The UN's atomic watchdog has told Ukraine and Russia to show “maximum restraint” as fighting on a new front raises fears for a Russian nuclear plant.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there were reports of “significant military activity” near the plant in Kursk.
Russian authorities said on Saturday the plant was running normally despite the surprise Ukrainian attack on the Kursk border region.
Moscow has deployed tanks and rocket launchers in what it called a “counterterror operation” to repel troops from mainland Russia.
Mr Grossi said safety rules he drew up for the Zaporizhzhia plant in occupied southern Ukraine were “equally applicable in this situation”.
“These include, among others, the imperative to ensure the physical integrity of a nuclear power plant. This is valid irrespective of where an NPP is situated,” he said.
“At this juncture, I would like to appeal to all sides to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences.”
Russian diplomats in Vienna said there were “no immediate reasons yet” for an emergency sitting of the UN watchdog's board.
However, they claimed fragments that were “presumably pieces of intercepted rockets” had been discovered at the Kursk plant.
Kremlin-owned nuclear operator Rosatom said it had pulled workers from a construction site near the plant due to the state of emergency in the region.
Looming threat
The threat of a nuclear accident has loomed over the conflict since Russian troops occupied Zaporizhzhia in the early stages of their 2022 invasion.
Mr Grossi has said the world is lucky to have escaped a nuclear disaster after persistent reports of shelling and drone activity near Zaporizhzhia.
Inspectors have also monitored the Chernobyl exclusion zone after Moscow's troops advanced into the area of the 1986 accident.
A Russian counter-terrorism committee said Ukraine had mounted an “unprecedented attempt to destabilise the situation in a number of regions”.
It called Ukraine's incursion a “terrorist attack” and said Kyiv's troops had wounded civilians and destroyed residential buildings.
Ukrainian leaders have remained tight-lipped on the operation, and the US said it was not informed of the plans in advance.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alluded to the offensive by saying that “Russia brought the war to our land, and it should feel what it has done”.
His adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the cross-border attacks will make Moscow “start to realise that the war is slowly creeping inside of Russian territory” and suggested they would strengthen Ukraine's hand in any peace negotiations.
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
Overview
Cricket World Cup League Two: Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
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