An IAEA team arrived in Zaporizhzhia for a key inspection of the precarious Ukraine nuclear plant as shelling continued despite the start of the mission to assess the facility’s safety.
Fears have been raised about Europe's biggest nuclear power station, which has been occupied by Russian troops since the early stages of the conflict and was last week cut off from the Ukraine electricity grid.
Also on Wednesday the EU new restrictions on Russians in response to the conflict that started in February. The suspension of a visa facilitation agreement will put extra bureaucratic hurdles in the way of Russian tourists who apply for tourist visas to travel in Europe's Schengen travel zome.
"It’s going to be more difficult, it’s going to be longer, the process, and consequently the number of new visas will be substantially reduced," said Mr Borrell, after agreement was reached in principle to suspend the deal.
However, EU members also agreed that visas should continue to be granted in individual cases to Russians who represent civil society or oppose the war in Ukraine, he said.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team said it was aware of the risks as it inspects and assesses any damage to the site. “We are going to a war zone. We are going to occupied territory,” Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said of the first mission of its kind for the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
The IAEA delegation must cross the frontline between the opposing forces to carry out its efforts to ensure the safety of the plant. In a measure of the dangers, Russia-backed local authorities in Zaporizhzhia claimed Ukrainian forces shelled the surrounding site and the nearby town of Enerhodar overnight, while local officials said a building at the plant was hit by the Kremlin's forces.
“This is the first time, it’s the first time of anybody’s going to cross the front line,” said mr Grossi, adding that he had received “explicit guarantees” from Russia that the mission of 14 experts would be able to work there.
The most recent strikes included a drone attack which damaged the administrative building. Another drone hit the training centre, the administration at the Russian controlled plant said.
It said there were no casualties or release of radioactivity.
Ukraine on Tuesday accused the Russians of bombing the inspectors' roads to the plant to try to encourage them to change route and move through Russia-controlled areas.
The power plant has been under the control of Russian forces and operated by Ukrainian workers since the early days of the six-month-old conflict.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell renewed a call to Russia for the area around the power plant to be fully demilitarised.
“They are playing games. They are gambling with the nuclear security,” Mr Borrell said. “We cannot play war games in the neighbourhood of a site like this.”
Keeping the energy pressure on Europe, Russia's Gazprom suspended gas deliveries to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for three days, in the latest in a series of supply halts that have fuelled an energy crisis in Europe.
Gazprom said "preventative work" at a compressor unit had forced it to turn off the tap and said it would also suspend gas supplies to France's main provider Engie from Thursday over what it said were missed payments.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Wednesday that Kyiv hoped to take back control of the facility by the end of the year.
“We have information that they are now trying to hide their military presence, so they should check all of this,” he said of the UN mission.
Kyiv is seeking international assistance to try to demilitarise the area.
The plant was recently cut off temporarily from the electrical grid because of fire damage, causing a power cut in the region and heightening fears of a catastrophe in a country haunted by the Chernobyl disaster.
Zaporizhzhia is a vital source of energy for Ukraine and has been connected to its power grid by engineers. .
The risks in the area are so severe that officials have begun distributing anti-radiation iodine tablets to residents.
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
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Price: Dh810,000
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Premier League results
Saturday
Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Bournemouth 2
Leicester City 3 Fulham 1
Newcastle United 3 Everton 2
Southampton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Manchester City 3 Watford 1
Sunday
Liverpool 4 Burnley 2
Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
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Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Scoreline:
Everton 4
Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)
BRIEF SCORES
England 228-7, 50 overs
N Sciver 51; J Goswami 3-23
India 219, 48.4 overs
P Raut 86, H Kaur 51; A Shrubsole 6-46
England won by nine runs
The%20stats%20and%20facts
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'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
If you go…
Emirates launched a new daily service to Mexico City this week, flying via Barcelona from Dh3,995.
Emirati citizens are among 67 nationalities who do not require a visa to Mexico. Entry is granted on arrival for stays of up to 180 days.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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