International Atomic Energy Agency chief and the head of Russia's Rosatom discuss the security situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in during talks in Istanbul as Russian attacks in Ukraine continue for the 182nd day.
A delegation from the IAEA could visit the nuclear plant in early September, the Russian representative to the UN's nuclear watchdog said last week.
(AP)
Wednesday, August 24, 2022Russia, IAEA discuss Ukraine nuclear plant in Istanbul meeting
The head of Russia's state nuclear energy agency has held a meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief in Istanbul to discuss an expected inspection of a Moscow-controlled atomic plant in Ukraine.
Head of the UN agency Rafael Grossi and Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev "discussed in detail all the issues relating to the planned IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant", Rosatom said.
"The Russian side shares the intention... to organise such a mission in the near future, as soon as the military situation on the ground allows it," it added.
Six-month mark of Ukraine conflict a 'tragic milestone' - UN
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the six-month anniversary of the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict a "sad and tragic milestone."
Guterres made the comments during a special meeting of the UN Security Council in New York to mark the anniversary of the start of Russia's attacks on its neighbour on February 24.
The UN chief described the six months of conflict as "devastating." Referring to its impact on food and fuel prices, he said "the consequences of this senseless war are being felt far beyond Ukraine."
UN chief Antonio Guterres at Security Council on Ukraine:
- Six-month anniversary of start of Ukraine war a sad and tragic milestone - Ukraine grain initiative working well - Thank Türkiye for mediating grain deal, I was moved when I saw grain loaded ships in Istanbul pic.twitter.com/jQTyHM9HjE— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 24, 2022
WHO: Nearly 100 dead in attacks on Ukraine healthcare
There have been 473 verified attacks on healthcare in Ukraine since Russia began its attacks on Ukraine six months ago, which have killed nearly 100 people, the WHO has said.
As well as the 98 people known to have been killed in verified attacks on healthcare, at least 134 others were wounded, the WHO's figures showed.
Nearly 400 of the attacks hit health facilities. Dozens of attacks struck transport, including ambulances, while warehouses, supplies, personnel and patients were also damaged.
Ex-mayor arrested on charges of discrediting Russian army
The former mayor of Russia's fourth-largest city has been arrested on charges of discrediting the country's military, part of a crackdown on critics of Moscow's military action in Ukraine.
Police arrested Yevgeny Roizman, 59 who served as the mayor of Yekaterinburg in 2013-2018, following searches at his apartment and office.
Roizman told reporters he was charged under a new law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Celebrations are banned in Ukraine but people abroad come together to mark its independence anniversary pic.twitter.com/LhSbbtt2Ml
Ukraine bans Independence Day celebrations fearing Russian attacks
Ukraine has banned public events celebrating the country's 31st Independence Day fearing renewed Russian attacks.
Large gatherings are prohibited in Kiev from August 22 to 25, the city administration said.
Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) said on Telegram: “The threat of massive shelling on the territory of Ukraine with S-300 missiles is obvious. Considering the arrival of several trains [from Russia] before August 20, it is clear that the Russians are preparing to attack Ukraine on August 24."
Norway, Britain team up to donate micro-drones to Ukraine
Norway has announced that the UK will purchase Norwegian-made Black Hornet micro-drones to help Ukraine fight Russia, the Norwegian Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The micro-drones are estimated at $9.1 million (90 million Norwegian kroner), it said.
Norway has contributed $41 million (400 million kroner) through a UK-led fund for the package that will ensure training of the Ukrainian military and the purchase of the Black Hornet systems with spare parts and transport, according to the statement.
Russia, Ukraine spar at UN over nuclear plant dangers
Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations over who was endangering the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, as the United Nations urged both sides to insulate the Ukrainian facility from the ongoing conflict.
Russia called the meeting at the UN Security Council to discuss the dangers that close shelling and a military presence posed to the power plant in southern Ukraine, amid fears that a damaged reactor could leak radiation across the region.
Russian troops have controlled the plant for weeks and allegedly have placed arms and war supplies there, something that Moscow denies.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FDLL9kXUrU[/embed]
US to give Ukraine $3 billion in military aid for years ahead
The Biden administration is expected on Wednesday to announce an additional roughly $3 billion in aid to train and equip Ukrainian forces to fight for years to come, US officials said.
The officials told The Associated Press that the package will fund contracts for as many as three types of drones and other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two.
The total of the aid package — it is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative — could change, but not likely by much.
For live updates from Tuesday (August 23), click here
Source: AP
Australian runner Mina Guli aspires to convince 200 countries by the start of the UN World Conference in March 2023 to take concrete action to address the global water crisis.
“Every one of us has the power to work together to solve it. Individually, you can make an impact, but together, we can change the world,” activist Mina Guli said.
(Elif Öztürk Özgöncü / AA)
An Australian activist, who set out to run 200 marathons to draw attention to global water shortages that are increasing with climate change, has run her 78th marathon race in Istanbul.
“We’re literally in the middle of a massive water problem of a water crisis around the world,” Guli said on Sunday about her “Run Blue” campaign to raise awareness about the water footprint.
Starting her first marathon in her home country on March 22, World Water Day, Mina Guli, 52, set foot in the Turkish metropolis to start the European leg of her campaign after completing marathons in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and Türkiye’s Lake Tuz (Salt Lake) in the central province of Konya.
“Unfortunately, for most people it is hidden, but I’ve seen it and I want the world to see it, too,” she said.
Guli pointed out that companies are responsible for almost 90 percent of the world’s water use, directly or indirectly, and she aspires to convince 200 countries to take concrete action or “Run Blue” by completing the marathons by the start of the UN World Conference in March 2023.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kqd6aFDNEQ[/embed]
'Failure isn't an option'
Guli underlined that with accelerating climate change, the global water crisis requires urgent action.
“We cannot hope anymore. Now we need to make things happen. We’re beyond the time of hope. We are into the time of opportunity for change because frankly, failure isn’t an option. We don’t have a planet B,” she said.
Two months earlier, Guli ran a marathon in the Aral Sea, the fourth largest lake in the world, 90 percent of which has dried up due to water that has not been replenished and increasing temperatures.
WATCH: Scientists say Europe's drought will be worst in 500 years
"I thought to myself for 30 years scientists told us that this lake would dry up and we just ignored them. People told us that Lake Urmia would dry up and we ignored them,” she continued.
“Now people are telling us that the Salt Lake in the US is going to dry up and we're ignoring them, too. We see the rivers in Europe drying up. We see the lakes drying up. Lake Tuz has dried up because of climate change and also because of the diversion of the inbound rivers,” she said.
“So we need to find a way to ensure that these warnings are not ignored anymore.”
2023 UN Water Conference
Emphasising that the issue “has been swept under the rug or it's been forgotten about or deprioritised” for more than 50 years, Guli said the Water Conference “is a really great opportunity for us to use as a catalytic moment to drive change by governments, companies and all of us as individuals.”
“We have an opportunity now over the next few months to show our leaders in government in the halls of power, in the boardrooms that we need them to do more."
READ MORE: Wildfires ravaged US states get flash flood warning
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Over a quarter of grain and other foodstuff exported from Ukraine landed in Türkiye in the aftermath of a landmark deal reached to resume shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports, the UN said Tuesday.
Since Aug. 1, Türkiye received 26% of the shipments, followed by Iran and South Korea with 22% each, according to the data compiled by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul which monitors the transportation.
China received 8% of Ukrainian grain exports, Ireland 6%, Italy 5%, Djibouti 4% and Romania 2%.
“From 1 to 15 August, the JCC has authorized a total of 36 movements of vessels (21 outbound and 15 inbound) through the maritime humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea to facilitate the safe exports of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizer, including ammonia, from Ukrainian ports,” the center stated.
The ships have carried “a total of 563,317 metric tons of grain and other foodstuffs.”
Last month, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian Black Sea ports for exporting Ukrainian grain stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month.
To oversee the process, the JCC in Istanbul was officially launched on July 27, comprising representatives from the three countries and the UN to enable safe transportation of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizers by merchant ships.
Since the first departure on Aug. 1, a total of 21 ships carrying grain and wheat have so far left Ukrainian ports under the deal.
Carrying 33,000 tons of corn, the Panama-flagged ship "Navi-Star" is expected to proceed on its way to Ireland after an inspection.
The ship departed from Ukraine's port of Odessa on Friday.
(AA)
Two grain-loaded ships from Ukraine docked at the Black Sea entrance of Türkiye's Istanbul Strait en route to Ireland and England, the Turkish National Defence Ministry said.
The Panama-flagged ship, the Navi-Star, docked after departing from Ukraine's port of Odessa on Friday, the ministry said on Saturday.
The ship is carrying 33,000 tons of corn under a recent grain shipment deal signed by Türkiye, Russia, Ukraine, and the UN to ease the global food crisis.
On July 22, those countries and the UN signed a Türkiye-brokered deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian ports for exports of Ukraine grain, which had been stuck for months due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, now in its sixth month.
A team from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul, consisting of representatives from all four sides, will inspect the ship.
After the inspection, the ship is expected to proceed on its way to Ireland.
The Maltese flagged ship "Rojen", which left Ukraine's Chernomorsk Port to sail for England, also anchored at its designated location north of Istanbul.
The ship, which carries 13 thousand tons of corn, will be inspected tomorrow morning according to Türkiye's Ministry of National Defence.
The Sierra Leone-flagged vessel Razoni was the first grain ship that left the port of Odessa on Monday since the conflict began in February.
The ship, with over 26,500 tons of corn, passed through the Turkish Straits after it got security clearance in Istanbul on Wednesday, when it set sail again for its ultimate destination, Lebanon.
So far, four ships, carrying a total of over 84,500 tons of grain, have departed Ukraine's ports to make their deliveries that many believe will help ease the global food crisis.
The UN laid out on Friday the new tasks to be carried out by a joint coordination center to implement the just-signed deal to facilitate Ukraine grain and foodstuffs exports to global markets.
The Istanbul-based center is being tasked with enabling "the safe transportation, by merchant ships, of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizer from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea: Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny," the UN said in a statement. The ports had previously been subjected to a blockade by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
The center will now monitor the movement of commercial vessels "to ensure compliance" with the agreement, focusing on commercial grain and related food commodities only. It will also ensure on-site control and cargo monitoring of ships coming from Ukrainian ports, and reports on shipments facilitated by the agreement.
The center will not undertake tasks related to the facilitation of food exports from countries other than Ukraine, nor will it facilitate exports of containers of non-food items not covered by the agreement.
Ukraine is colloquially referred to as a global "breadbasket," and is the fifth largest wheat exporter worldwide, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
UN officials warned in June of endangered world food security due to Russia's war on Ukraine, saying it poses the threat of famine, destabilization, and mass migration worldwide as Russia blockades the Black Sea ports that normally send grain to the world.
Internationally praised for its mediator role, Türkiye coordinated with Moscow and Kyiv to open a corridor from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa to resume global grain shipments long halted due to Russia's war on Ukraine, now in its fifth month.
BIST 100 index gains over 5 points in opening session
