UN nuclear team arrives at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant after shelling delayed travel

A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) Thursday after initial delays were caused from nearby shelling. 

The team of 13 men and one woman, led by Direct General Rafael Grossi, are hoping to better secure the site to prevent a nuclear catastrophe as a barrage of shelling that has threatened the integrity of the power station.

Ukraine’s defense ministry accused Russia of shelling the city of Enerhodar, located just 4 miles from the power station, along with areas in the immediate vicinity of the plant Thursday.

UN WATCHDOG HEADS TO UKRAINE'S ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WITH 'EXPLICIT GUARANTEES' FOR ITS SAFETY

The ministry said a "group of Russian attack helicopters" hit residential areas in the city while a mortar strike hit near the plant’s nuclear reactors, reported Interfax.

Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom said one of the plant’s two operational reactors had been shut down Thursday after power supply lines were again damaged – occurring just one week after both reactors were disconnected from the power grid. 

UKRAINE NUCLEAR PLANT WORKER SAYS RUSSIA EVACUATED ITS PERSONNEL AHEAD OF ATTACKS ON ZAPORIZHZHIA

Emergency protection systems have once again been triggered and backup diesel generators are ensuring the continued functioning of the disconnected reactor, Energoatom said on Telegram.

Russia claimed Ukrainian forces were behind the Thursday strikes and the Moscow-installed governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said that at least three people had been killed and five wounded in the attack, reported Reuters.

The strikes reportedly hit three kindergartens and had cut power to the city. 

The IAEA mission to the Ukrainian power station is the first time the UN agency has crossed front lines into an active war zone since its inception in 1957.

Speaking from the city of Zaporizhzhia, roughly 30 miles from the nuclear plant, Grossi said Thursday that he and his team were aware of the attacks but that they would push ahead with their mission, reports said.

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Russia, China begin military exercises as Moscow, Beijing strengthen ties

Russia and China kicked off a week of war games together, at a time when the two countries appear to be growing closer over their respective tensions with the United States.

The exercise, known as Vostok 2022, will go until September 7 at seven firing ranges in the Sea of Japan and Russia's Far East, the Russian Defense Ministry said and will feature 140 aircraft, 60 warships, and more than 50,000 troops. The drills will also involve India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Syria, and several former Soviet states, with Russian General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov overseeing them.

The exercises will include Russian and Chinese navies practicing "joint action to protect sea communications, areas or marine economic activity and support for ground troops in littoral areas," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The war games come at a time when both countries have been looking to show strength. Russia is in the midst of a months-long invasion of Ukraine, which China has specifically not criticized and even blamed on the U.S. and NATO. 

NSC COORDINATOR KIRBY SAYS CHINA ENGAGED IN ‘CLEAR ATTEMPT’ TO ‘PERMANENTLY ALTER’ THE ‘STATUS QUO’ IN TAIWAN

China, meanwhile, has grown increasingly adversarial with the U.S. regarding Taiwan and threatened retaliation before a visit to the island by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Russian President Vladimir Putin supported China through this, accusing the U.S. of using both Ukraine and Taiwan to create unrest.

Russia and China have conducted joint war games for years, with last year being the first time the Kremlin had sent troops to Chinese territory for joint exercises.

RUSSIA IS ALREADY EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL FAILURES WITH IRANIAN DRONES

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei said last week that through these drills, China "aims to deepen pragmatic and friendly cooperation between the militaries of the participating countries, enhance the level of strategic cooperation among all participating parties, and enhance the ability to jointly respond to various security threats."

Both countries have also strengthened ties to another U.S. foe, Iran. The Islamic nation recently sent Russia hundreds of drones to use against Ukraine, although Russia reportedly has been experiencing technical difficulties with them. Iran also signed a cooperation agreement with China last year that Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf described as "definitely not good for the region."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Gorbachev gets snubbed on full state funeral, Putin not attending

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR, will not receive a full state funeral in Russia following his passing earlier this week, the Kremlin confirmed Thursday.

"There will be elements of a state funeral in the sense that there will be a guard of honor. A farewell will be organized. In this case, the state will assist in organizing these funerals," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters according to Interfax. 

It is unclear how exactly the funeral service will differ from a full state funeral, though Gorbachev rival and the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, was buried with full state honors in 2007 after his passing. 

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, FORMER SOVIET LEADER WHO OVERSAW END OF COLD WAR, DEAD AT 91

Putin, who succeed Yeltsin, also declared a national day of mourning. 

Gorbachev – championed by Western nations for helping end the Cold War and awarded a noble peace prize for his efforts to slow the nuclear arms race – holds a legacy that stand at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Mikhail Gorbachev was a politician and statesman who had a huge impact on the course of global history," Putin said in a carefully worded message Wednesday.

Putin’s comments omitted past criticisms he has levied at the final USSR leader’s policies that led to the fall of the Soviet Union – a move Putin has decried as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."

The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin will not be attending Gorbachev’s funeral service due to scheduling issues, though the Russian president on Thursday paid his respects at the hospital where Gorbachev's body is being held until the service.

UKRAINE NUCLEAR PLANT WORKER SAYS RUSSIA EVACUATED ITS PERSONNEL AHEAD OF ATTACKS ON ZAPORIZHZHIA

"Putin is now undoing everything that Gorbachev has achieved," Russia expert and former intelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency, Rebekah Koffler, told Fox News. 

"Gorbachev ended the Cold War, Putin has launched a new Cold War with the U.S. and the West by attacking Ukraine," Koffler added. "Gorbachev’s policies eventually led to the collapse of the USSR and Putin is trying to re-constitute USSR."

Though while relations between the West and Russia have not been this strained since the height of the Cold War, Putin’s popularity at home remains high. 

Despite Putin’s efforts to restrict rights, his ability to control the narrative in Russia through propagandist tools has paid off.

"Gorbachev tried to democratize Russia and Putin has tightened government control and turned Russia into a totalitarian state again," Koffler said. "The irony is that Gorbachev is disliked in Russia, while Putin is feared and respected, with his approval rating still high even as the war on Ukraine rages on."

The funeral service for Gorbachev is set for Sept. 3. 

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US bypasses Taliban with relief funds; regime demands control over frozen money

This article is part of a Fox News Digital series examining the consequences of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan one year ago this week.

The U.S. continues to deny "direct" aid to the Taliban, and the group is demanding the return of all frozen funds and additional money as Afghanistan continues to suffer a significant humanitarian crisis. 

"There is no rational justification for freezing that reserve and the private banks, the money from the people of Afghanistan," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Fox News Digital. "They have frozen the property of the people." 

"We want [the return] of this property and these money to be unfrozen, because without that, the Afghanistan Bank is not able to work and run normally. And it is needed for the normal livelihood of the people of Afghanistan for our import and export and other economic activities."

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan after the U.S. completely withdrew its military forces in August 2021. The U.S. and other nations responded by freezing $7 billion in assets belonging to the now-defunct government, cutting the Taliban off from vital funds to help establish their new regime. 

AFGHANISTAN UNDER TALIBAN RULE THREATENS THE ENTIRE WORLD - AND NOT JUST THROUGH TERRORISM

Afghanistan fell into economic collapse over the following months, prompting aid from other nations in order to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people. The U.S. similarly contributed $2 billion in the past year and recently announced plans to send $150 million in additional relief, all of which filters through the U.N. into nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs. 

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the Taliban have "failed" to provide for the Afghan people and have "done just the opposite." 

"The Taliban’s policies repress and starve the Afghan people instead of protecting them," she said during a U.N. Security Council briefing. "The Taliban’s exclusion of outside voices means that the people who would contribute toward alleviating the suffering from these crises are not allowed to help."

Shaheen insisted the Taliban have received no direct funding from the U.S. government but still demand that such funds return to the government. 

COMPASSION OR COWARDICE: WHY ASHRAF GHANI LEFT AFGHANISTAN

"[We] have not received money directly from the U.S. government, but they have assisted the United Nations through that," Shaheen said. "The people above, by the sending humanitarian sector, they have assisted … we are grateful for all the assistance announced by the United States with the people of Afghanistan, [but] It would have been better that was spent by the government." 

The U.S. had looked at unfreezing half of the $7 billion as a way to help stabilize the Afghanistan economy as experts warn the impending winter could cause severe and widespread suffering in the country. 

The money would not go to the Taliban directly but would instead filter through a Swiss trust fund that would control the distribution of funds to humanitarian groups. Nonprofit Save Our Allies warned that the money would still end up in the hands of the Taliban, but the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) denied this claim. 

A USAID spokesman told Fox News Digital that humanitarian assistance "goes directly to independent organizations like U.N. agencies and NGOs and will provide vulnerable Afghans with critically needed food; emergency health needs, including COVID-19 and polio vaccination campaigns that are ongoing; water and sanitation health care; and other urgently needed humanitarian relief."

THREE LESSONS FROM BIDEN'S AFGHANISTAN FIASCO WE NEED TO LEARN RIGHT NOW

But Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield shared concerns that the money was not reaching those who needed it, saying instead that the Taliban "made the delivery of humanitarian assistance more difficult." 

"They continue to interfere with the delivery of critical assistance that the Afghan people desperately need," she said in her U.N. address. She stressed the need to ensure the Taliban do not have "unconditional access to billions in assets" since the Afghanistan Central Bank "cannot currently conduct responsible monetary policy."

"The countries that have rolled up their sleeves and tried to engage with this issue, like ours, have seen how the Afghan Central Bank was hollowed out long ago," she continued. "It does not have a credible anti-money laundering system in place, it does not have a credible system for combatting the financing of terrorism and it does not have an independent monitor in place to verify improvements in capacity through technical assistance. 

The U.S. therefore dropped plans to unfreeze assets when officials discovered Ayman al-Zawahri in Kabul, the Wall Street Journal reported. Officials explained that the presence of al Qaeda’s leader in Kabul raised concerns about the resurgence of terrorism in the country.

US AIR FORCE AIRMAN SPEAKS OUT ON THE CHAOTIC AFGHANISTAN EVACUATIONS

The U.S. carried out a targeted counterterrorism operation that resulted in al-Zawahri's death, but the Taliban spokesman bemoaned in an interview with Fox News Digital that none of the money that has entered the country has ended up in the hands of terrorist groups.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, noted in a statement, "We do not see recapitalization of the Afghan Central Bank as a near-term option. … We do not have confidence that that institution has the safeguards and monitoring in place to manage assets responsibly."

"Needless to say, the Taliban's sheltering of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri reinforces deep concerns we have regarding diversion of funds to terrorist groups," West added. 

That Taliban's spokesman gave assurances that the Kabul regime has given "a clear message" to all "groups or people."

"If there is anyone in hiding who's in the country, we are looking at that. And we when we find that we will not allow," Shaheen said. "That is a policy."

But Shaheen hedged his statement, saying that if "someone is in hiding" in the country, that "doesn’t mean the government of the country is in line with it or agrees with that." 

Fox News’ Anders Hangstrom contributed to this report. 

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China city of Chengdu on COVID lockdown amid spike

The southwestern China city of Chengdu has been locked down after a spike in COVID-19 cases. 

More than 21 million people were been ordered to stay home from 6 p.m. local time on Thursday as part of the city's measure.

While school has been delayed, public transportation is still operating. Approximately 70% of the flights to and from Chengdu have been suspended.

CHINA, US COMPETE FOR TOP SPOT IN WORLD AGRICULTURE DOMINANCE

Residents are permitted to leave the city if they can show a special need.

Just one member of each family who can show a negative virus test within the past 24 hours is allowed outside each day to buy necessities.

Chengdu has reported around 1,000 cases in the latest outbreak, with no deaths. On Wednesday there were 157 domestically transmitted infections.

FDA AUTHORIZES UPDATED COVID-19 BOOSTER SHOTS TARGETING OMICRON VARIANT

The lockdown is the largest since the city of Shanghai was confined for months. 

Millions of others were locked down in Dalian and Shijiazhuang.

The nation's stringent "zero-COVID" policy has drawn worldwide criticism, in addition to hurting its economy.

Mainland China has reported no deaths from COVID-19 since May.

It was not clear when the lockdown in the Sichuan Province's capital would be lifted.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Taiwan shoots down civilian drone over its island just off China's coastline

An unidentified civilian drone was shot down by the Taiwanese military Thursday after its entered its airspace by flying over one of Taipei's smallest islands which sits just a couple miles from mainland China.

The drone reportedly flew over the waters of Shiyu Islet, also referred to as Lion Islet, which houses a small contingent of stationed Taiwanese military personnel.

The incident comes as tensions between Taiwan and China continue to mount following Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last month. 

US, CHINA PLANNING BIDEN, XI MEETING BUT 'NO RESOLUTION YET': OFFICIAL

China on Wednesday said it would not re-enter talks with the U.S. on military or climate-based issues until Pelosi dispelled the "negative influence" she had imparted on the island, Reuters reported.

Taiwan’s Kinmen Defense Command, which oversees a group of Taipei-controlled islands just miles from China's Xiamen and Quanzhou cities, said in a statement Thursday that an aerial camera entered the "airspace over the restricted waters of Shiyu Island."

The defense command said its garrisoned troops dealt with the intrusive drone "in accordance with the procedures" and first issued a warning before shooting down the drone. 

BIDEN AND XI JINPING PLAN FIRST IN-PERSON MEET UP AMID ROCKY RELATIONS

"The Ministry of Defense emphasized that it will continue to search and monitor and monitor closely to maintain the security of the defense area," Taiwan’s military news agency said.

Taiwan identifies as a sovereign nation under the Republic of China (ROC), which is separate from the People's Republic of China (PRC), though China, the U.S. and the U.N. officially recognize Taipei as a part of the PRC under the one China policy.

The U.S. does not support Taiwanese independence from mainland China but champions the island as a "leading democracy," according to the State Department. 

The U.S. and the U.N. have warned China against changing the status quo in the region.

Beijing, which views Taiwan as one with its nation, has increasingly harassed Taiwanese islands off its coastline in recent weeks as it beefs up its military drills in the waters and airspace between Taiwan and mainland China.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced last week that it would begin deploying drone defense systems off its small islets in response to China’s increased aggression in the region, Taiwanese news outlets reported. 

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UN report cites alleged ‘patterns of abuse’ in China's treatment of Uyghur minority

A long-awaited report from the United Nations alleges that the Chinese government has committed "serious human rights violations" in its detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang.

The 48-page report, which Western diplomats and U.N. officials said had been all but ready for months, was published with just minutes to go in U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet's four-year term.

Drawn from interviews with former detainees at eight separate detention centers in the region, its authors suggest "serious" human rights violations have been committed in Xinjiang under China's policies to fight terrorism and extremism, which singled out Uyghurs and other Muslim communities, between 2017 and 2019.

The report cites "patterns of torture" inside what Beijing called vocational centers, which were part of its reputed plan to boost economic development in the region, and it points to "credible" allegations of torture or ill-treatment, including cases of sexual violence.

US, CHINA, PLANNING BIDEN, XI MEETING BUT 'NO RESOLUTION YET': OFFICIAL

Above all, perhaps, the report warns that the "arbitrary and discriminatory detention" of such groups in Xinjiang, through moves that stripped them of "fundamental rights … may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity."

The report's authors say they could not confirm estimates of how many people were detained in the internment camps. But they add that, based on the evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that the number held "at least between 2017 and 2019, was very significant, comprising a substantial proportion of the Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minority populations."

The report calls for an urgent international response over allegations of torture and other rights violations in Beijing's campaign to root out terrorism.

Bachelet brushed aside repeated Chinese calls for her office to withhold the report, which follows her own trip to Xinjiang in May and which Beijing contends is part of a Western campaign to smear China's reputation.

China's U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, slammed the report hours before its release, reiterating that Beijing remained "firmly opposed" to the report. 

"We haven't seen this report yet, but we are completely opposed to such a report, we do not think it will produce any good to anyone," Zhang told reporters outside the Security Council. "We have made it very clear to the high commissioner and in a number of other occasions that we are firmly opposed to such a report."

He alleged that the "so-called Xinjiang issue" was a fabrication intended to undermine China's stability and obstruct its development.

In the past five years, China’s mass detention campaign in Xinjiang swept an estimated 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic groups into a network of prisons and camps, which Beijing called "training centers" but former detainees described as brutal detention centers.

Some countries, including the United States, have accused Beijing of committing genocide in Xinjiang.

Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, has urged the 47-member Human Rights Council, whose next session is in September, to investigate the allegations and hold those responsible to account.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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