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Shelling Zaporizhzhia plant
The UN chief Antonio Guterres calls for the establishment of a de-militarized perimeter around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Guterres was speaking at a UN Security Council meeting. He said he was gravely concerned about the situation in and around the plant, which is the biggest in Europe. He sounded the alarm that any damage to the plant could "spell catastrophe not only for the immediate vicinity, but for the region and beyond." Earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report on the plant's situation, saying there is an urgent need to establish a security protection zone there. Meanwhile, Russia's ambassador to the UN expressed regret the IAEA report did not blame Kiev for shelling the site.
Russia-Ukraine war
US President Joe Biden has roundly turned down Ukraine’s call to brand Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, saying it would be counter-productive. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said a terrorism designation for Russia would hamper aid delivery to parts of Ukraine. She said it might also prevent implementation of a UN-brokered deal to ship grain from Ukraine's blockaded ports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Western countries to formally label Russia a terrorist state. French President Emmanuel Macron in June also explicitly ruled out the label.
Saudi crackdown on dissent
Last week, news broke out that an ordinary Saudi woman has been handed a 45-year prison term for her social media posts. Now court documents show the reason was her tweets challenging the king and crown prince. The sentencing documents provided to AFP by a Washington-based rights group say Nourah al-Qahtani has been charged with using Twitter to challenge the religion and justice of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Qahtani had an anonymous account with fewer than six-hundred followers. The harsh sentence has drawn swift international condemnations. Last month, the kingdom sentenced another woman to 34 years in prison for her Twitter activities. The woman, Salma al-Shehab, was charged with assisting dissidents who seek to disrupt public order and destabilize civil and national security. Shehab had frequently tweeted about women’s rights in the kingdom. There have been no comments from the Saudi government so far.
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