- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, a diplomat on the frontlines
With his dynamic manner and high-risk visit to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has been at the centre of recent coverage of Russia's invasion.
After weeks of intensive negotiations to secure the visit, he set off for Zaporizhzhia early on Monday morning.
The photo he tweeted announcing his visit could have been a poster for an action film, with 61-year-old Grossi wearing a steely expression in front of serried ranks of IAEA experts.
The Zaporizhzhia site has been occupied by the Russians since early on in the conflict and fears of a nuclear catastrophe have been raised on several occasions by bombardments in the vicinity.
Despite fresh shelling in the area earlier this week, a flak-jacketed Grossi insisted that "we are not stopping" with the visit.
"Wish us luck," he told reporters at the plant, where he stayed for several hours.
The visit was criticised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the IAEA had failed to push for the demilitarisation of the site and had not ensured access for independent media.
The Kremlin meanwhile called the visit "very positive".
Grossi had previously ventured to Ukraine in March and then again a month later to go to Chernobyl, the scene of the world's worst nuclear catastrophe in 1986.
- 'Perseverance' -
Grossi will be glad to have established a permanent IAEA presence on site, with two inspectors expected to stay on there.
"Let the world know that the IAEA is staying at Zaporizhzhia," he said after the visit, adding that his team had "a lot more to do" and would seek to provide impartial updates on the situation there.
Western diplomats have lauded Grossi for undertaking the mission.
"He explores all avenues, it's very brave and I'm not sure another IAEA director general would have done the same," a European source said.
Senior French diplomat Philippe Errera tweeted his praise for Grossi's "perseverance".
In a comment sent to AFP, the American ambassador to international organisations in Vienna Laura Holgate said the US was "extremely grateful to DG Grossi and his team for their visit", calling it "a critical step in addressing nuclear safety" at the plant.
Kelsey Davenport from the Arms Control Association think-tank said that while "an on-site IAEA presence does not guarantee that a nuclear disaster will be averted... it should mitigate that risk and deescalate tensions".
Davenport said the "IAEA is facing unprecedented challenges" which constitute "a direct affront to the nuclear order".
"The agency needs leadership that will speak truth to power," she said, adding: "Grossi is proving to be that leader."
- No backing down -
One of Grossi's current challenges is navigating the IAEA's role in the supremely complex and sensitive Iranian nuclear dossier.
After Iran and world powers struck deal on the country's nuclear programme in 2015, it fell to the IAEA to monitor Tehran's compliance with the deal's restrictions on its nuclear activity.
But since former US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal in 2018, it has been gradually disintegrating and Iran has progressively abandoned those restrictions, as well as curbing access for IAEA inspectors to sites and data.
Grossi has warned that the agency risks "flying blind" in Iran, and has made several short-notice visits to Tehran to negotiate with senior Iranian officials.
While protracted diplomatic negotiations have been taking place to try to revive the 2015 accord, Iran has said an outstanding IAEA probe has to be concluded as part of the deal.
That investigation concerns the previous discovery of traces of enriched uranium at three sites not declared by Tehran.
Grossi has refused to back down, insisting that Iran has failed to adequately explain the presence of that material.
He has been head of the IAEA since 2019 and had previously served in high-ranking positions at the agency between 2010 and 2013.
The polyglot Argentinian father-of-eight is also rumoured to be in the running for the post of UN Secretary General when the incumbent Antonio Guterres' term expires in 2026.
Asked about this at a conference in New York last month, Grossi replied that "my plate is full of terribly important matters -- that is occupying my time and waking me up in the night, and this is all I care for".
St.Ch.Baker--CPN