Nepal expresses condolences over loss of lives, property caused by recent earthquake in China
The Nepal government on Wednesday expressed deep condolences over the loss of lives and property due to recent earthquakes in Sichuan, China. “Our heartfelt condolences at the tragic loss of lives and property due to the quakes,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those families who lost their dear ones and are affected by this natural calamity,” the statement further read. At least 65 people died and dozens were injured after an earthquake hit China's southwestern Sichuan province on Monday.
Seized Trump documents showed foreign nation’s nuclear capability
A document describing a foreign government’s military defences, including its nuclear capabilities, was found in the FBI’s search last month of former US President Donald Trump’s Florida home, according to a report in the Washington Post.
The US newspaper, which cited people familiar with the matter, did not identify the foreign government discussed in the document, nor did it indicate whether the foreign government was friendly or hostile to the United States. Trump representatives and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Reuters news agency. The FBI recovered more than 11,000 government documents and photographs during its August 8 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, according to court records. According to the Post report, some of the seized documents detailed top secret US operations that required special clearances beyond top secret clearance, Aljazeera reported. Some of the documents are so restricted that even some of the Biden administration’s most senior national security officials were not authorised to review them, the Post said. National Intelligence Director Avril Haines said late last month she would conduct a “classification review” of the documents seized by investigators during the search of Mar-a-Lago, as well as “an Intelligence Community (IC) assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents”. The US Justice Department is investigating Trump for removing government records from the White House after he left office in January 2021 and keeping them at his Florida estate, according to Aljazeera. Trump and his allies have denied any wrongdoing, saying at various times that some documents may have been inadvertently removed from the White House, or claiming that Trump had already declassified the documents. On Monday, a federal judge agreed to Trump’s request to appoint a special master to review records seized in the FBI search, a move that is likely to delay the Justice Department’s criminal investigation.
India to grant Nepal access to two key ports in Gujarat & Odisha under trade, transit treaties
Despite several challenges plaguing the bilateral relationship of late, India and Nepal are all set to upgrade their bilateral trade and transit ties under which Kathmandu will be given access to some of the key Indian ports along with enhanced reach for its agriculture produce, ThePrint has reported.
Under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy the Narendra Modi government has decided that it will now allow Nepal to export and import goods from two of India’s strategic ports—Mundra Port in Gujarat and Dhamra Port in Odisha—under the yet to be revised transit treaty, negotiations for which are going on, diplomatic sources told ThePrint.
Such a move, according to sources, will not only give Nepal enhanced entry into the Indian markets but will also enable Kathmandu to use India as a gateway to access other markets in Southeast and Central Asian regions, said a source, who wished to not be identified. This has been a long-pending demand by Nepal, which had been pushing India for such an upgradation in both the trade as well transit treaties that were signed decades ago, The Print reported. The agreement was initially finalized as ‘The Treaty of Trade and Transit’ that was signed between the friendly neighbors in September, 1960. Thereafter, in 1978, the treaty was split into two—trade and transit. Both these treaties get automatically renewed every seven years. The last time these two treaties were reviewed was in October 2016, without any changes.The trade treaty allows Nepal unilateral duty-free access to the Indian market even as India remains Nepal’s largest trading partner. However, Nepal continues to complain that it has not been able to penetrate the Indian markets for its good due to various non-tariff barriers.
Currently, Nepal is allowed to use only the ports of Kolkata and Visakhapatnam.
Zaporizhzhia: UN nuclear agency calls for Ukraine plant safety zone
Shelling of Europe's biggest nuclear power plant could lead to unlimited release of radioactive materials - and Russian military equipment on site could undermine its security, the UN's nuclear agency has warned, BBC reported.
Russia occupied the Zaporizhzhia plant at the start of its invasion of Ukraine and it has come under repeated attack.
After a visit last week, UN's nuclear watchdog has called for a safety and security protection zone.
It said shelling must end immediately.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the report - saying it noted the "presence of Russian military hardware on the territory of the nuclear power plant, pressure on our employees there, and makes clear references to the Russian military occupation".
He added that he'd support a security zone if it was aimed at demilitarising "the territory of the nuclear power plant".The plant lies on the southern bank of the River Dnieper, across the water from Ukrainian-held towns and military positions.
Both sides have accused each other of targeting the plant, occupied by Russian forces in early March.
On Tuesday, Russia accused Kyiv of hitting the area three times in 24 hours. Ukraine says Russia forces have used it as a shield from which to fire on nearby cities, although Russia insists they are guarding the site.
However the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency is careful not to apportion blame to either side, according to BBC.
Shelling continued while a 14-strong IAEA team visited the site last week and its head Rafael Grossi warned at the time of a very real risk of nuclear disaster. Although most of the team left the plant after two days, it said two of its officials would remain there on a permanent basis.
In its report released on Tuesday, the agency highlighted the "extremely stressful conditions" facing the 907 Ukrainian staff working there under Russian military control.
The IAEA detailed the damage to the plant and said while continued shelling had not yet triggered a nuclear emergency it did present a constant threat to safety that "may lead to radiological consequences with great safety significance".
There was an urgent need for "interim measures" to prevent a nuclear accident caused by military action, it added, saying all relevant parties would have to agree to a "nuclear safety and security protection zone" being set up to avoid further damage.
Russian military, vehicles and equipment were seen around the plant and "several military trucks" were inside the turbine halls of two of the plant's six reactors, the agency said.
It warned that military equipment on site and clashes near vital areas undermined the plant's protection system and it called for the removal of vehicles that could interfere with safety systems.
The watchdog said staff had to secure permission from the Russian military to visit cooling ponds at the plant and it criticised the presence of nuclear officials from Russia's nuclear body, Rosatom. That could lead to possible friction when key decisions had to be made, it said, BBC reported.
"We regret that in your report ... the source of the shelling is not directly named," Vasily Nebenzya told a Security Council session attended virtually by Mr Grossi.
Although it has six reactors, the Zaporizhzhia plant has only had two operating since the war began and just one reactor has been working in recent days.
Three of the four lines providing power from Ukraine's grid have been put out of action during the fighting and on Saturday the UN watchdog said the last line had also been disconnected, leaving just one lower-power reserve line from a nearby thermal plant.
Ukrainian officials said on Monday that the last working reactor was disconnected from the grid after the last main power line went down, according to BBC.
