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Ukraine

UNITED Nations inspectors arrived in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia this week on a mission to prevent a nuclear accident at a Russian-occupied power plant where nearby shelling has prompted global fears of disaster. Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday that the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine is “difficult but remains under full control”, after reports of fighting in the nearby town of Enerhodar. The defence ministry said on Telegram it was still ready to guarantee the safety of a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency at the plant, despite what it called efforts by “the Kyiv regime” to disrupt the visit. Ukraine earlier accused Russia of trying to wreck the IAEA visit by shelling the plant. | Reuters

France

PEOPLE born as a result of sperm or egg donations in France will now have easier access to the identity of their donors, under a new law that came into effect this week. The law on “access to personal origins” says donors must consent to their identity being disclosed to any resulting biological children if the latter request it when they become adults. People have “the right to know how they came into the world”, said Adele Bourdelet, of the ADDED association for donor-conceived children. While the requirement to be identifiable applies to future donors, a commission will be set up to help today’s donor-conceived adults discover more about their biological origins if they wish to. Past donors still have the right to refuse their identity being revealed.

Pakistan

RESIDENTS in southern Pakistan used sandbags to shield their homes from surging floodwaters that inundated a major highway this week, as global aid began arriving with food, medicine and tents to help alleviate a major national disaster. Abnormal heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers triggered floods that have submerged a third of the country and killed at least 1 191 people, including 399 children. The UN has appealed for $160 million (about R2.7bn) to help with what it calls an “unprecedented climate catastrophe”. | Reuters

EU visas

EUROPEAN Union foreign ministers have decided to make it more expensive and lengthier for Russians to obtain visas to travel to the bloc but stopped short of agreeing to an Eu-wide visa ban that Ukraine and several member states had called for. The EU was too divided to agree at this stage on a blanket ban and also left unclear what unilateral measures Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland, which have land borders with Russia, could take to restrict access to Russian visitors. | Reuters

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| AFP