the plant twice over the past day, and that shells fell near buildings storing reactor fuel and radioactive waste.
"One projectile fell in the area of the sixth power unit, and the other five in front of the sixth unit pumping station, which provides cooling for this reactor,” Konashenkov said, adding that radiation levels were normal.
The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency also reported Sunday that radiation levels were normal, that two of the Zaporizhzhia plant's six reactors were operating and that while no complete assessment had yet been made, recent fighting had damaged a water pipeline, since repaired.
In another apparent attack Sunday, Russian forces shot down an armed Ukrainian drone targeting one of the Zaporizhzhia plant's spent fuel storage sites, a local official said. Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed regional official, said on the Telegram messaging app that the drone crashed onto a building's roof, not causing any significant damage or injuring anyone.
Nearby, heavy firing during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the Dnipropetrovsk region's governor. Rocket strikes damaged a dozen residences in Marhanets, according to Yevhen Yevtushenko, the administration head for the district that includes the city of about 45,000.
The city of Zaporizhzhia, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) up the Dnieper River from the nuclear plant, also came under Russian fire, damaging dozens of apartment buildings and homes and wounding two people, city council member Anatoliy Kurtev said. Russian forces struck a Zaporizhzhia repair shop for Ukrainian air force helicopters, Konashenkov said.
Read:Ukraine, Russia trade more blame on threats to nuclear plant
Neither side's claims could be independently verified.
Downriver from the nuclear plant, Ukrainian rockets hit the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant and adjacent city three times on Sunday, said Vladimir Leontyev, the head of the Russia-installed local administration.
The plant's dam is a major roadway across the river and a potentially key Russian supply route. The dam forms a reservoir that provides water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
The radiation map Ukraine's nuclear agency Energoatom issued showed that based on wind forecasts for Monday, a nuclear cloud could spread across southern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. Release of the map may have been meant to warn that if Russian forces were responsible for a radiation leak, their own country would suffer. In the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, the world's worst atomic energy catastrophe, radiation spread from Ukraine to several neighboring countries.
Authorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia plant in case of radiation exposure. Much of the concern centers on the cooling systems for the plant’s nuclear reactors. The systems require electricity, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline Thursday because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. A cooling system failure could cause a nuclear meltdown.
Periodic shelling has damaged the power station’s infrastructure, Energoatom, said Saturday.
“There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high,” it said.
The IAEA has tried to work out an agreement with Ukrainian and Russian authorities to send a team to inspect and secure the plant, but it remained unclear when the visit might take place.
In eastern Ukraine, where Russian and separatist forces are trying to take control, shelling hit the large and strategically significant cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, with no casualties reported, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk region's governor. Konashenkov said Russian missile strikes killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and reservists in and near Sloviansk. Ukrainian officials didn't comment on the claim, in keeping with their policy of not discussing losses.
Sloviansk resident Kostiantyn Daineko told The Associated Press that he was falling asleep when an explosion blew out his apartment windows.
“I opened my eyes and saw how the window frame was flying over me, the frame and pieces of broken glass,” he said.
Russian and separatist forces hold much of the Donetsk region, one of two Russia has recognized as sovereign states.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed again Sunday to re-take the separatist areas.
“The invaders brought degradation and death and they believe that they are there forever,” Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly video address. “But it’s a temporary thing for them. Ukraine will return. For sure. Life will return.”
Libya capital remains tense a day after clashes kill over 30
Militias patrolled nearly deserted streets in Libya’s capital Sunday, a day after clashes killed over 30 people, and ended Tripoli’s monthslong stretch of relative calm.
The dead included at least 17 civilians, local authorities said. The fighting broke out early Saturday and pitted militias loyal to the Tripoli-based government against other armed groups allied with a rival administration that has for months sought to be seated in the capital.
Residents fear the fighting that capped a monthslong political deadlock could explode into a wider war and a return to the peaks of Libya's long-running conflict.
Libya has plunged into chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The oil-rich county has for years been split between rival administrations, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The current stalemate grew out of the failure to hold elections in December and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah's refusal to step down. In response, the country’s east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.
Saturday's fighting centered in the densely populated city center and involved heavy artillery. Hundreds were trapped and hospitals, government and residential buildings were damaged. Burned vehicles were seen littered in the clashes area.
The Health Ministry said at least 32 people were killed and 159 wounded in the clashes.
Michele Servadei, UNICEF’s representative in Libya, said a 17-year-old adolescent was among the dead, and four others as young as a 5-year old, were wounded in the clashes.
Read:Deadly clashes shake Libya's capital, killing 23 people
Among those killed was Mustafa Baraka, a comedian known for his social media videos mocking militias and corruption. He was shot reportedly while live-streaming on social media. It was not clear whether he was targeted.
The Associated Press spoke to dozens of residents and witnesses. They recounted horrific scenes of people, including women and children, trapped in their homes, government buildings and hospitals. They also spoke of at least three motionless bodies that remained for hours in the street before an ambulance was able to reach the area. They asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal from the militias.
“We see death before our eyes and in the eyes of our children,” said a woman who was trapped along with many families in a residential apartment. “The world should protect those innocent children like they did at the time of Gadhafi.”
Militias allied with Tripoli-based Dbeibah were seen roaming the streets in the capital early Sunday. Their rivals were stationed at their positions in the outskirts of the city, according to local media.
Much of the city has suffered nightly power outages. Several businesses were closed Sunday and he state-run National Oil Corp. ordered its employees to work remotely Sunday.
Residents were still weary of potential violence and most stayed in their homes Sunday. Many rushed to supermarkets when the clashes subsided late Saturday to stock up on food and other necessities. Others were seen inspecting their damaged business, homes and vehicles.
“It could be triggered in a flash. They (the militias) are uncontrolled," said a Tripoli school teacher who only gave a partial name, Abu Salim. “Our demand is very simple: a normal life."
Dbeibah’s government claimed the fighting began when a member of a rival militia fired at a patrol of another militia in Tripoli's Zawiya Street. It said the shots came amid a mobilization of Bashagha-allied groups around the capital. The claim couldn’t be independently verified.
Militia clashes are not uncommon in Tripoli. Last month, at least 13 people were killed in militia fighting. In May, Bashagha attempted to install his government in Tripoli, triggering clashes that ended with his withdrawal from the city.
Police: Houston tenant kills 3 others, set fire to lure them
A man evicted from a Houston apartment building shot five other tenants — killing three of them — Sunday morning after setting fire to the house to lure them out, police said. Officers fatally shot the gunman.
The incident happened at about 1 a.m. Sunday in a mixed industrial-residential neighborhood in southwest Houston. Police and fire crews responded to the apartment house after reports of the fire, police Chief Troy Finner said.
The gunman opened fire, possibly with a shotgun, on the other tenants as they emerged from the house, Finner said. Two were dead at the scene, and one died at a hospital. Fire teams rescued two other wounded men, who were hospitalized with non-life-threatening wounds, he said.
The man then opened fire as the firefighters battled the fire, forcing them to take cover until police officers spotted the prone gunman and shot him dead, Finner said.
Read:Deadly clashes shake Libya's capital, killing 23 people
No identities have been released, and Finner said no firefighters or officers were wounded.
“I’ve seen things I have not seen before in 32 years, and it has happened time and time again,” Finner said. “We just ask that the community come together.”
A neighbor, Robin Ahrens, told the Houston Chronicle that he heard what he initially thought were fireworks as he prepared for work.
“I’m just fortunate that I didn’t go outside because he probably would have shot me too,” he told the newspaper.
He said the shooter, who had colon cancer, was behind on his rent, jobless and was recently notified that he was being evicted.
“Something must have just hit him in the last couple of days really hard to where he just didn’t care,” he said.
India blows up two illegal skyscrapers
In nine seconds flat, two skyscrapers built illegally in the city of Noida near the Indian capital some nine years ago were razed by a controlled explosion on Sunday afternoon.
Exactly at 2.30 pm, the 40-storey twin towers -- Apex and Ceyane -- were brought down with the use of 3,700kg of explosives, as millions of Indians glued to their TV sets to watch the spectacle live.
The twin towers became the country's largest ever highrises to be imploded.
Also read: How India plans to blow up two illegal skyscrapers near Delhi
India's Supreme Court, in August last year, ordered the demolition of the twin towers built by private developer Supertech for violation of various building norms.
Utkarsh Mehta of Edifice Engineering, the company entrusted with the demolition job, said, "As expected, the explosion triggered vibrations like that of a minor earthquake. We achieved 100% success."
Also read: Protests in India against release of 11 convicted rapists
Local civic authorities had earlier ensured the evacuation of residents of all housing societies in the vicinity of the twin towers. Stray dogs were also shifted to animal shelters, officials said.
"The nearby Noida Expressway was shut for 45 minutes for the demolition. Hospitals in the city were on alert and 8-10 ambulances kept at standby in case of any untoward situation," a police officer said.
Demolitions of highrises are rare in India. Two years ago, authorities in the southern state of Kerala razed two luxury waterfront highrises for flouting environmental norms.
Pakistan flooding deaths pass 1,000 in 'climate catastrophe'
Deaths from widespread flooding in Pakistan topped 1,000 since mid-June, officials said Sunday, as the country’s climate minister called the deadly monsoon season “a serious climate catastrophe.”
Flash flooding from the heavy rains has washed away villages and crops as soldiers and rescue workers evacuated stranded residents to the safety of relief camps and provided food to thousands of displaced Pakistanis.
Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority reported the death toll since the monsoon season began earlier than normal this year — in mid- June — reached 1,033 people after new fatalities were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Sindh provinces.
Sherry Rehman, a Pakistani senator and the country's top climate official, said in a video posted on Twitter that Pakistan is experiencing a “serious climate catastrophe, one of the hardest in the decade.”
“We are at the moment at the ground zero of the front line of extreme weather events, in an unrelenting cascade of heatwaves, forest fires, flash floods, multiple glacial lake outbursts, flood events and now the monster monsoon of the decade is wreaking non-stop havoc throughout the country," she said. The on-camera statement was retweeted by the country’s ambassador to the European Union.
Read: Pakistan seeks international help for flood victims
Flooding from the Swat River overnight affected northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where tens of thousands of people — especially in the Charsadda and Nowshehra districts — have been evacuated from their homes to relief camps set up in government buildings. Many have also taken shelter on roadsides, said Kamran Bangash, a spokesperson for the provincial government.
The unprecedented monsoon season has affected all four of the country's provinces. Nearly 300,000 homes have been destroyed, numerous roads rendered impassable and electricity outages have been widespread, affecting millions of people.
Rehman told Turkish news outlet TRT World that by the time the rains recede, "we could well have one fourth or one third of Pakistan under water.”
“This is something that is a global crisis and of course we will need better planning and sustainable development on the ground. ... We’ll need to have climate resilient crops as well as structures,” she said.
The government has deployed soldiers to help civilian authorities in rescue and relief operations across the country.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani army said in a statement it airlifted a 22 tourists trapped in a valley in the country's north to safety.
US sails warships through Taiwan Strait in 1st since Pelosi
The U.S. Navy is sailing two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such transit publicized since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August, at a time when tensions have kept the waterway particularly busy.
The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville are conducting a routine transit, the U.S. 7th Fleet said. The cruisers “transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State,” the statement said.
China conducted many military exercises in the strait as it sought to punish Taiwan after Pelosi visited the self-ruled island against Beijing's threats.
Read:Taiwan: China, Russia disrupting, threatening world order
China has sent many warships sailing in the Taiwan Strait and waters surrounding Taiwan since Pelosi's visit, as well as sending warplanes and firing long-range missiles. It views the island as part of its national territory and opposes any visits by foreign governments as recognizing Taiwan as its own state.
The U.S. regularly sends its ships through the Taiwan Strait as part of what it calls freedom of navigation maneuvers.
The 100 mile-wide (160 kilometer-wide) strait divides Taiwan from China.
How India plans to blow up two illegal skyscrapers near Delhi
In nine seconds flat, two skyscrapers built illegally in the city of Noida near the Indian capital nine years ago will be razed by a controlled explosion on Sunday afternoon.
India's Supreme Court, in August last year, ordered the demolition of the 40-storey twin towers -- Apex and Ceyane -- built by private developer Supertech for violation of various building norms.
The twin towers will be India's largest ever highrises to be imploded at 2.30 pm (local time), using 3,700kg of explosives.
"I am getting goosebumps. I am a little nervous but confident as well," Utkarsh Mehta of Edifice Engineering, the company entrusted with the demolition job, told the local media this morning.
Read: Protests in India against release of 11 convicted rapists
Mehta said the explosion would trigger vibrations like that of a minor earthquake, which will be felt in a 30-40 metre radius of the twin towers.
"The dust will take 15-20 minutes to settle down but we would need at least three to four months to clear the debris. Anti-smog guns have been pressed into action to clear the Noida sky," he said.
Local civic authorities have already ensured the evacuation of residents of all housing societies in the vicinity of the twin towers. Stray dogs have also been shifted to animal shelters, officials said.
"The nearby Noida Expressway will be shut for 45 minutes for the demolition. Hospitals in the city have been put on alert and 8-10 ambulances kept at standby in case of any untoward situation," a police officer said.
Demolitions of highrises are rare in India. Two years ago, authorities in the southern state of Kerala razed two luxury waterfront highrises for flouting environmental norms.
Diana's car auctioned as 25th anniversary of her death nears
A car driven by Princess Diana in the 1980s sold for 650,000 pounds ($764,000) at auction Saturday, just days before the 25th anniversary of her death.
Silverstone Auctions said there was “fierce bidding” for the black Ford Escort RS Turbo before the sale closed. The U.K. buyer, whose name was not disclosed, paid a 12.5% buyer’s premium on top of the selling price, according to the classic car auction house.
Britain and Diana’s admirers worldwide are preparing to mark a quarter century since her death. She died in a high-speed car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.
Read: William, Harry to unveil Diana statue as royal rift simmers
Diana drove the Escort from 1985 to 1988. She was photographed with it outside boutique shops in Chelsea and restaurants in Kensington. She preferred to drive her own car, with a member of her security team in the passenger seat.
The RS Turbo Series 1 was typically manufactured in white, but she got it in black to be more discreet. Ford also added features for her security, such as a second rear-view mirror for the protection officer.
The car has just under 25,000 miles on it.
Last year, another Ford Escort that Diana used sold at auction for 52,000 pounds ($61,100).
Judge plans to appoint special master in Trump records case
A federal judge in Florida told the Justice Department on Saturday to provide her with more specific information about the classified records removed from former President Donald Trump's Florida estate and said it was her “preliminary intent” to appoint a special master in the case.
The two-page order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signals that she’s inclined to grant a request from Trump’s lawyers, who this week asked for the appointment of an independent special master to oversee the review the records taken from Mar-a-Lago and identify any that may be protected by executive privilege, and to ensure the return of any documents outside the scope of the search warrant.
Read: FBI: Trump mixed top secret docs with magazines, other items
The judge scheduled a Thursday hearing to discuss the matter further, suggesting the Justice Department will have a chance to raise objections to the judge's intentions. In other recent high-profile cases in which a special master has been appointed, the person has been a former judge.
Cannon also directed the Justice Department to file under seal with her more detailed descriptions of the material taken from Trump’s estate “specifying all property seized.” The former president’s lawyers have complained that investigators did not disclose enough information to them about what specific documents were removed when agents executed a search warrant on Aug. 8 to look for classified documents.
The special master appointment, if it happens, is unlikely to significantly affect the direction of the Justice Department investigation, though it’s possible an outside review of the documents could slow the probe down.