- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
Ukraine backs UN peacekeeping force at occupied nuclear plant
Ukraine's nuclear operator said Wednesday it would support the deployment of UN peacekeepers at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, a day after the UN atomic watchdog called for a security zone around the site.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report Tuesday saying the situation at the nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, was "untenable". The agency sent a team to the site last week.
It called for a demilitarised security zone to be established at the plant in southern Ukraine, which the Russians took over in March.
There has been repeated shelling around the site, sparking fears of a nuclear disaster.
Ukraine's nuclear operator Energoatom said Wednesday it would support the deployment of UN peacekeepers to the facility and called for Russian troops to leave.
"One of the ways to create a security zone at the (plant) could be to set up a peacekeeping contingent there and withdraw Russian troops" Energoatom chief Petro Kotyn said in remarks broadcast by Ukrainian TV.
Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for shelling at the site, which continued Tuesday even as the IAEA report was released.
The head of Ukraine's nuclear security agency warned Wednesday that a nuclear accident at the site could affect neighbouring countries.
Damage to the active zone of the reactor would "have consequences not only in Ukraine, but also definitely beyond its borders" Oleg Korikov told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday there was "no military equipment" at the plant in southern Ukraine, adding that he "certainly trusts" the IAEA report.
But earlier, Moscow had said it wanted "clarifications" from the IAEA.
"There is a need to get additional clarifications because the report contains a number of issues," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Interfax news agency.
"I will not list them but we requested these clarifications from the IAEA Director General."
- 'Fukushima-like' -
A 14-strong team from the IAEA visited Zaporizhzhia last week, and at least two members of the team were to remain there on a permanent basis to ensure the facility's safety.
But on Monday, the last working reactor was disconnected from the grid after shelling caused a fire.
Karine Herviou, the head of the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety in France, warned of the risk of a "Fukushima-type scenario", referring to the 2011 Japanese nuclear disaster.
"We are not immune to strikes (at the plant) which, even if they do not directly affect the reactors, could lead to radioactive releases into the environment," she told FranceInfo radio on Wednesday.
- Gas, grain -
As the war rages into its seventh month, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced, the global cost of the crisis is unfolding. Countries are confronted with skyrocketing energy prices and serious grain shortages.
Europe in particular is bracing for a tough winter ahead, especially after Russia halted natural gas deliveries via the key Nord Stream pipeline to the continent.
Putin on Wednesday denied Russia was using energy as a weapon, as it faces a barrage of Western sanctions over its February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
"They say that Russia uses energy as a weapon. More nonsense! What weapon do we use? We supply as much as required according to requests" from importers, Putin told the Eastern Economic Forum in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok.
He added that Moscow would stop delivering oil and gas supplies to countries that introduced price caps, as some Western countries are considering.
"We will not supply anything at all if it is contrary to our interests, in this case economic (interests)," he told the forum.
"No gas, no oil, no coal, no fuel oil, nothing."
The invasion has also wrought havoc on grain exports from Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, which was forced to halt almost all deliveries after the invasion, sparking a global food crisis.
But Putin on Wednesday said most of the grain had been shipped to EU countries, not developing nations.
"With this approach, the scale of food problems in the world will only grow," Putin said, warning that it could lead to "an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe".
A.Jones--AMWN