LVIV, Ukraine:Radioactive substances could be released from Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant because it cannot cool spent nuclear fuel after its power connection was severed, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company Energoatom said on Wednesday.
It said fighting made it impossible to immediately repair the high-voltage power line to the plant, which was captured by Russian forces after the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Energoatom said there were about 20,000 spent fuel assemblies at Chernobyl that could not be kept cool amid a power outage.
Their warming could lead to “the release of radioactive substances into the environment. The radioactive cloud could be carried by wind to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Europe,” it said in a statement.
Without power, ventilation systems at the plant would also not be working, exposing staff to dangerous doses of radiation, it added.
On Tuesday, the UN nuclear watchdog warned that the systems monitoring nuclear material at the radioactive waste facilities at Chernobyl had stopped transmitting data.
The still-radioactive site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster lies some 100 km (62 miles) from Kyiv.
Its fourth reactor exploded in April 1986 during a botched safety test, sending clouds of radiation billowing across much of Europe.
Ukraine warns of radiation leak risk after power cut at occupied Chernobyl plant
https://arab.news/82yg3
Ukraine warns of radiation leak risk after power cut at occupied Chernobyl plant
- The still-radioactive site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster lies some 100 km (62 miles) from Kyiv
Gunmen kill seven in central Mexico
The attack in the central state of Guanajuato occurred at around 2:00 am Monday in a plaza in the city of San Felipe where local police found seven bodies, all male, and a damaged van after reports of gunfire, the local government said in a statement.
The officers also found two banners with messages alluding to the Santa Rosa de Lima gang, which operates in the area, the statement said.
Guanajuato is a thriving industrial hub and home to several popular tourist destinations, but it is also Mexico’s deadliest state, according to official homicide statistics.
The violent crime is linked to conflict between the Santa Rosa de Lima gang and the Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of the most powerful in the Latin American nation.
Mexican leaders of the Catholic Church condemned the shooting on Monday, calling it “an alarming sign of the weakening of the social fabric, impunity and the absence of peace in vast regions” of the country, which is majority Catholic.
“We cannot remain indifferent in the face of the spiral of violence that is wounding so many communities,” the Episcopal Conference of Mexico, an organization of Mexican bishops, added in a statement.
The shooting was “one more among so many that are repeated with painful frequency,” it said.
In December, the Church in Mexico called on warring cartels to declare a truce.
Guanajuato recorded the most homicides of any state in Mexico last year, with 3,151, 10.5 percent of murders nationwide, according to official figures.
Since 2006, when the military launched an anti-drug operation, Mexico has tallied about 480,000 violent deaths.
India arrests 11 accused of spying for Pakistan – reports
- Arrests come after the worst flare-up in violence between the nuclear-armed rivals since their last open conflict in 1999
- Ceasefire was agreed after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks that sparked fears of a full-blown war
NEW DELHI: Indian authorities have arrested nearly a dozen nationals for allegedly spying for Pakistan following their most serious conflict in decades, local media reported citing police.
At least 60 people died in fighting earlier this month triggered by an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing, a charge Pakistan denies.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, which have fought multiple wars over the Himalayan territory since their 1947 independence from Britain.
Broadcaster NDTV reported Monday that authorities had arrested nine alleged “spies” in the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
Punjab’s director general of police Gaurav Yadav said Monday that his team had arrested two people “involved in leaking sensitive military information.”
Police had received “credible intelligence inputs” the two men were involved “in sharing classified details” related to New Delhi’s strikes deep into Pakistan’s territory on the night of May 6-7.
A preliminary investigation showed they were in “direct contact” with handlers from Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and “had transmitted critical information concerning the Indian Armed Forces,” Yadav added.
In Haryana, police arrested a travel blogger last week on similar charges.
Police say the accused woman traveled to Pakistan at least twice and had been in contact with an official from the country’s embassy, local media reported.
Others arrested include a student, a security guard and a businessman.
The India Today news outlet reported 11 such arrests. It said the accused were “lured into the spy network through social media, monetary incentives, false promises, messaging apps and personal visits to Pakistan.”
The arrests come after the worst flare-up in violence between the nuclear-armed rivals since their last open conflict in 1999.
A ceasefire was agreed after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks that sparked fears of a descent into full-blown war.
North and central China hit by soaring heat
HONG KONG: Temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) scorched parts of northern and central China on Tuesday with authorities issuing heat warnings and offering aid to farmers to protect food production.
Temperatures in China’s northern Hebei province, Henan province, a key wheat-producing region known as China’s granary, and the eastern province of Shandong all reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.
In Zhengzhou, Henan Province and Shahe, Hebei Province, the mercury soared to highs of between 41 C (105.8 F) and 42.9 C (109.22 F) on Monday, their highest ever for the month of May, authorities said.
The high temperatures are expected to continue until Wednesday, the country’s National Meteorological Center said.
China is facing hotter and longer heat waves and more frequent and unpredictable heavy rain as a result of climate change. The country is especially vulnerable to global warming, authorities have said, because of its huge population.
Chinese meteorological data show 2024 was the warmest year for the country since comparable records began over six decades ago, the second straight year in which milestones were broken.
Last year’s warmer weather was accompanied by stronger storms and higher rainfall and led to spikes in power consumption in China, the world’s second-largest economy.
The National Meteorological Center on Tuesday issued a yellow warning for high temperatures. The center has a three-tier, color warning system for high temperatures, with red being the most severe, followed by orange and yellow.
In Zhengzhou, Henan’s capital, large sprinkler trucks and sprinklers were used to cool down urban areas, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
In Lanling county, in the south of Shandong province, agricultural experts were instructing vegetable farmers to ventilate their plants using sheds and water spraying, CCTV said.
Cold air moving from west to east will cool much of China’s north on Thursday and Friday, with a drop of 6-12 C (11-22 F).
In China’s southern Jiangxi more than 100 mm (3.94 inches) of rainfall was recorded across much of the province.
Last weekend, heavy rains in China’s southern Guangdong and Guangxi provinces killed at least six people and disrupted trains and power supply, with alerts issued for severe flooding and geological disasters in parts of the country.
Starlink launches in Bangladesh to boost reliable Internet access
DHAKA: Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX-owned satellite Internet service Starlink launched in Bangladesh on Tuesday, as the South Asian nation steps up efforts to ensure reliable, uninterrupted access to the Internet.
Muhammad Yunus, who has led the government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh following weeks of violent protest last year, has said the deal provided a service that could not be disrupted by any future political upheaval.
“Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency Internet is now available in Bangladesh,” the company posted on X.
Monthly packages start at 4,200 taka ($35) for the service now available nationwide, said Yunus aide Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, with a one-time payment of 47,000 taka required for setup equipment.
“This has created a sustainable alternative for premium customers to get high-quality and high-speed Internet services,” he added in a Facebook post.
Nobel peace laureate Yunus took the helm of the interim government in August after Hasina fled to neighboring India. Authorities had suspended Internet and text messaging services as protests spread nationwide last July.
Starlink has expanded rapidly worldwide to operate in more than 70 countries, with a strong focus on further growth in emerging markets such as India. ($1=121.0000 taka)
Vietnam says second round of trade talks started in Washington
- The second round of formal talks for a bilateral trade deal began on Monday and will run until May 22
HANOI: Vietnam and the United States have started a second round of trade negotiations in Washington, the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday as it seeks a deal to avoid a threatened 46 percent tariff rate that could weaken its export-driven growth model.
The second round of formal talks for a bilateral trade deal began on Monday and will run until May 22, the trade ministry said in a statement. The first round of talks was held earlier this month.
“The two countries had discussions on the overall approach to resolving fundamental issues of mutual concern and accelerating the negotiation process,” the ministry said.
“Vietnam and the US are also speaking about current policies as a basis for proceeding to next steps.”
Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien is leading the delegation, which includes representatives from sectors such as construction, agriculture and technology, as well as officials from the central bank and finance ministry.
Dien also met with his US counterpart Jamieson Greer in South Korea last week, following an APEC meeting.
The US has delayed the implementation of the 46 percent tariff on Vietnam until July, substituting it with a 10 percent rate. If enforced, the tariff could disrupt Vietnam’s growth, given its heavy reliance on exports to the US, its largest market.
Vietnam, which is a significant regional manufacturing base for many Western companies, recorded a trade surplus of over $123 billion with the US in 2024.
In a bid to reduce that surplus, Hanoi has implemented several measures, including curbing shipments of Chinese goods to the US via its territory and increasing its purchases of US goods.
Dien also held discussions on nuclear technology with US power company Westinghouse on Monday, the ministry said, after the government last year resumed plans to develop nuclear power plants.
Westinghouse did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of US business hours.
In a separate statement, the finance ministry said state energy firm PetroVietnam planned to buy more crude oil from Exxon Mobil, while the country’s rubber and maritime corporations were both looking to establish US facilities.
