News Trending War

Russia using Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as army base – Ukraine

By 629 0

According to the CEO of Ukraine’s nuclear power corporation, Russian forces occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station have turned the facility into a military base from which to assault Ukrainian positions.

The plant was under “huge” threat, but it was still safe, Petro Kotin told the BBC. Russia and Ukraine have been blaming one another for attacks on the station, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, for days now, heightening fears of a serious accident. The complex is still run by Ukrainian experts despite being occupied by Russia since early March.

Over the weekend, Ukraine accused Russian forces of bombing the Soviet-era plant, claiming three radiation monitors were damaged and two personnel were hospitalised with shrapnel wounds.

Enerhoatom’s CEO, Mr. Kotin, made unconfirmed accusations that 500 Russian military were stationed at the factory and had set up rocket launchers nearby.

Because nobody from Ukraine is likely to take action, “They [Russian soldiers] utilise it [the power plant] like a shield against the Ukrainian military,” Mr. Kotin stated.

“Any attack [on] a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing,” declared UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia’s actions “nuclear terrorism.”

However, Russia refuted the charges and claimed that the strikes were the work of Ukrainian forces. According to the nation’s defence ministry, the shelling had damaged a high-voltage power cable.

A Washington-based think tank called the Institute for the Study of War claimed last week that Russia was exploiting Western concerns about a nuclear disaster by building the facility, “presumably in an effort to weaken Western will to offer military support” to Ukraine.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

Entertainment News Trending

Roger E. Mosley: Magnum P.I. actor dies aged 83 after car crash

By 601 0

The original Magnum P.I. actor Roger E. Mosley, who starred in all eight seasons, passed away at the age of 83. He played Theodore “T.C.” Calvin, Tom Selleck’s character’s friend and a helicopter pilot.

Last week, Mosley passed away as a result of injuries received in an automobile accident in Lynwood, Los Angeles. His death was verified to the Hollywood Reporter by his daughter Ch-a, who had earlier informed fans about the vehicle accident. We could never grieve such a lovely man, she later remarked on Facebook. Any wailing made in his honour would make him angry. It is time to honour the legacy he has left for all of us.

“I love you daddy. You loved me too. My heart is heavy but I am strong. I will care for mommy, your love of almost 60 years. You raised me well and she is in good hands. Rest easy.”

Tina Andrews, a friend of his, tweeted: “What a nice guy and talented actor who had fantastic parties. R.I.P., Roger. We will miss you and how much we loved you.”

Critics liked Mosley’s portrayal of The Midnight Special musician Huddie Ledbetter in the 1976 film Leadbelly.

Additionally, he made cameos in the movies Sweet, Jesus Preacherman, The Mack, Hit Man, The Greatest, and Darktown Strutters.

However, Mosley’s most well-known part was in Magnum P.I., where he appeared in 158 of the show’s 162 episodes from 1980 to 1988.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

News Trending War

Ukraine war: Four more grain ships leave Ukraine as hopes grow for export stability

By 586 0

Through a secure maritime route, four more ships transporting grain and sunflower oil have departed Ukrainian ports. Due to Russian blockades, millions of tonnes of grain were delayed in Ukraine, causing shortages and higher food costs outside.

However, the first ship to leave Ukrainian ports since February did so last week. The most recent ships to leave port are headed for Turkey where they will be examined as part of an agreement negotiated with Russia and the UN. They began their journey over the Bosphorus strait on Sunday from the ports of Odessa and Chornomorsk.

Two are then slated to dock in Turkey following the inspections, with the other two sailing to Italy and China.

On Sunday afternoon, a new empty ship made her way to Chornomorsk and is now waiting to be loaded with grain for export.

Russia agreed last month not to attack ships that were in transit, and Ukraine said it would direct ships through mined seas as part of a pact mediated by Turkey and the UN.

If both parties concur, the 120-day agreement may be extended.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

News Trending

Croatia bus crash: Twelve Polish pilgrims killed and 32 injured

By 573 0

Twelve people were killed on Saturday in Croatia when a bus transporting Polish pilgrims ran off the road and into a ditch. According to reports, all 32 still alive passengers had injuries, 19 of them badly. Three priests and six nuns were part of the journey, which was planned by the Catholic organisation Brotherhood of St. Joseph. They were going to the Bosnian Catholic site of Medjugorje.

The Polish Foreign Ministry reported that all of the passengers were adults from Poland.

When the bus they were riding in drove off the A4 road between Jarek Bisaski and Podvorec, northeast of Zagreb, the accident occurred at about 05:40 local time (04:50 GMT).

Two Polish ministers are travelling to Croatia in response to the catastrophe, and Poland’s justice minister and prosecutor general have directed the Warsaw Prosecutors Office to begin an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the disaster.

Although 11 deaths were first reported, one more passed away later in a hospital.

They were all pilgrims, mostly from the Masovian province’s Radom and Sokolow, which also contains Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

The driver was not believed to be one among the dead, according to the Polish Foreign Ministry, but this has not yet been verified. Andrej Plenkovi, the prime minister of Croatia, sent his sympathies to the relatives of the victims and said in a tweet that the emergency services were doing everything they could to assist. Poland is a very famous destination for pilgrims because of rumours that in the 1980s, local youngsters witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary there.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

News Trending

French mayor threatens €15,000 deposit to climb Mont Blanc

By 532 0

According to a French mayor, climbing the Mont Blanc now requires a €15,000 (£12,640; $15,370) deposit to cover rescue and potential funeral expenses. Mayor of Saint-Gervais, a town at the base of Western Europe’s tallest mountain, with a summit elevation of 4,807 meters, is Jean-Marc Peillex.

He claimed that those who disregarded warnings and climbed the mountain through the Goûter route were “playing Russian roulette.” Rockfalls have risen due to the hot wave. According to Mayor Peillex, the average cost of a mountain rescue is €10,000, while the average cost of a burial is €5,000. In a press release, he stated that it was unacceptable for the French taxpayer to bear those expenses.

According to his statement on the village’s official website, mountaineers coming from Saint-Gervais or the adjacent Alpine resort of Chamonix were no longer being taken by mountain guides up the well-known Goûter route, also known as the Royal Way. Their ruling is valid until no later than the middle of August.

Some “pseudo climbers,” according to Mayor Peillex, insisted on going up the mountain “with death in their knapsack.”

“I wanted to make people respond, to understand that today going up is incredibly risky, nearly suicidal,” he told the BBC.

Rockfalls have forced him to close the mountain refuges at Goûter and Tête Rousse until further notice.

He has not yet issued a legal ruling on the proposed deposit, but has the power to impose it, he told the BBC. He said the amount “has to be startling to focus attention on this”. “If anyone thinks it’s illegal they can go to court to challenge it,” he added.

He said a group of Romanians were found on the mountain on 30 July wearing shorts and trainers. A police helicopter ordered them through a loudhailer to turn back, he said, “and while they did so, they said they would return the next day”!

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

News Trending

French sailor survives 16 hours in capsized boat in Atlantic

By 513 0

When a boat capsized, a 62-year-old Frenchman kept himself alive for 16 hours at sea by employing an air bubble. The 12-meter ship, which had departed from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, sent out a distress call from the Atlantic Ocean late on Monday night.

The sailor had to wait till dawn when the Spanish coastguards discovered the capsized boat since the sea was too choppy for a rescue. According to coastguard divers, the man’s survival was “verging on the impossibly.”
At 20:23 local time on Monday, his yacht broadcast a distress signal 14 nautical miles (26 nautical kilometres) off the coast of Spain’s Sisargas Islands, close to the Galicia area in the country’s northwest.

The unnamed individual was searched for and saved by a rescue ship carrying three helicopters and five divers.

The individual responded by hammering from inside the ship as a diver was winched onto the hull to look for signs of life. The rescue team affixed buoyancy balloons to the boat to prevent it from sinking and waited till daylight because the sea was choppy and it had already darkened.

Two divers swam under the boat the following day to rescue the sailor, who they discovered knee-deep in water and wearing a neoprene survival suit. The man then leaped into the chilly water and dove beneath the boat in the direction of the water’s surface.

Picture Courtesy: google/images are subject to copyright

News Trending

Dev Patel: Actor breaks up knife fight in Australia

By 612 0

According to his representatives, Dev Patel was successful in stopping a knife fight that broke out earlier this week in Adelaide. The actor, who starred in Slumdog Millionaire, saw the altercation on Monday in Adelaide.

The victim was stabbed in the chest while the two were apparently fighting in the street and a convenience shop. According to a publicist for Patel, the actor “acted on his natural instinct.” The victim of the stabbing is anticipated to live.

Representatives for Dev Patel informed BBC News, “We can confirm that last night in Adelaide, Dev Patel and his pals observed a violent brawl that was already taking place outside of a convenience store.”

“Dev acted on his natural instinct to try and de-escalate the situation and break up the fight. The group was thankfully successful in doing so and they remained on site to ensure that the police and eventually the ambulance arrived.”

According to South Australia Police, officers responded to complaints of a man and woman fighting in the street at around 8.45 p.m. (local time). Before the lady allegedly stabbed the man in the chest, the couple proceeded to argue inside a neighbouring service station where bystanders attempted to break up the fight.

An ambulance officer provided on-site care to a 32-year-old Glengowrie resident before transporting him to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. There are no heroes in this circumstance, and regrettably this particular instance exposes a wider systemic problem of marginalised sections of society not receiving the respect and dignity they deserve.

Patel made his film debut in the British teen drama Skins. He has since gone on to star in such films as The Green Knight, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Lion, for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

News Trending War

Ukraine war: Russia accuses US of direct role in Ukraine war

By 518 0

For the first time, Russia has charged that the US is directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine. The US, according to a spokesperson for Moscow’s defence ministry, is approving targets for the Himars artillery that Kyiv’s soldiers utilise.

Intercepted calls between Ukrainian authorities, according to Lt Gen Igor Konashenkov, showed the connection. The BBC was unable to confirm this independently. US government representatives did not immediately respond to the accusations. Previously, Russia charged that the United States was waging a “proxy war” in Ukraine.

The Biden administration is “directly liable” for all missile attacks that Kyiv authorised against residential areas and infrastructures used by the general public in the towns of the Donbass and other regions, according to Mr. Konashenkov.

Himars, a multi-rocket system, is much more powerful than Ukraine’s previous artillery and can fire precision-guided missiles up to 70 kilometres (45 miles) distant from their target. Additionally, they are thought to be more accurate than their Russian counterparts.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed in April that NATO was essentially fighting Russia through a proxy and arming that proxy as a result of US President Joe Biden’s decision to provide Ukraine with billions of dollars’ worth of weapons. The 72-year-old said, “War means war.”

Russia has been charged with various war crimes and crimes against humanity throughout the Ukrainian conflict. Ukraine accused Moscow this week of bombing a prison in Donetsk, which is controlled by separatists, in order to hide claims of abuse.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

News Trending

Beyoncé is criticised for using an offensive lyric on her Renaissance album

By 669 0

Beyoncé has come under fire for some of the lyrics of her new album, Renaissance, which contain an ableist slur. The offensive phrase, which is frequently used to belittle persons with spastic cerebral palsy, appears twice in the song Heated, which Canadian superstar Drake co-wrote.

Only a few weeks prior, US pop sensation Lizzo issued an apology for using the same phrase in her song GRRRLS. Disability rights activist Hannah Diviney claims that Beyoncé’s latest song “feels like a slap in the face” after that occurrence. She tells the BBC, “I’m tired and angry that we’re having this topic again so soon after we got such a profound and forward-thinking response from Lizzo.

Disability advocacy Beyoncé is being urged by Scope to redo the song without the insult.

According to media manager Warren Kirwan, “Words matter because they perpetuate the negative sentiments disabled people deal with on a daily basis.” Beyoncé has long fought for equality and inclusivity, therefore we implore her to take down this insensitive line. The Beyoncé team has been approached by the BBC for a response.

According to Nikki Fox, a BBC disability journalist, “It’s so annoying because it’s so catchy.” But that word is awful. Although we acknowledge it is occasionally used differently in the US, it is a word we would never, ever use in the UK. Fox points out that there are 11 writers on the song, and multiple people at Beyoncé’s record label would have approved it.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright

Entertainment News Trending

Will Smith says he has ‘reached out’ to Chris Rock about Oscars slap

By 492 0

After slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, Will Smith claims he “reached out” to him, but the comedian has stated he is “not ready to talk.”

After the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife at the Academy Awards in March, the actor smacked Rock on stage.

Smith renewed his apology in a video that he published on Friday in which he reflected on the slap. This was the first time Smith had been seen talking about the incident.

“Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable,” he said.

“I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”

Smith has only ever made written statements regarding the altercation in the past. He responds to questions that seem to have been submitted by fans in the video on his personal YouTube account. He speaks to the camera directly while reading out the questions.

I have spent the last three months going over what transpired in that instant and trying to understand its complexity and subtleties “explained the actor.

“I wasn’t considering how many people were injured at the time. No part of me believes that was the appropriate course of action at that particular time.”

“I’ve reached out to Chris,” Smith said, “and the word that came back is that he’s not ready to discuss and he will contact out when he is.”

Additionally, he said that Jada Pinkett Smith did not ask him to defend her after Rock made the joke. Jada wasn’t involved, according to Smith.

“I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us.”

Rock had targeted Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which was a result of the alopecia ailment.

In a recent interview, Pinkett Smith expressed her “deepest wish” that her husband and Rock will “reconcile” following the event. After the slap, she had earlier stated on her social media that it was a “season for healing.”

Smith earned his first Oscar for his performance in King Richard, a movie about the father of Serena and Venus Williams, after the incident on stage.

Smith has been prohibited from attending Academy functions for the next 10 years as a result of what the Oscars have called his “unacceptable and damaging behaviour” on stage.

It was stated that following the slap, Smith was asked to leave the award ceremony, but he refused. A producer later clarified that Rock himself had not intended for Smith to be expelled violently or taken into custody by the police.

Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright